Pandemic, essential workers in the United States have continued in their daily jobs to care for and protect americans, to produce and deliver food and essential goods, and to uphold our nations Critical Infrastructure. These men and women, our moms and dads, brothers and sisters, are putting the livelihoods of their fellow americans ahead of their own. Each and every morning despite the pandemic, they wake up and they go to work. In this fight against the invisible enemy, the critical logistics operators, the supply workers, medical professionals, and many others who are on the front lines responding to coronavirus could not be more important to our victory. They truly are our heroes. Folks, our nation cannot weather this pandemic without our essential workforce. They first and foremost deserve our gratitude. So today we want to say thank you. Thank you to our doctors, our nurses, and our Health Care Workers who see firsthand the seriousness of this disease yet put their own health and lives at risk to care for those who are infected. Thank you to our Truck Drivers who have driven for thousands of hours often back and forth on lonely roads to keep our economy running and to deliver the necessities we rely upon and often take for granted. Thank you to our farmers who continue to work around the clock to feed and fuel the world. Thank you to our grocers, cashiers, and retail employees who keep our store shelves stocked and the checkout lines moving. And thank you to our child care providers who have continued to care for our kiddos throughout these tough times. But, folk, these frontline workers deserve more than a heartfelt and welldeserved thank you. They need to know they are appreciated for their selfless service. Thats why im proposing we give these heroes a break, a tax holiday and allow them to keep more of their hard earned paycheck. Together with the sacrifice of these essential workers, the spirit of generosity weve seen across iowa, and the service of our leaders at every level of government, we will get through this. The battle continues, but i know that we can and we will beat covid19. Stay safe and stay strong. Mr. President , i would note the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call mrs. Blackburn mr. President . The presiding officer the senator from tennessee. Mrs. Blackburn are we in a quorum call . The presiding officer yes. Mrs. Blackburn i ask the quorum call be waived. The presiding officer without objection. Mrs. Blackburn thank you. I want to thank senator ernst for organizing this today to come to the floor and talk about the good things that are happening in our states because we know that the pandemic has changed a lot about the way that we live and work and do business and tennesseans are certainly no exception to that. One thing that has been a consistent in this entire episode with the pandemic is the way tennesseans step up to take care of one another. And the numerous acts of kindness and graciousness that have been shown from neighbor to neighbor and community to community is something that shows the goodness of the american spirit and we are just blessed to be home to thousands of people who have demonstrated their desire to help make life a little bit better for their neighbors and friends and sometimes for people that they do not know. But people who have expressed a certain need. People like jeremy hopkins. Now, jeremy is from jackson, tennessee. He is an engineer at the toyota motor manufacturing facility that is there in jackson. He became aware of a need for p. P. E. Down in new orleans at a hospital. A friend of his made him aware of this need. So being an engineer, he fired up his personal 3d computer and printer and got to work making face shields for the Health Care Workers in new orleans. He worked with Union University and some of the students there, union is located in jackson, tennessee. And he was able to ship 57 shields to providers, Health Care Providers in new orleans. And then he used his remaining materials and he made another 173 shields for clinics in west tennessee and mississippi. Steve archer, a u. S. Air force veteran and he is a medical supply and logistics technician. Steve lives in fountain city. He decided to head to new jersey to see how he could help to make certain that p. P. E. Was delivered on time to hospitals and Nursing Homes and Health Care Providers, so there he was helping with them he contracted covid19. Since that time he has recovered and he is back on the job in tennessee. The knocks county Baptist Disaster Relief Team has also been working long days at heights baptist church. What they are doing is cooking and assembling meals for the homeless. Our famoustilry, moon shine and whiskey which they have been making there in tennessee, they have changed their production to making mass quantities of hand sanitizers. And our wonderful singers and song writers and musicians and choirs are holding concerts by zoom and online to bring some relief and happiness to people all across the globe. And were all enjoying these virtual concerts. And the always amazing and inspiring Dollly Parton dolly parton. They is our tennessean of the year. And dolly is reading bedtime stories from her Imagination Library on youtube each week. And of course id be remiss if i did not thank some wonderful women who decided to pull out that sewing machine and get busy making face masks for critical workers all across the country. Dotty gadolfin, marilyn thomas, janice blare. Well, dotty, marilyn and jiang nice are seamstresses per excellence. And they are creating these masks and they are sending them where there is a need all across the country. Mr. President , we are known as the volunteer state in tennessee. And this pandemic is showing us that just as throughout our nations history, tennesseans have shown up when theyve been called and asked to volunteer and to give their time, their efforts, their energy, their talents, their resources in order to improve the lives of others. We thank each and every one who is doing this and those that i have mentioned we say a special thanks for doing your part to ease the life of others during this pandemic. I yield the floor and note the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call quorum call a senator mr. President. The presiding officer the senator from north dakota. A senator thank you, mr. President. I rise today to join my colleagues. The presiding officer we are in a quorum call. A senator i ask that the quorum call be suspended, mr. President. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Hoeven mr. President , i rise today to join my colleagues in honoring all those who have continued to work in service to our nation during the covid19 pandemic. My home state and our nation are blessed with dedicated citizens who have continued striving to keep essential operations going amidst the challenges that we face. While there are many sectors that deserve recognition and will be mentioned by my colleagues, notably Health Care Workers, teachers, Grocery Store workers, Law Enforcement of course, many, many others. But i want to focus for just a minute on the critical efforts of our agricultural producers, our farmers and ranchers and so many others. Maintaining the Food Supply Chain during this Public Health emergency is essential, absolutely essential. As we combat coronavirus, our farmers and our ranchers have continued to provide the food, feed, fuel, and fiber that we need. Americans truly benefit every single day from the highest quality, lowest cost food supply in the world thanks to our producers, our farmers and our ranchers. But as operations across the country are impacted, Food Security has been a particular concern. We greatly appreciate the efforts of those working to keep our, keep food on our tables from our producers to the workers. So its not only the ranchers, our farmers and ranchers, but also the workers at the Ag Processing filths. We know there are real challenges there but we appreciate those workers at the processing facilities so we can get that food from the farmer, the rancher to ultimately the consumer. Thats why as chair of the Senate Ag Appropriations committee i worked to secure nearly 25 billion in funding to help our farmers and ranchers to keep them going. They have faced incredible challenges. Not only low prices, the difficulty in trade negotiations, really tough weather. And so for our producers, they have been facing real challenges for some time now. And then with this covid19 pandemic on top of it, it has made it very tough for them. And theyve hung in there, and theyve continued to do what they do best, which is produce our food supply. And so they truly stepped up during this emergency, and i think they need to be recognized for it and thanked for it. Just a couple of weeks ago id also like to add a couple of weeks ago one of our nations premier Potato Growers based in fargo, north dakota, donated 37,000 pounds of frozen potato products to the great plains food banks. We groal a lot of potatoes. A large producer donated 37,000 pounds of potatoes to the great plains food bank. Another example, north Dakota Stockmans Association and their foundation donated 20,000 to enable the same food bank, the great plains food bank, to purchase beef from north dakota ranchers. One of the big challenges weve had out there is our ranchers continue to raise incredible livestock, incredible cattle, finest cattle in the world, and the tough thing is getting such a poor price for it. Weve got to figure out how to do better. At the same time we see prices going up at the Grocery Store, Cattle Producers are not getting compensated for those animals. Their prices have gone down. Its tough in the industry with the coronavirus but weve got to find a way to make changes now and for the longer term so that our cattle, our cattlemen are treated fairly and well for what they do, which is raise such a great quality beef product. But again, the stockmen, their association stepped up and made donations to the food bank. Another example, north Dakota FarmersUnion Announced its teaming up with the Farmers Union enterprise to donate 30,000 pounds of pork ribs to the great plains food bank. So again, all examples of our farmers and ranchers not only producing that great food supply but stepping up and donating as well to help feed people that need it. This generosity immediately benefits individuals and families across the region. And its helping to replenish the food banks strained inventory which serves many, many food pantries, shelters, soup kitchens and charitable feeding programs. These efforts drive home the message that were all in this together. Even in the face of tremendous challenges we find a way to make the best of tough situations and take care of our neighbors, and thats what this is all about. Another farmer sent this message to the nation. Taking time to write out in one of his fields with his farm equipment, he wrote out in one of his fields, we will win the war on covid19. And that just demonstrates the kind of spirit of our farmers and ranchers, and of course the spirit of our people across america. To have this hope and charity even when ag producers are working to overcome unprecedented difficulties is truly inspirational. Thats why i come to the floor today to give thanks to our farmers and ranchers who consistently go above and beyond not only to feed our nation, but to serve their communities across america. And thats why we continue working with the usda, the department of agriculture, to get vital assistance to our farmers and ranchers. We remain committed to supporting them through this pandemic and the myriad of other challenges they face just as they support us every single day. With that, mr. President , i would like to yield the floor to my esteemed colleague from West Virginia. Mrs. Capito mr. President. The presiding officer the senator from West Virginia. Mrs. Capito thank you, mr. President. Id like to thank my friend from north dakota. Its great to hear stories from his great state and see how theyre helping each other, coming to each others benefits, and really as somebody who represents a state who has agriculture but not in the dimensions that senator hoeven does, its wonderful to see how the ag community has really stepped up not just for his state but for the rest of the country. And were very, very grateful for that. Weve seen so many people across this country stepping in in so many major ways. I often describe my state of West Virginia as one big small town. We always help each other in times of need whether we know the person or not. The floods of 2016, i think were a very good example of that, and i call it our West Virginia spirit. And theres no question it has helped us through some very difficult times, like the time were facing right now. Every day, every day each of us, and i certainly am no exception, hears stories about how someone or some group has stepped up to the plate to go above and jonodev above and beyond to help their community. Not to get attention, not because theyre forced to, but because they genuinely want to help and make a difference. Today i want to join my colleagues to highlight some of those unsong heroes. Many of us have been able to telework. Here we are here serving in the senate. Were here at our jobs. But most people who are on the front lines dont have a choice. Theyre getting up every day and facing the challenges of this pandemic head on. But it does not come without some sacrifice. Christian snyder, who is a nurse in the cardio pulmonary intensive care unit at camc in charleston said she quarantined herself from family and friends due to the fear of giving the virus to them since she cares for patients infected by the disease. We forget sometimes that our nurses and doctors and those who are caring for folks who are afflicted, theyve got families too. Another nurse in the same unit said no one felt like a hero when we gowned up or put our gol gels on. Go gels on. We felt privileged, we got to hold the hands of our patients, be their friends, support, family and advocates because their loved ones were not allowed to be with them at this very difficult time. She goes on to say i love my job, i love my team. I was never scared to go to work. Aspen saunders, another emergency room nurse, said the most moving gesture i witnessed was the prayer circle at the hospitals cancer center. That is a moment in my career that i will never forget. I was very overwhelmed with the power and volume echoed from those who came to pray. It was an inspirational depiction of community strength. During this time i found that i am now more grateful for the things that i usually take for granted such as my family being healthy. I want to thank thee brave nurses and i want to thank them for their great comments. I have also heard from teachers making sure their students arent falling behind and creating programs for students to offer support to the communities across our state. Take example christie, a fourth grade teacher at Warm Springs Intermediate School in the eastern panhandle. She coordinated an effort with her fourth grade students to adopt a senior from the Berkeley CountySenior Center and through this program they wrote letters. A lot of our seniors are living alone and are lonely and havent been able to get out to connect with those seniors. Many students like those at Ripley High School in Jackson County are writing encouraging letters to Health Care Workers to show them their support. And our firsdz are stepping up our First Responders are stepping up. I heard a very touching story about the gilmore county volunteer county Fire Department in the heart of our state and how theyre driving around to different houses to celebrate the birthdays happening during this time. You can imagine what that could mean it to a four or fiveyearold child to see a fire engine coming by in celebration of their birthday. Another inspiring story i heard was a constituent whose name is deb. Deb realized the need for masks early on. She used donated materials and she and the women have sewn over 2,500 masks. They leave these masks on her front porch in a sanitized container for her Health Care Workers. That makes it easy for them to pick it up. Ive heard of businesses donating money to pay for the gas of Health Care Workers. Our Car Dealerships are donating masks. Neighbors are donating food to the hospitals and others who are not able to get to the store. I heard over the weekend that one of my neighbor children, i said where is he . They said hes across the street. Hes talking to sue, and sues been widowed recently and shes by herself and he went in and had a cup of coffee with her. I heard of West Virginians taking to the street and singing songs during the stayathome to brighten their neighbors. Ive seen posts of young people offering to runner rands for seniors or those more vulnerable to the virus. This is the spirit of our country and this is the spirit of my state, the West Virginia spirit. I know i could go on and on because there are a thousand more stories like this. But up know what . Just a few stories can give us hope, stories that help shed somes activit