Diminishes us. We weep because of the grief of George Floyds family. We weep because of the explosive impact of deferred dreams. We weep because of the potentially catastrophic consequences of peaceful proking during a pandemic. We weep because justice delayed is justice denied. We weep because of the paralysis of analysis that often impedes your prevailing providence. We weep because of our personal culpability during these tragic times. We weep because of our sins of commission and omission. We weep because we know you are weeping. Today use our lawmakers for your glory. May they strive to find a vaccine to inoculate our nation against hate, sin, and despair. We pray in your merciful 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. The presiding officer the senator from iowa. Mr. Grassley i wish to address the senate for one minute. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Grassley our nation is hurting. George floyds death was horrific, and justice must be served. The Justice Department has opened an investigation, and the officer has been charged with murder. A single act of violence at the hands of an officer is one too many. George floyd deserved better. All black americans do. Indeed, all americans do. The last thing we need is more pain, more devastation, and more injustice. Has a country, lets strive for compassion and listening to others. The best way to honor george floyd is to engage with all members of our community, including members of this body, on how to heal these wounds. This is an opportunity for congress to discuss what reforms can and should be made to address police use of force. Lets move forward and protect our communities together. I yield the floor. Mr. Mcconnell mr. President . The presiding officer the majority leader. Mr. Mcconnell this is an hour of great pain and unrest in our country. Americans from coast to coast have been grieved and horrified by the killings of three African American citizens Ahmaud Arbery in georgia, brie owe in a taylor in my hometown of louisville, kentucky, and george floyd in minneapolis. In each disturbing situation, investigations and reviews are ongoing. In kentucky, im glad that local authorities are investigating. Im glad the f. B. I. Is involved. Im glad our attorney general is committed to taking any necessary action. We need the truth, and we need swift justice. Under law. But heres something that requires no investigation in no world whatsoever should arresting a man for an alleged minor inflax involve a Police Officer putting his knee hone mans neck for nine minutes while he crisis out i cant breathe and then goes silent. To me, to a great many of my fellow kentuckians and to many of outraged americans, these disturbing events do not look like three isolated incidents. They look more like the latest chapter in our National Struggle to make equal justice and equal protection of the law into facts of life for all americans rather than contingencies that sometimes depend on the color of ones skin. Obviously this struggle remains incomplete. Ive spent decades in the senate not only as an advocate for civil rights but as a First Amendment purist, so i completely support and fully defend citizens Constitutional Rights to speak their minds and engage in peaceful protest. One nation cannot devon itself to the deafen itself to the anger, pain, or frustration of black americans. Our nation needs to hear this. Yet over the last several days, citizens have watched with horror as cities across america have convulsed with looting, riots, and destruction. On a nightly basis, initially peaceful demonstrators have been hijacked. Americans have watched protests dedicated to ending unjust violence mutate into riots that inflict unjust violence themselves. Weve seen Small Businesses destroyed and public property defaced. Weve seen the men and women of Law Enforcement, the vast majority of whom are not bad actors but brave public servants, threatened and assaulted on our streets. Free speech and peaceful protest are Central American liberties. Looting, rioting, assault, and arson are Violent Crimes that have no place no place whatsoever in our society. It is not a display of courageous citizenship to smash and destroy Small Businesses that have just barely hung on through the pandemic. It is not an act of principal protest to grab expensive merchandise or set fire to a church. It does not advance freedom or justice to vandalize the world war ii memorial that stands for those who bled and died for the exactly those values. You do not advance peace by committing assault. You do not advance justice by inflictinginjustice upon your neighbors. You do not promote the rule of law through an. R. A. Ty. Theres not constitutional right to commit Violent Crime or to terrorize communities, period. This cannot continue. Its already gone on for entirely too long. I hope state and local authorities will work quickly to crack down on outside agitators and domestic terrorists and restore some order to our cities. And if state and local leaders cannot or will not secure the peace and protect citizens and their property, the hope the federal government is ready to stand in the breach. In kentucky, were already seeing violence and tragedy compound on themselves. Several days ago seven people were shot in louisville. None, according to the mayor, by Law Enforcement. Last night one individual was shot and killed by authorities after the police were fired upon from within a crowd. Were learning about the incidents as fast as we can. I was just briefed by Governor Beshear today, and i support a full and thorough and immediate investigation. But, mr. President , this has to end. These important protests began with the notion that basic physical safety and Legal Protections must be nongoshable for every single american, bar none. But american liberty and the rule of law must be universal truths for all, not special privileges for some. That point is absolutely right. That is a righteous and important mission. And it is exactly why these senseless and destructive riots need to end e. Not next week, not tomorrow night. Right now. Right now. We have real work to do to build a constructive path forward between Law Enforcement and affected communities. More violence and destruction is not just unfair to many innocent people, it also just makes this important work so much harder. Now, on an entirely different matter, these events only compound what has already been an historically challenging time for our country. As our nation continues to combat and contain the coronavirus, the senate will continue to lead the response. To name one example, i hope and anticipate the senate will soon take up and pass legislation that just passed the house by an overwhelming vote of 4171 to further strengthen the Paycheck Protection Program so it continues working for Small Businesses that need our help. And even as we fight the pandemic, well remember that other challenges face our nation as well. Foreign adder have anniversary all too eager to exploit a distracted world. In recent days agents of the Chinese Communist party have taken to social media to openly taunt openly taunt the United States and defend their violent crackdown on the autonomy of hong kong. Its been almost a year since the world watched hong kongers embark on the latest round of Peaceful Demonstrations against the repressive grip of the chinese communitiist party. The world watched as hong kong verdicts were american flags in hand dealt crushing defeats to beijings preferred puppet candidates in elections last fall. But in recent weeks, as the coronavirus pandemic that china exacerbated has dominated the worlds attention the Chinese Communist party has tried yet again to tighten their grape. New laws supposedly related to National Security aimed to stifle dissent and curtail hong kongers six liberties. When i authored the u. S. Hong kong policy act way back in 1992, we wanted to ensure future chinese regimes would respect the promises made regarding this unique, autonomous region. So we made sure the weight and persuasion of the United States of america would stand with hong kongers, if need be. Unfortunately, these years later such a time is upon us. Among other examples, weve received word today that for the fires time in 30 years 30 years authorities in hong kong will not allow the annual candlelight vigil that commemorates the continuing continue square massacre to occur. For the first time in 30 years, no commemoration of the tiananmen massacre will occur in hong kong. For three being dids, for three decades, hong kong has been the only place in china where fullscale remembrances of the massacre were permitted. But now they, too, will be going dark. So im encouraged that secretary pompeo is tapping into that law and formally certify that beijings systematic efforts to interfere in hong kong have eroded the regions autonomy. I might say, mr. President , this is exactly what we were concerned about back in 1992. When the Hong Kong Policy act was introduced by me and became law. Exactly what we figured. And i hope that the administration will soon identify the specific ways it will impose costs on beijing and, just as important, continue americas support to the people of hong kong. Under my original legislation, several tools are available. Their primary aim is to be an effective friend and partner for hong kongers to share values of democracy and freedom and help preserve the regions unique character, autonomy, and prosperity. Our nations commitment to those efforts must remain ironclad and it must be 100 clear that the responsibility for threatening hong kongs economic, political, and social climate rests solely and squarely on the Chinese Communist party. The regime that views free thought as fundamental evil. The regime that sees peaceful demonstration as an existential challenge. That is who is to blame for this no matter what the communist partys twobit propagandas try to claim. Not the people of hong kong, not their friends in the United States. Just the wouldbe tyrants in beijing. Last year, as Congress Passed senator rubios update to my Hong Kong Policy act, i also secured additional funding to provide Legal Protection to hong kong protesters and support democracy promotion activities. But if china moves in the coming days and weeks to implement its draconian new laws that strangle hong kong, there will be no rule of law left for protesters to appeal to. Thats why the u. S. Response should mirror those of other democracies who have opened their doors to hong kongers fleeing oppression. Our nation has a Rich Heritage of standing as a beacon of light and freedom from refugees of war to those escaping the iron curtain. We should exercise it again for the people of hong kong. And finally, mr. President , while we address these latest aggressions, we must not miss the broader lessons. The communist party of china does not play by the rules. They dont. Not the rules of the international economy, not the rules of its Bilateral Agreements with other nations. Not even its own rules which are increasingly subject to the whims of president xi. Whether they are cracking down on hong kong, trying to cover up a pandemic, or hurting ethnic and religious minorities in modernday gulags, this generation of chinese leadership is telling the world every single day exactly who they are. Exactly who they are. America and the world have watched china deepen its tyranny at home, assert its hegemony abroad, and undermine basic norms that protect the peace. The question before us, before us is what do we do to solve it . Mr. President , i understand there are two bills at the desk due a second reading en bloc. The presiding officer the clerk will read the titles of the bills for the second time. The clerk s. 3833, a bill to extend the loan forgiveness period for the Paycheck Protection Program, and for other purposes. H. R. 680, an act making emergency supplemental appropriations for the fiscal year ending september 30, 2020, and for other purposes. Mr. Mcconnell in order to place the bills on the calendar under the provisions of rule 14, i would object to further proceeding en bloc. The presiding officer objection having been heard, they will be placed on the calendar. 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 are we in a quorum . I ask unanimous consent the quorum be dispensed with. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Schumer mr. President , one week ago today, a white Police Officer in minneapolis, minnesota, knelt on the neck of an African American man named george floyd, pinning him to the ground for over eight minutes as he pled for his life. The officer callously refused to heed those calls, standing up only after mr. Floyd was unresponsive. Mr. Floyd was pronounced dead shortly thereafter. Eight minutes, eight minutes he was pinned there. Today, eight days later, our nation is reeling. Reeling over the injustice and senselessness of George Floyds death, reeling over the memory of Ahmaud Arbery, Michael Brown, breonna taylor, and eric garner, and the unimaginable number of innocent lives that were taken in similar circumstances. Reeling from centuries of Racial Injustice, a legacy as old as the nation itself and one that haunts us to this day. It took two and a half centuries and civil war to finally end slavery in america. 100 years more until the descendants of those newly freed men and women could fully enjoy the rights of citizenship. Even today, slavery is stay with us. Its terrible legacy and evil effects felt in real and discernible ways every single day. When the french historian de tocqueville visited america in the 1830s, he was amazingly prescient. He predicted that the United States would become a great nation, the greatest in the world, even though at the time we were a fledgling country compared to the great powers of europe. But he also said that the one thing that could doom our nation is racism and racial prejudice. His words ring true today. The Racial Disparities in our criminal Justice System have been on full display, but these disparities permeate not just the criminal Justice System but all of society. There are glaring Racial Disparities in health care and housing, Racial Disparities in income and in wealth, in the board room and at the ballot box, on our streets and in our schools. These disparities have been with us a very long time, but covid19 has placed a magnifying glass on them. Perhaps most evident and immediate, the covid19 pandemic continues to infect and kill African Americans at a disproportionate rate. We are confronted by the alltoooften fatal consequences of those disparities on a daily basis. So George Floyds killing touched off justified protests and demonstrations across the country, driven by americans of every age and color and creed who are distressed and upset, frightened and angry by the america they see and feel compelled to change. The overwhelmingly peaceful protests do honor to the generations of americans who have stood up and sat in and shouted at the top of their lungs in the Urgent Mission to make america a more perfect union. The small minority who exploit the moment for violence and mayhem are wrong and do not advance the cause of justice, but i would note that while over 4,000 protesters have been arrested in the last week, only one in four of the Police Officers involved in the killing of george floyd has been arrested. While that statistic does not excuse the violence we have seen, it certainly helps to explain the frustration and anger right now. There is accountability when everyday citizens and protesters violate the law, but that same accountability is far too often lacking when Law Enforcement violates the law. We have to fix that. We must work to bring accountability to Police Departments so bad actors are not shielded from culpability, and the many officers who do the job the right way are incentivized and rewarded. We must reform our laws and our Police Practices so that events like George Floyds killing are far less likely in the first place. There are many examples of departments that have made strides at improving community relations, transparency and accountability, while reducing unwarranted racial violence and bias. We must get all ou