Our moms and dads struggling to purchase diapers, our child care providers and workers who have continued to look after our kids, our family caregivers who are helping iowa seniors and those most at risk during this pandemic. And to ensure we are prepared for whatever might come next, lets not only focus on the immediate needs but on the long term. National priority for critical medical supplies and other materials to be produced right here in the United States of america. We should never again depend on a foreign nation to protect our citizens, especially one like the communist party of china, which has been continually and unsurprisingly deceptive about this threat from the very beginning. Folks, while we still have a ways to go before we can return to life as we know it, we will get through this. And when we do, we will revive the great economy we built together and prepare for an Even Stronger future together. With that, mr. President , i yield the floor. Mrs. Capito mr. President . The presiding officer the senator from West Virginia. Mrs. Capito thank you, mr. President. I am very pleased to join my colleague from iowa today to highlight how to responsibly open america, our economy can as we continue to fight this covid19 pandemic. But before i talk about reopening america, i would like to address the tragedy of the brutal death of george floyd. Racial discrimination has absolutely no place in this country whatsoever. The senseless murder is unacceptable and those responsible should be held accountable. Im anguished at the death of george floyd. Im anguished at the violence that we are seeing all across our streets today. There is no question that we must do our part to change racist attitudes that, unfortunately, exist today, and this must be done in a peaceful way. Looting and violent riots are not the way to do this, and its not the way to honor george floyd. Or those that are protesting peacefully, which is the great majority of people. Georges brother encouraged all of us the other day to peacefully protest. He said that violence wont bring his brother back, and, no, it wont bring his brother back. It makes me sad to see the businesses destroyed, monuments honoring some of our nations bravest heroes destroyed, and violence happening in the cities across the nation. I say to West Virginia, there have been protests in my state of West Virginia, there have been protests, however, they have been peaceful. I commend my citizens of West Virginia to be peacefully protesting and i encourage them to continue this. We need to come together as a nation to listen to one another and to learn from one another. This is how real change can happen. President george w. Bush and mrs. Laura bush published a statement yesterday, and id like to read the last paragraph because i found it really quite moving as to how we are going to address this issue. Quote, the rule of law ultimately depends on the fairness and legitimacy of the legal system and achieving justice for all is the duty for all. This will require a consistent, courageous, and creative effort. We serve our neighbors best when we try to understand their experience. We love our neighbors as ourselves when we treat them as equals, in both protection and compassion. There is a better way. The wait of empathy and shared commitment and bold action and a peace rooted in justice. I am confident that together americans will choose the better way. And i appreciate so much the entire statement, but those last several words, as i said, really touched me. On the matter before us today, many communities in our country are starting to open, including in my state of West Virginia. Covid has had a terrible impact on our communities all across the country. The disease has affected every part of our lives. More than 105,000 of our fellow americans have lost their lives because of this terrible virus. That includes 78 West Virginians. The unofficial employment rate is 15 but in my state it is a shade over is a . And we expect those numbers to rise when the may numbers are published later this week. State and local officials across the country closed much of our economy in order to slow the disease. Our goal as a nation was to bend the curve in order to prevent our hospitals and other medical providers from being overrun. In West Virginia, as in most of the country, weve been successful in bending the conserve curve and reducing the spread of this terrible disease. It is important to reresponsibly reopen our economy. We should continue to follow the guidelines prepared by our Public Health experts. Washing our hands, social distance, avoid touching your face and wearing your mask. Following these guidelines will help make americas reopening successful. It will protect your health and the health of your community. By hindering the spread of the disease and allowing businesses to remain open following these guidelines, this will aid our economic recovery as well. Most americans understand that there is no way to choose between Public Health and a Strong Economy because there is you cannot have one without the other. We cant have a Strong Economy if we are not protecting people from becoming sick. And we will not be able to make the necessary longterm investments in Public Health if we dont have a Strong Economy. That is why a reresponsible stepbystep approach to reopening the economy that is driven by the data in states and local communities is so very important important. Our daily positive test percentages as of this morning was. 88 . This is despite the fact that West Virginia has tested a higher percentage of our residents than the National Average and all of our neighboring states. Even more encouraging is that our accumulative percent of positive tests has remained below 3 since april 25, even as we began reopening our businesses in may. But we have faced our challenges. Outbreaks at our longterm care facilities in among gayleia county among georgia heel la county have resulted in at that 23 deaths. We were the first state in the nation to set an example that many have followed. Just last week we had an outbreak at one of our prisons where we had 118 positive tests. So we know that this is still there and it still presents a danger. But im really proud of the way weve pulled together during this crisis and addressed these challenges. The progress reflected by the statistics are only possible because our States Residents have followed the guidelines. I want to thank all of the medical professionals, the first responders, front line workers, who have gone beyond the call of duty to protect Public Health and keep our communities running during this most difficult time. But opening our economy is paramount and opening it responsibly must be done. Even though the covid is still with us, we must continue working together, following the guidelines, so that we can protect both our economy and our health. Mr. President , i yield the floor. A senator mr. President . The presiding officer the senator from indiana. Mr. Young last week i traveled around the great state of indiana on my restart tour. I visited Small Businesses up and down the state, eight cities in fact, where weve seen so many hoosiers adversely impacted by this pandemic. Like many other states, indiana is starting to open up our economy, and i know so many hoosiers welcome that. Our governor, eric holcombe, have been implementing a fivestage plan for reopening indianas economy. The cities on my tour had businesses in various stages of reopening. Restaurants like catablu are open at 50 of capacity right now. The nonprofit tera haute Childrens Museum remains closed, unfortunately. Theyre struggling to pay their employees. I visited zimerbionet, enjoyed the tour visiting the employees. But discovered that sales have dropped 95 in march. Now, fortunately, they received a Paycheck Protection Program loan, and that enabled them to keep all 23 of their employees on the payroll. Its clear that we need to continue evaluating additional relief measures for Small Businesses and indianas nonprofits. In my restart act is a viable approach to keep our hardesthit businesses and nonprofits going. This restart act is a bipartisan measure ive introduced with senator bennet. The effort here is to build upon the success of the Paycheck Protection Program. Weve seen more than 74,000 hoosier businesses that have benefited from p. P. P. Loans total nearly 9. 4 billion in the state of indiana. Just for context, thats an average loan of 130,000. These are for Small Businesses like those that we see up and down our state. But the Paycheck Protection Program requires funds to be spent in just eight weeks, and most restaurants, gyms, boutiques and so many other businesses werent permitted to be open during part or all of that eightweek period. So the first part of the restart act merely extends the time frame to 16 weeks for our nations hardesthit businesses. Second, we know that p. P. P. Was meant to be a bridge to reopening the economy. But many Small Businesses have a much longer bridge to cross. Thats why our new restart program would provide loans covering up to six months of payroll and fixed operating expenses. Thats just for those businesses that have taken a substantial revenue hit during this coronavirus pandemic. So my restart initiative here would provide needed funds with flexibility for employers to pay bills, to implement social distancing measures like those plexiglass divide i saw at so many businesses, and more importantly to bring please back to works, which is exactly where they want to be. Over the last several weeks, ive spoken to more than 22,000 hoosiers by using zoom tellly conferencing capabilities, hopping on Conference Calls and through other means. And i have to say, ill truly inspired by the way hoosiers have come together to help one another during this pandemic. Everyone has done their part. Hoosiers want to work and Business Owners are eager to pay them. So the restart act can help make sure this happens and i hope my colleagues will give it strong consideration in coming days. Thank you so much, mr. President. And i yield. Mrs. Blackburn mr. President . The presiding officer the senator from tennessee. Mrs. Blackburn thank you, mr. President. I ask unanimous consent that senator braun and i be allowed to complete our remarks prior to the roll call votes. The presiding officer without objection. Mrs. Blackburn thank you, mr. President. I have to tell you, tennesseans are enjoying being out and about. They are so thrilled to see a restart on our economy. And whether youre going to hair salons or restaurants or the shopping center, the office park, the manufacturing facility, what we are hearing from tennesseans is, thank goodness we can get back to work. And theyre grateful that they have had the p. P. P. To help them bridge from the shutdown to the restart. 8. 8 billion has made its way into our state through the p. P. P. Program, and our governor, our tennessee General Assembly, our mayors are really working diligently to be certain that our economy opens up, that people are at work safely, and that we continue to defeat this covid19. Over the past few months, we have seen Congress Push forward with about 3 trillion into the economy for a restart, and state and local governments have already put over 139 billion worth of aid to good use. Supporting local health care, helping rescue businesses, and keeping Companies Working and local payrolls going, keeping people on the job and our governor and General Assembly in tennessee have Just Announced a new program that theyre doing in conjunction with local businesses. Now, imagine for a moment what it was like to watch the economy tumble what the perspective of a community that was already struggling trying to make ends meet. The pandemic caused catastrophic damage to the traditional economy and also to many of the Service Organizations that are there to meet needs. Now, in tennessee, as in many states, struggling communities are depending on these nonprofit groups. This is why we fought so hard to include eligibility for nonprofits in the rescue funding packages. And i will tell you, this is making a difference in tennessee for some of our nonprofit organizations like the east tennesseebased Appalachia Service project. Now, a. S. P. s teams travel all throughout central appalachia. They are repairing homes for lowincome families. Mayors in the communities that a. S. P. Visits are running on tight budgets, and they depend on volunteers to fix up unsafe or uninhabitable homes, so you can only imagine how it felt to the people at a. S. P. To watch their funding evaporate, knowing that the leaky roof that needed attention over in sneadville would end up turning into a rotten floor and a moldy wall and would be a safety hazard for the individuals that lived there. So fortunately a. S. P. Was able to get an s. B. A. Loan that gave them a little bit of breathing room, and although they had to cancel their volunteer program, their essential staff and contractors will be able to continue working all through the summer. The various rescue programs that congress agreed to implement were not perfect by any means, but did they have a positive effect . From what we are hearing in tennessee, they did, and they have been put to good use. I yield the floor. A senator mr. President. The presiding officer the senator from indiana. Mr. Braun im a main street entrepreneur. I spent my career building a little business into a large one over many years in my hometown, as well as my wife who has operated a Home Accessory and gift store on main street literally. Im elated to see the American Economy starting, getting off to a smart restart. The question of how to reopen our economy, i addressed it in a couple floor speeches before we left in march. I believe businesses are disciplined and ready to Pay Attention to the rules, the new normal to make sure their employees and their customers stay safe. Business owners will follow the rules. Its in their own best interests to do so. They have much to lose from a new spike in the coronavirus. Businesses are always more adept, more agile than government, and i am heartened to see that the innovative approaches many businesses are taking across our country to address this challenge. The virus does not affect all populations, industries, and areas of our country the same way, and the reopening in indianapolis will naturally be different from main street, jasper, indiana. We should remember that although this presents challenges, a onesizefitsall is rarely the best policy course of action, and decisions that affect citizens are best made by the level of government closest to them. Mayors, town councils, state governments. We cannot use the blanket approach that government took in shutting down the economy to reopen it. Instead, we need to provide the tools to empower local leaders and businesses who know their communities best to reopen safely so that our country can function again. I believe that through the perseverance and innovation that American Business has always exhibited, we can get our economy back on the path to recent hikes without yielding back any territory to the virus. I yield the floor. The presiding officer all postcloture time has expired. The question is on the measure. The nomination. Is there a sufficient second . There appears to be. The clerk will call the roll. Vote vote vote vote the presiding officer are there any senators in the chamber wishing to vote or change their vote . If not, the yeas are 78, the nays are 17. The nomination is confirmed. Under the previous order, the motion to reconsider is considered made and laid upon the table t the president will be immediately notified of the senates action. The clerk will report the motion to invoke cloture. The clerk cloture motion we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination of drew b. Tipton of texas to be United States district judge for the Southern District of texas, signed by 17 senators. The presiding officer by unanimous consent, the mandatory quorum call has been waived. The question is, is it the sense of the senate that debate on the nomination of drew b. Tipton of texas to be United States district judge for the Southern District of texas shall be brought to a close . The yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule. The clerk will call the roll. Vote vote vote vote the presiding officer the yeas are 53. The nays are 42. The motion is agreed to. The clerk will report the nomination. The clerk nomination, the judiciary, drew b. Tipton of texas to be United States district judge for the Southern District of texas. Mr. Schumer mr. President . The presiding officer the democratic leader. Mr. Schumer mr. President , in a moment i will ask consent to pass legislation that makes urgently needed reforms to the p. P. P. , to make the program much more functional for all, underlining all Small Businesses. Let me just name a few of the changes. First, it expands the loan period from eight weeks to 24 weeks. C