Secretary with the procedural vote later this afternoon. Off the floor negotiations are continuing on a coronavirus aid package. Now to live Senate Coverage here on cspan2. The president pro tempore the senate will come to order. The chaplain, dr. Black, will open the senate in prayer. The chaplain let us pray. Our father, as we think of those so desperately in need of legislative action, give our lawmakers the wisdom and courage needed for these challenging times. Use them to empower all americans, particularly those on lifes margins. Lord, help our senators today to discern your voice, as they seek your will in all they do. Give them the ability to differentiate your guidance from all others, permitting you to lead them to your desired destination. Speak to them through your word, guide them with your spirit, and sustain them with your might. We pray in your great name. Amen. The president pro tempore please join me in the pledge. 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 permission one minute for morning business. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Grassley everybody in the senate now remembers senator hatch. I want to tell you how he is still on the job, reminding americans of our traditions. Recently, my friend from utah, former senator orrin hatch, wrote about american academia and our socalled cancel culture. I encourage all americans to read his essay published in the wall street journal. Senator hatch calls for, quote, a renewed commitment to intellectual diversity, and another quote, for a radical overhaul of campus culture, end of quote. I agree with senator hatch. Our institutions of Higher Learning need to wake up and welcome the open exchange of ideas in the classrooms and across the campus, and if that isnt what universities and colleges are for, i dont know what theyre for. Silencing or shaming students from sharing divergent views are antithetical to the american way. Our next generation of leaders deserves better as colleges begin the school year, they should focus on keeping their students safe from the virus. But and a big but they shouldnt worry one bit about keeping students safe from the Free Exchange of ideas or prevent professors from teaching different schools of thought. Herd mentality limits intellectual curiosity, and thats bad for freedom. Particularly academic freedom. I yield the floor. Mr. Mcconnell mr. President. The presiding officer the majority leader. Mr. Mcconnell the Senate Mourns the tragedy that we now know took place thursday off the coast of southern california. According to official reports, Nine American service members, eight marines and one sailor, died during a training exercise. These Young Service members were all between the ages of 19 and 23. It is absolutely heart breaking. The units involved are among our most unique and specialized amphibious forces. Their training is what allows them to deploy at a moments notice, under the harshest conditions in the most remote and unsupported locations. As the kevin for survivors turn into a recovery mission, the nation was reminded that even what our men and women in uniform may consider routine still involves serious risk and personal sacrifice. I extend the senates sympathies to the families of those lost and our gratitude to the marine corps, navy, and coast guard personnel who are searching to bring their comrades home. Now, mr. President , on an entirely different matter, this week, officials from the Intelligence Community, the f. B. I. , and the department of Homeland Security will brief us on foreign efforts to influence our politics and elections and how the administration is defending us. Every one of our colleagues should attend one of these sessions, sharing sensitive threat information with congress is just one of the ways this administration has outperformed its predecessor. The Intelligence Community has kept Congress Much more closely informed about those threats in 2018 and 2020 than it did in the runup to 2016. Im sure these briefings will contain details that might seem ripe for cherry picking and partisan leaks from both sides, but it is essential that congress remain a place where the word classified actually means something. Leaking intelligence jeopardizes sources and methods, and if we have learned anything from studying russian interference in 2016, its that our adversaries ultimate objective is to leave america more divided and less confident in our institutions. Members of Congress Must take special care not to do putins work for him. Foreign adversaries have long sought to interfere in our politics and elections. That didnt start in 2016, and it wont end in 2020, but this administration has put us in a far, far better position than in 2016. There is simply no comparison. The Intelligence Community is better aware of the threat. Government agencies are more transparent with congress. The state and local jurisdictions that actually run elections, the private sector, and the public. In 2016, the Obamabiden Administration had to lean on congressional leadership to act as a bridge for the states because the states so distrusted their department of Homeland Security. Over the last four years, this administrations d. H. S. Has developed its own deep relationship with state officials. In 2016, only 14 state or local jurisdictions had received hightech alert sensors to alert them to cyber intrusions. Today they are deployed in all 50 states. 14 states had them in 2016. Today every state has them. It was this administration that stood up the new elections information sharing and Analysis Center with participation from more than 2,600 local jurisdictions and counting. This administration has imposed real hard costs on election interference and russias other misdeeds, shuttering the kremlins consulates in San Francisco and seattle, kicking out intelligence officers, sanctioning oligarchs, helping European Partners defend their own elections against russia, and sending weapons to ukraine and georgia which the Obamabiden Administration did not supply. This administration has also confronted china for what the state department described as massive espionage and influence operations, including closing beijings consulate in houston. As the democratic vice chairman on the Senate Intelligence committee has stated in 2016, quote, we were caught flatfoot flatfooted. Not anymore. Congress has provided more than 800 million for states and localities to shore up Election Security and have passed a number of targeted new laws. And since foreign political interference is so often aimed at private sector platforms like social media sites, we have encouraged these businesses to step up vigilance as well. Through all of this, mr. President , we have also carefully avoided things that look like quick fixes but which would undermine our own institutions. In the United States of america, it is states and localities, states and localities, not the federal government, who run elections, period. And our lack of a onesizefitsall National System isnt just constitutionally appropriate. It also acts as a further safeguard. We lack a single point of failure. So in closing, mr. President , i urge all our colleagues to attend these important briefings with an eye toward our real adversaries, not our fellow americans, but the foreign agents who love to see us at one anothers throats. In fact, during the impeachment trial, a leading House Democrat asserted that if President Trump wins reelection, the peoples vote would be presumptively invalid. Just a few days ago, it was reported a leading democratic strategist who was wargaming this election decided to experiment with what would happen if Vice President biden lost the election but simply failed to concede. Once again, this kind of recklessness achieves our adversaries missions for them. So i would urge my colleagues to listen listen to Civil Servants who are defending our democracy. Lets stay united, focus on the real dangers posed by foreign intelligence, and resist the urge to politicize these vital subjects. The presiding officer under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved. Under the previous order, the senate will proceed to executive session to resume mr. Mcconnell i am not quite finished yet. The presiding officer the majority leader. Mr. Mcconnell now, on one final matter, last week, the Senate Democratic leader brought an end to the additional federal benefit for unemployed workers. Republicans tried multiple times to extend the money, including at the same dollar level that our colleague himself said he wanted. The democratic leader blocked it all. This is the dynamic on the democratic side that killed the subject of Police Reform back in june, and it has now jeopardized more Coronavirus Relief as well. The Democratic Leaders insist publicly they want an outcome. But they work alone behind closed doors to ensure a bipartisan agreement is actually not reached. We are about a week into the speakers and the Democratic Leaders discussions with the administration, a week into the Democratic Leadership cutting out all their members, all of them cutting out all of their committees and saying that only they can participate. So how is it going . Well, the democratic leader is still refusing to let struggling americans get another dime unless he gets a massive tax cut for wealthy people in blue states that has nothing to do with the coronavirus. Im not kidding. This is his position. Nothing for schools, nothing for kids, nothing for the p. P. P. , nothing for the health care fight, nobody gets a dime unless the democratic leader gets a massive tax cut for rich people in new york and california. Thats what hes saying. The speaker of the house and the democratic leader are continuing to say our way or the highway. With a massive wish list for leftwing lobbyists that was slopped together a few weeks ago called a coronavirus bill. Stimulus checks for illegal immigrants. Diversity studies for the legal pot industry. And on and on. When they have put out this proposal, even the media and their fellow democrats pronounced this thing dead on arrival. Here was one reporter. Quote, neither this bill nor anything resembling it will ever become law. Its a democratic wish list filled up with all the parties favorite policies. And remember House Speaker pelosis own members felt about this absurd proposal. Quote, privately, several house members concede their latest bill feels like little more than an effort to appease the most liberal members of the caucus. Even democrats knew speaker pelosis bill was unserious. But now with the additional unemployment benefit disappearing, with families still struggle beings, theyre going back to this unserious position and refusing to budge. I cant imagine this is how democratic colleagues want this to play out. In march, we built the cares act by republicans and democrats working together at the committee level. This time again republicans introduced a serious proposal written by our own chairman and our own members. But this time the democratic leader has cut Senate Democrats out entirely. Hes forbidden their committees from even talking to republicans. Hes digging in on a house messaging bill written with no input from his own members, that even House Democrats themselves called absurd. These are not the tactics that would build a bipartisan result. These are not the tactics that will get more cash in americans pockets, more help to the unemployed, more assistance for schools to reopen. Its time for the Democratic Leadership to get serious about making a law making a law for the American People. The presiding officer under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved. 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 energy, Mark Wesley Menezes of virginia to be deputy secretary. Mr. Mcconnell i suggest 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 thank you, mr. President. Mr. President , i just heard the republican leader speak out on the floor. Leader mcconnell is busy giving partisan speeches while for the last two and a half hours speaker pelosi, myself, secretary of treasury mnuchin and chief of staff meadows were sitting in a room, working hard, trying to narrow our differences and come to an agreement. We all want to come to an agreement. We know the gravity of the situation demands it. And we will continue to work and work at it. We had a productive meeting. We narrowed some differences. Frankly, there are many that remain. But we must, we must not give up. We must not resort to start partisanship. We must come together and find a solution. If i to characterize the major difference between our side and the republican side, we believe the gravity of the situation, the economic problems, the Health Problems demand a bold, strong, vigorous solution by the federal government. We believe we must meet those needs, and it will cost money. But mark my words, if we dont spend if we spend less money now, it will cost us more money later. We hear from our schools. They very much want to open. We hear from the parents of children. They very much want their kids to go back to school, but they want to do it only safely. It costs a lot of dollars to make a school safe in this covid crisis. Not only the money for masks and p. P. E. , but you cant sit two kids next to each other on a bus, so there have to be many more bus routes. Because some of the Distance Learning will be distant some of the learning will be distance you need hot spots and a lot of kids dont have them in their homes. You may need new ventilating systems because covid demands it for a healthy classroom. You may need to convert gym nayd cafeterias into new classrooms and teachers may need to teach longer and you may need more teachers. They demand real dollars. As we sat in the room today, we each discussed our views as to how many dollars are needed. Same thing with food safety. We democrats believe that during this crisis, children and adults should not go hungry, and weve proposed some money to make sure that the snap benefit increases. Thats helping people feed themselves. That theres enough money to feed the kids who used to get School Lunches and school breakfasts, that theres enough money for Unemployed People at food banks so they can feed their families. That costs money. The Senate Republican proposal here proposed a tax break it for a threemartini lunch and slush fund for big agribusiness, but no money for these kids who need to be fed. Thats a significant difference. There are many. There are many. We democrats believe strongly that we have to have free and fair elections, that the mail must be delivered in a timely way because so many more people are going to vote by mail. So many more polling places need to be set up. Because of covid, you cant be close together. Theres a long list of things that are needed. And the good news is our republican colleagues agree with a few of them, but some they dont agree with, and we are discussing why we think they need them, and theyll counter with us in the room, mnuchin and meadows. But the discussion is necessary. The discussion is productive, and we will continue it. But again, the anomaly of the republican leader making a partisan speech on the floor while we speaker pelosi, myself, mnuchin, and meadows are trying to negotiate and move forward is really the contrast that i think most people see. So lets keep moving forward. Theres a real crisis here. There are people who are unemployed. They dont deserve a pay cut as they go forward. There are Small Businesses who need help desperately. There are schools that have to help. There are state and local governments that must have funding, and this is not an abstract concept. These are firefighters and these are teachers and these are Health Care Workers and these are bus drivers and these are sanitation men and women. If the state and local governments dont get money, theyre going to get laid off and services are going to be much worse. Again, we have a wide disparity on what kind of dollars and how to deal with treatment. Its our belief this administrations program on treatment has been a failure, that we dont have enough treatment and that we have to redouble our efforts to put more money in treatment. So these discussions are continuing. It gives me hope that we can reach an agreement. We will keep at it and at it and at it, because the nation demands a solution, a bold, comprehensive solution that will slay this awful virus and its consequences once and for all. I yield the floor. And i note the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer the