Resume on Unemployment Benefits that expired last friday and talks on the on a larger package. Live coverage here on cspan2. The chaplain let us pray. Eternal spirit, to whom we must give an account for all our powers and privileges, guide the members of this body so that they will be faithful stewards of your will. Lord, open their minds and hearts to know and do your bidding, teaching them to rely on your strength and to serve you with honor. Help them to discover in their daily work the joy of a partnership with you. Use them to bring good news to the marginalized, to comfort the brokenhearted, and to announce that captives will be released and the shackled will be freed. May our senators depend upon the power of your prevailing providence for you are the author and finisher of our faith. We pray in your great 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 madam president . The presiding officer the senator from iowa. Mr. Grassley id like to have permission, one minute morning business. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Grassley iowas secretary of state paul paite will mail an absentee ballot request. That form will go to every registered iowa voter for the november election. Thats a request for a form. Thats not a ballot being mailed out to everybody. Iowas current absentee Ballot System allows anyone who wants to vote by mail the option to do so. Just send in the request form when you receive it or download it online. But if iowans prefer to vote in person, that remains your choice, their choice. Theres been a lot of misinformation claiming that some massive federal intervention is needed to allow citizens to vote by mail. This isnt true in iowa or elsewhere. Every state has vote by mail. 16 states ask for a reason, such as being over 65, for example. But most have waived or loosened this requirement. Some groups are now using the pandemic to push for a federal mandate on states to adopt a new universal votebymail system overnight. It took five years when Washington State implemented voting by mail. Requiring every state to replace their current Voting System with a whole new centralized mailonly system this close to our november election is a recipe for disaster. In such a system every registered voter including those who have died or moved away would automatically be mailed a ballot with no voting in person. Every iowan who wants to vote absentee in november can do so, and those who want to vote in person can also do so safely. It is the voters choice and should remain so. I yield the floor. Mr. Mcconnell madam president . The presiding officer the majority leader. Mr. Mcconnell another day has come and gone in this once in a Century National battle for our country. Yesterday more of our neighbors had to say goodbye to loved ones whose lives were claimed by this virus. Yesterday more doctors and more nurses worked long shifts on the front lines fighting to heal strangers and limit a National Death toll that now exceeds 150,000. Yesterday more workers brought home pink slips. More main street businesses saw the end of their p. P. P. Lifelines fast approaching. Yesterday more laid off americans filed new claims for Unemployment Insurance or laid awake wondering about next months rent. Yesterday more School Officials wondered what to tell parents, students, and teachers about september. So what happened here in the capitol yesterday, madam president . With the American People fighting all these battles and more, what did the speaker of the house and the democratic leader do with yet another day of deliberations . Yet again it was the exact same refrain. It never seems to change. Were feeling optimistic. We spoke very politely to the administration but were still nowhere close on substance. Its now been more than a week since Senate Republicans released a serious proposal for another major rescue package. A trillion dollars for kids, jobs, and health care. But democrats are blocking it all. Its like they expect applause for merely keeping a civil tone with the president s team never mind theyre still obstructing any action for our country. Senate republicans want to revive a federal addon to Unemployment Insurance which the democratic leader would not let us extend last week. We want to send another round of direct checks straight into families pockets. We want to supply generous new incentives for rehiring American Workers and workplace safety. We want to send historic money to schools for reopening and invest even more in testing and vaccine research. We want Legal Protections so schools, churches, charities, and businesses can reopen. The democrats say they want many of the same things. I certainly believe that many of my democratic colleagues who serve as Ranking Members want many of the same things and could easily find Common Ground with our chairmen if the democratic leader would let them talk. But instead weve gotten a full week of the speaker of the house and the democratic leader shutting out all of their own members and refusing to move an inch, an inch off of demands that everyone knows are out landish. The Democratic Leaders want the entirety of their massive farleft wish list, all of it. Speaker pelosi is still agitating for strange, new special interests carveouts for the Marijuana Industry and even claiming they were covid related. She said that with respect to this virus, marijuana is, quote, a therapy that is proven successful. You cant make this up. I hope she shared her breakthrough with dr. Fauci. Any other in the other corner leader schumer is still demanding massive tax cuts for people in blue states or he wont let any relief become law. These are the kinds of nongermane pet projects that our democratic colleagues are demanding. Not a dime for kids, jobs, and health care unless the administration lets them check off every leftwing lobbyist Christmas Wish five months early. Lets listen to what Speaker Pelosis own House Democrats said about this bill when they passed it. Heres what House Democrats said about the bill that Speaker Pelosi and the democratic leader now say is their absolute red line. One quote was, the partisan nature and wide scope of this bill makes it doomed upon arrival in the senate. Another, in response to covid19, our relief efforts must be targeted timely and transparent. The heroes act does not meet those standards. Another quote, this isnt a plan. Its a wish list. Another quote, partisan gamesmanship. Another quote, some in my own party have decided to use this package to make political statements and propose a bill that goes far beyond pandemic relief and has no chance at becoming law. Further delaying the help so many need. Now, madam president , those are quotes from House Democrats, views about the socalled heroes act, but now the whole thing is the price of admission for giving hardhit americans any more aid. What worked back in march with the cares act were productive and goodfaith conversations with republican and Ranking Members with the process led by members. But this time the democrats and democratic leader forbid their members from speaking at all. The Ranking Member on help cannot even talk with senator alexander. The Ranking Member on Small Business cannot discuss p. P. P. With chairman rubio and chairman collins. No, no, the speaker and the democratic leader only want themselves at the table. So behind closed doors they can say nobody gets another dime of federal unemployment money. Nobody gets extra school funding. And nobody gets more money for testing and p. P. E. Unless they burn cash on 1,000 unrelated things. Im talking about things like stimulus checks for illegal immigrants, 1 trillion slush funds for states. 1 trillion slush fund for states even though states and low cattle only spent a local tis only spent a quart of the money spent them in march. In my state they only spent 6 of the money. Diversity and inclusion studies studies, and on and on and on. The house bill does all these things while completely forgetting a second round of Paycheck Protection Program. No second round for p. P. P. And spending less money for schools than the senate bill. This is what they wont budge f. And every day the script is the same. And the script is we had a pleasant conversation, but we dont feel like making a deal. Maybe tomorrow. Heres the problem. Every day the Democratic Leaders repeat the same act here in the capitol, theyre letting down the struggling people who need our help. Day after day americans are trying to stay above water, layoffs, benefit cuts, threats of eviction, the possibility of losing a Family Business forever, towns wondering if their main streets will ever come back, School Principals with no idea what to tell communities. Thats the reality in kentucky and in all 50 states, and none of these people are helped one bit, not one bit by the Democratic Leaders charade. What American Families need is an outcome, a bipartisan result. Senate republicans have had a road map sitting on the table for more than a week. We didnt put every republican wish list item in history into an 1,800 page encyclopedia and insist on starting there. We built a serious starting place based on the bipartisan programs bepassed back in march, unanimously, by the way, and what the country needs now. If our colleagues across the aisle would do the same, frankly, if our colleagues across the aisle were even allowed, allowed to take part in the discussions, we could get this done for our country. We did it in march. We could do it again, but both sides have to actually want it. The presiding officer under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved. Morning business is closed. The senate will proved to executive session to proceed to the following nomination. The clerk nomination, department of energy, Mark Wesley Menezes of virginia to be deputy secretary. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call mr. Schumer madam president. I ask unanimous consent the quorum be dispensed with. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Schumer now, madam president , i just listened to my friend, the republican leader. The republican leader is so tied in a knot by his own caucus and his president that all he can do is give alice in wonderland partisan speeches. All he can do is threaten to force sham votes that will not pass and will not answer the anguished cries for help that are coming from so many of our fellow americans. On the other hand over the weekend and yesterday, Speaker Pelosi and i continued our negotiations with the white house on the next phase of covid relief legislation. After a week of stalled talks, because republicans could not articulate a position on hardly anything, i believe were making progress. We came closer together on several issues. However, we remain far apart on a number of issues, but were finally moving in the right direction. At the moment, the gap between our two parties in the negotiations is about priorities and about scale. As this huge crisis engulfs our nation, democrats believe we need a bold, strong, and vigorous response from the federal government. It will take a lot of resources, but if we dont commit those resources now, for sure the costs will only grow in the months to come. Democrats are fighting to meet the needs of a desperate nation. Our republican friends, however, President Trump, his aides, and republicans in the senate, do not seem to appreciate the gravity of the situation. They do not understand the needs of the country that are so great. And they are not stepping up to meet those needs. This disease has washed over our country like a great flood, and republicans are acting like we need to fix a leaky faucet. Some of our republican friends seem to be going through the motions, content to pass a bill, any bill, so they can check the box and go home, but a bill that doesnt come close to meeting the needs of america. We cannot do that. We cannot pass an inadequate bill and then go home while the virus continues to spread, the economy continues to deteriorate , and the country gets worse. No boxchecking will work. We need real action. We need a relief package that actually rescues American Families, american schools, and american businesses that helps defeat this evil virus and prevents our economy from sliding into a depression, and democrats are going to keep fighting until we get there. But republicans on both ends of pennsylvania avenue are not yet awake to the enormity of the challenge, and we see it across a whole range of issues. For example, democrats believe we have an obligation to help every american put food on the table. Our republican friends start negotiating by saying they dont think we need to do anything to help hungry families and children. But maybe they can compromise and help feed a small percentage. Thats not going to cut it. Lets say a million families cant feed their kids. The republican bill has zero and we cover a million. To say we compromise and only cover half of them is cruel and not going to solve the problem. We want all we want to see all our schools open reopen in the fall, but they need the resources and guidance to do it safely. Not 25 of the resources. Not half. Schools need funding for masks and p. P. E. , for converting space into more socially distant classrooms, for updating their ventilating systems. Some need to double the number of buses to prevent packing kids together on the morning route to school. Its going to cost money, and republicans have to understand that. Parents must have confidence that if their school is going to reopen, it has the protocols and infrastructure in place to keep their children safe. Its the same with unemployment. Over 50 million americans have filed for unemployment with millions more filing new claims each week. We propose extending the unenhanced benefits that democrats secured in the cares act through the end of the year. The policy has kept as many as 12 million americans out of poverty and boosted consumer spending, one of the few bright spots in our economy. But republicans are intent in slashing those benefits or letting them expire long before the crisis is over. One republican proposal would give newly outofwork americans a 30 pay cut. Another would give them a 33 pay cut. The Trump Administrations own department of labor warned us that these proposals which would pay a percentage of a workers former wage are patently unworkable. It will take weeks and months if we adopt a republican proposal before any checks wind up in the hands of millions of americans. And our state Unemployment Office who is to administer this program agree. So republicans need to step up to the plate and work with us to find a solution that shields millions of jobless americans from further economic hardship. State, local, and tribal governments have fought this evil virus on their front lines, with budgets strained. They are at risk of shedding teachers and firefighters, bus drivers, sanitation workers, slashing Public Services. My good friend, senator carper, is leading a group of Democratic Senators to talk about these issues today because Senate Republicans and the white house do not believe in giving support to our state and local governments. And thats not an abstract concept. Again, thats firefighters and teachers and bus drivers and Health Care Workers. We dont care if they are in a blue state or a red state. They need the help. We must also address our elections and make sure that americans can vote safely and confidently with the new challenges of coronavirus for the first time in a national election. That means they need to be able to vote in person and by mail, which ever they choose. Adequate funding for state election systems and the post office shouldnt be a partisan issue. This is about preserving elections, making them fair, making every ballot count. Thats the wellspring of our democracy and its covid related, and our republican friends are resisting. Were still fighting to get enough funding for testing and contact tracing. Its extraordinarily frustrating that seven months into this crisis, democrats still have to argue with our republican colleagues about delivering enough support for testing, tracing, medicaid, and our health care system. These are just some of the many issues we need to work through. When people ask whats Holding Things up, its our view that not only are our republican friends disorganized and all over the lot, not only is President Trump tweeting about so many Different Things but not taking any leadership in this crisis, but most of all, that we must meet the needs of this enormous crisis and really help the American People. We need a strong, robust bill. Were working hard for that. Our republican colleagues inch by inch are beginning to see the light, i hope more of them will. So there are so many issues we must work through