11 30 eastern this morning. That vote series will include the first test for the latest republican Coronavirus Relief bill 60 votes will be needed to advance the measure. Live to the u. S. Floor of the senate here on cspan2. The president pro tempore the senate will come to order. The chaplain, dr. Black, will ms. Smith open the senate with prayer. The chaplain let us pray. O god, who sits on a lofty throne, we acknowledge your sovereignty over our nation and world. Keep us from becoming so desensitized to falsehood that we abort your plan for our lives. Lord, we are unworthy to approach your throne, for we are merely sinners, saved by your loving grace. Remove our guilt and forgive our sins. May we respond to your forgiveness by obeying your command for us to pray for our nation. Lord, use our senators today as messengers of truth, unity, and peace. Inspire them to stand for right, regardless of the consequences. We pray in your holy name. Amen. The president pro tempore please join me in reciting 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. S mr. Grassley madam president. The presiding officer the senator from iowa. Mr. Grassley one minute for morning business. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Grassley today the senate will vote on moving forward with relief for americans. That relief is necessary because of covid19. The bill contains new funds for testing and contact tracing, aid for schools and colleges to keep our kids safe, and it also includes child care assistance. It has more money for developing the Coronavirus Vaccine and treatments, funding for the Postal Service, and help for farmers. It allows for Small Businesses to access more Paycheck Protection Program with more flexibility and provides enhanced Unemployment Benefits. Now, surely these are items we can all agree on and ought to agree on them right now. We know how to Work Together to produce results for americans. We saw that in march when we successfully passed the cares act. Thats a good model to follow now. Back in march, republicans in the Senate Proposed a framework, then worked across party lines through the relevant committees to produce a consensus product that received overwhelming support in the senate. I was glad to lead the bipartisan negotiations on the part of the Senate Finance committee for that cares package and have been standing ready to repeat the process if Democratic Leaders would just agree to agree. Why cant we repeat the same process now . Democrats seem to think that they can hold out until republicans either agree to their partisan wishes or republicans take the blame for the lack of relief. If the democrats are right, it would be a partisan win for their party. But at the same time it would be a tremendous loss for the American People. Lets agree to move forward like we did last march. I yield the floor. Mr. Mcconnell madam president. The presiding officer the majority leader. Mr. Mcconnell 19 years ago tomorrow thousands of our fellow americans were murdered by terrorists. National landmarks were burning. Brave First Responders in new york city, arlington, and pennsylvania rushed in to mortal danger, putting their lives on the line to save strangers. And as the dust settled and 3,000 American Families grieved their loved ones far before their time, we quickly saw there was no going back. The old world that we had woken up to that Tuesday Morning was gone. We had not gone overseas in search of these monsters. These monsters came to us. These enemies would not leave our nation alone if we declined to confront them. So as we reflect on this anniversary tomorrow, well remember the thousands of innocent americans who died that day and the Brave Service Men and women who went on to pay the ultimate sacrifice to do justice and to prevent more attacks. My fellow kentuckians and i could not be prouder of the heroes stationed on our soil who have deployed throughout the war on terror. The special operators of the 160th, the Night Stalkers based at Fort Campbell, kentucky, handled the very first airborne insertion of army troops in midoctober. A dangerous flight over the hindu kush mountains, the soldiers they carried were from the famed fifth special forces group also based at Fort Campbell who formed the tip of the spear to unleash the might of america on the terrorists and their taliban hosts. The famous 101st airborne also at Fort Campbell became the first conventional unit on the ground just days later. Fast forward a decade, and the Night Stalkers were helicoptering over afghanistan yet again. They inserted and extracted seal team 6, the night we took Osama Bin Laden off the battlefield. Thousands more deployed from kentuckys Fort Campbell. More than 18,000 airmen from the Kentucky National guard have been mobilized to defend our nation. And fighting by our side for nearly 20 years now have been our friends and nato allies. Americas friend invoked article 5 right away and have fought alongside us to defeat this global threat. That dark day occasioned brave contributions from so many, from the firefighters who went through smoke, to the citizens who donated blood and flew our flag, to the young men and women who are stationed thousands of miles from home right now to help our nation project power and protect our homeland. We did what americans do. We stayed strong, we stuck together, and we rolled up our sleeves, and we rebuilt. Some rebuilt their lives. Others rebuilt buildings. Some put on the uniform and rebuilt peace and security with their own hands. May we never fail to honor them, and may we never tire of the toughness, vigilance and persistence it has taken and will continue to take to make our pledge, never again, a reality. Now, madam president , on an entirely different matter, congress has spent months talking, talking about whether to give the American People more relief as they continue grappling with this pandemic. Today were going to vote. Today were going to vote. Every senator will be counted. Should we move forward with the floor process to deliver hundreds of millions of dollars more for kids, for jobs, and for health care . Should we at least vote to move forward and have this debate out in the open . Or do our democratic colleagues prefer to hide behind closed doors and refuse to help families before the election . Well, well find out in a couple of hours. Republicans have tried repeatedly to build on the cares act and get more help out the door to American Families. Democrats have blocked us at every turn. Theyve invented different excuses each time. A few months ago Speaker Pelosi wrote a massive multitrilliondollar liberal wish list that even her own House Democratic members said would never become law. The heroes act went too far, a political wish list. Those were quotes from House Democrats. But in july when Senate Republicans put forward a serious offer, Speaker Pelosi and the democratic leader said they would not even talk not even talk unless we started with that unserious bill. No help for families unless they got to pass the absurd bill their own democratic members had ridiculed. So in august, republicans tried something else. We proposed breaking off some of the most urgent, most bipartisan policies and agreeing wherever we could. Unemployment insurance, the Paycheck Protection Program. But Speaker Pelosi and the democratic leader blocked that too. They said they didnt want to do anything piecemeal. Piecemeal, they said. And yet just a few weeks later, Speaker Pelosi completely contradicted herself, rushed back to washington to pass a total piecemeal bill that only helped the Postal Service and did nothing for working families. Contradiction after contradiction. Excuse after excuse. While working families have suffered and waited and wondered whether washington democrats really care more about hurting President Trump than helping them through this crisis. My democratic colleagues should stand up and tell the American People which elements of our multi multi proposal they propose. They should stand up and tell the American People which parts of the proposal well vote on today theyre actually against. Today were going to vote to extend the additional federal unemployment insurance. Democrats vote against that . Thanks to senator collins and senator rubio, were going to vote on a whole second round of p. P. P. For hardhit businesses. Are democrats against that . Thanks to colleagues like senator ernst, daines, gardner and sullivan well be voting on new support for Small Businesses like farms and fisheries. Thanks to senator cornyn, well be voting on commonsense Legal Protections at universities and nonprofits have been asking for. Who are the democrats excited to vote against . The farmers or the University President s . Thanks to chairman alexander and senator blunt were going to vote on an incredibly robust package for education and health care to get kids back to School Safely and then defeat this virus through science. Well be voting on 105 billion for education, more than House Democrats put in their bill. Billions for testing and tracing. And even more support for vaccines. And thanks to a number of our colleagues, including senator ernst and loeffler, theres new support for child care, plus other arrangements like homeschooling, thanks to senator cruz. Are democrats really going to refuse to fund k12 schools and child care in a pandemic because theyre afraid republicans might get some credit . Really . Theyre going to vote against finding and distributing vaccines because theyre afraid the breakthrough that our nation has prayed for might possibly help President Trump . These, these are the policies that every one of us will be voting on in a couple of hours. These and many more. Speaker pelosi and the democratic leader can keep up the frantic political spin. They can keep trying to make this an abstract argument over leverage or an infinite set of things that arent in the bill or whether the white house chief of staff has been polite to them, or whatever new excuse theyll settle on today. But none of that, madam president , is what were going to vote on. Were going to vote on policy. Today every senator will either say they want to send families the relief we can agree to or they can send families nothing. Nothing. Reporters asked the democratic leader yesterday if this stonewalling was making the perfect the enemy of the good. He replied listen to this republicans are the enemy of the good. Republicans are the enemy . Thats what he said, madam president. Weve all heard that saying that a gap is when a politician a gaffe is when a politician accidentally says what he really thinks. Thats a washington gaffe, when a politician actually says what he really thinks. Well, the democratic leader just told us how poisonous his thinking has become. The americans we represent, however they vote, know that republicans arent our enemies, and democrats arent our enemies. The coronavirus, madam president , is the enemy. The coronavirus is the enemy. My home state just passed a milestone yesterday. More than a thousand kentuckians have lost their lives to covid19. These families i represent are not burying their loved ones because republicans or democrats are the enemy. They are burying their loved ones because of this virus. Thats what were fighting. Thats what families are dealing with. Were not each others enemies. Were all in this together. Just like we were back in march and april. So today, every senator is going to vote. Every senator is going to vote. Senators who share the Democratic Leaders toxic attitude, who think the real enemy are their political opponents, i assume will follow his lead and vote no. They can tell American Families they care more about politics than helping them. But senators who want to move forward will vote yes. They will vote to advance this process so they can shape it into a bipartisan product and make a law for the American People. That, madam president , is what working families need. They need us to act. They need us to legislate. Today, they will see exactly who has their backs. 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, the judiciary, hala y. Jarbou of michigan to be United States district judge for the Western District of michigan. Mr. Mcconnell i notice the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call quorum call mr. Thune madam president. The presiding officer the majority whip. Mr. Thune my understanding is the senates in a quorum call. The presiding officer yes. Mr. Thune i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be lifted. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Thune once again this week republicans are bringing forward a proposal to provide additional Coronavirus Relief to help protect jobs, to get kids and teachers back in the classroom safely and to provide funding for the treatments and vaccines that we need to treat this virus. Once again, democrats are objecting. Its the same old song. Republicans bill doesnt spend enough. Well, lets talk about that for a minute, madam president. First of all, republicans are not claiming that the bill we put on the floor this week contains the last dollars that well need to spend in response to the coronavirus. We may need to spend more. This bill is simply an attempt to direct relief funds to some of the biggest priorities right now, like helping the hardesthit Small Businesses whether this crisis and provide more resources for testing, treatment, and vaccines. These are areas, madam president , that we should all agree on. Second of all, democrats coronavirus proposal, the 3 trillion bill that they proposed is both unrealistic and irresponsible. Our nation is deeply, deeply in debt right now. Next year our country will owe more than we produce for the First Time Since the end of world war ii. Thats that very bad place to be. Thats getting toward the kind of debt to g. D. P. Ratio that helped bring about financial disaster in greece. While the United States is not greece, if we grow our debt enough, what happened to the Greek Economy could happen here. Being the United States of america does not exempt us from financial reamounts. Realities. In times of crisis sometimes you have to borrow money, and thats what we had to do earlier this year with the cares act and other Coronavirus Relief legislation. But, madam president , we have an absolute responsibility to every american, to every hardworking individual in this country to ensure that we are only borrowing what is absolutely necessary. And democrats proposal doesnt even come close to meeting the definition of necessary spending. To give you just one example, democrats have proposed appropriating a staggering 1 trillion for states even though the states still still, madam president , havent spent the money that we provided for them in the original cares act. Now, its certainly possible that at some point well have to provide some kind of additional assistance to states, but to create a trillion dollar slush fund for states before theyve even spent the money theyve already been given would be an incredibly irresponsible use of taxpayer dollars. And at least some of that money could be used for Coronavirus Relief. Other money in the democrats bill would go to measures that have nothing, absolutely nothing to do with the virus. Things like, diversity studies in the cannabis industry. A soil health study, federalizing elections, tax cuts for millionaires in states like new york and california. Madam president , one of the biggest priorities in the wake of the coronavirus is helping americans keep their jobs or find new ones. It should be front and center in any relief bill. Yet, democrats massive bill, over 3 trillion in the democrats bill, manages to mention the world cannabis more often than the word job. Diversity studies for marijuana more sponsor, evidently than jobs, at least if you look at the democrats bill. And, madam president , that should tell you all that you need to know about the seriousness about the democrats proposal. Now, i would love for the democratic leader to come down to the floor and explain how a bill that mentions the word can business than the word job is a serious coronavirus bill. Despite that republicans have been willing to compromise on a coronavirus bill from the very beginning. We understand how negotiation works. And we knew that we would have to give some ground and that democrats would have to give some ground. And we were and are willing to do just that. But from the beginning, democrats have rejected serious negotiation. Sure, they they sat in meetings and proposed a bill but at the end of the day democrats refuse it had to compromise. It was their bill or no bill. Which means, madam president , that so far they have chosen no bill. The only way to get a bill through the senate and to the president s desk is to develop a compromise bill even if the majority leader put democrats exact bill on the floor today, there is no way, no way, madam president , that it would make it through the senate much less be signed into law by the president. So if the democrats really want a bill, they are going to have to compromise, and that is something that they continue to refuse to do, which leads to the logical conclusion that democrats dont want a bill at all. If democrats really wanted to get relief to americans, they would work with republicans to pass a compromise bill, even if it didnt contain all the money the democrats want because even if it were true that the republican legislation is inadequate, some money is better than no money. If you cant get someone in need all the money that you think they should have, you should get them what money you can. If democrats really thought it was of overwhelming importance that we deliver relief to americans right now, they would be working with republicans to get as much relief as they could through congress. But for democrats delivering relief to americans is not really of overwhelming importance. What is of overwhelming importance to democrats is keeping coronavirus alive as a political issue. And if that means no bill, well, then democrats are okay with that. Theyd rather have no bill, zero funding and a political weapon than have a bill and allow republicans to say that we helped americans. And so all indications are that when we have a vote later today that they plan to filibuster this bill. And thats not the first time that weve seeb this. Seen this. Think back to the end of june. In the wake of George Floyds death at the knee of a police officers, americans of all parties came together to push for Police Reform. A Police Reform was put on the floor for debate and amendment, a substantial bill that included 75 to 80 of what both democrats and republicans said they wanted, the product of years of research and work by senator tim scott, who has personal experience on this issue. And democrats well, democrats filibustered. Thats right. In the face of a nationwide call for Police Reform legislation, democrats refused to even move forward to debate the legislation. Why . Because agreeing to work with republicans on legislation that would have taken away much of democrats ability to exploit Police Reform as a political issue. And so democrats filibustered even though, remarkably, madam president , they were offered by senator scott and other supporters of the bill, numerous amendments ten amendments, 20 amendment votes, opportunities to improve the bill or at least improve the bill in their eyes and into a form that they could pass it. Well, its hard not to wonder if some of the violence that weve seen in our cities across the country in recent months could have been avoided if democrats had not decided to attempt to exploit this issue for political gain. Madam president , theres not a not a lot, i should say, republicans can do if democrats incontinued to keep continue to keep prioritizing political advantage over doing tear jobs as legislators. But doing their jobs as legislators many but were going to take this vote on the Coronavirus Relief bill this week, today, and were going to keep offering opportunities for democrats to work with republicans to help the American People. And maybe maybe, madam president , some of the democrat rank and file will decide that theyve had enough of their leaders playing politics and will work with us to resolve and to get some things done for the American People. Madam presiden, republicans are ready to negotiate. We just need democrats to come to the table. Madam president , i yield the floor, and i suggest the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call mr. Schumer madam president. The presiding officer democrati c leader. Mr. Schumer are we in a quorum . The presiding officer we are. Mr. Schumer i ask unanimous consent the quorum be dispensed with. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Schumer madam president , today the senate will take a rather pointless vote on the latest, highly partisan republican emaciated covid relief bill. The republican leader claims the bill is an attempt at a bipartisan solution but the bill was drafted solely by republicans, no input by democrats and rushed to the floor. Mr. Leader, go look up in the dictionary what bipartisanship is. Its both parties working together, not your party doing a bill and then saying its bipartisan. What the leader has done, the republican leader, is no ones idea of bipartisanship, not even his own members. And lets go over history. Hes done this trick before. Covid 2, covid 3, covid 3. 5. In each case the republicans came out, the leader came out saying this is his own bill, saying this is the only bill that will pass. Democrats are blocking it. Democrats held strong. And what happened . We got much better bills with many of the things we wanted. We got truly bipartisan bills once the leader determined that he had to negotiate with democrats to pass something. That will happen again. Theres a decent chance that will happen again. But this bill is not going to happen because it is so emaciated, so filled with poison pills, so partisanly designed, it was designed to fail. Now the republican leader claims the vote this week will expose democratic obstruction and delay, november one of these another one of these alice in wonderland type statements. Of course democrats werent the ones who said lets put the senate on pause. Who said that . Democrats didnt say lets wait and see. Who said that . Democrats didnt delay for four months while the nation suffered. In fact, the house passed a bill with the broad support of senate democrats. And so while the president was lying to the American People about the coronavirus, Senate Republicans were following suit in spirit. The republican leader himself talked about the lack of urgency in his caucus to address the problem. So the idea that democrats, who passed a comprehensive relief package through the house nearly four months ago are the cause of delay and obstruction is ridiculous. Its been the republicans all along. The record shows it. From the beginning, from way back in march after the cares act passed, democrats have insisted on continuing a program of assistance to the American People. We proposed legislation to give hazard pay to essential workers, rental assistance, housing assistance, nutrition assistance, legislation to extend the enhanced Unemployment Benefits that kept nearly 12 million americans out of poverty, money for rural broadband, money to help our restaurants and our hotels. Weve proposed many Different Things, none of which are in the republican bill. House democrats passed the heroes act through their chamber. So far its the only major covid relief bill since the cares act to pass either chamber of congress. And meanwhile, as the spring turned into summer and the summer approaches fall, republicans dithered and delayed. They pushed their chips in with President Trumps lot and hoped the virus would miraculously disappear and everything would be all better. Rather than use the power of the federal government to help our citizens during a onceinalifetime crisis, Senate Republicans closed their eyes, crossed their fingers hoping they wouldnt have to do anything. Sound familiar . Its just what President Trump tried to do as well. Here now, in september, republicans finally felt the public pressure to support a bill. But instead of working with democrats on something that could pass, our friends on the other side tried to find the bare minimum that Senate Republicans could support. They had 20 republican senators, in the words of the leader, who wanted to spend no money. The greatest economic crisis since the depression, the greatest Health Crisis since the spanish flu over a century, just about a century ago, and 20 republicans want to spend nothing, and they are the tail wagging the republican dog. So the leader didnt know the republican leader didnt know what to do. He proposed a meager bill, a skinny bill of 1 trillion, but even that wasnt good enough for the hard right, the large hard right in his caucus. And so he put together with spit and polish, an emaciated bill that hardly does a thing, that leaves out so many americans, that doesnt come close to meeting the moment, so he might say he might be able to bring something on the floor with a modicum of support in this caucus. Its insufficient, its completely inadequate, it does not help renters keep a roof over their heads or American Families put food on the table. It shortchanges health care and education. It does not provide a dime to protect essential state and local services. It is laden with poison pills. Provisions our colleagues know democrats would never support to guarantee the bills failure. The truth of the matter is the republicans and the republican leader dont want to pass a bill too many on the hard right in the senate and outside it would be angry if they actually put together a bill that could pass. So leader mcconnell this morning demanded that democrats name exactly what we oppose in their bill like it was some kind of challenge. How about broad immunity provisions. From the day he announced them, he knew it wouldnt get democratic support. How about Betsy Devos School choice plan that would funnel money into private schools while he neglected the real needs of our public schools. Of course democrats would oppose that. He knew that. He knows that. The truth is this emaciated bill is not a serious attempt at legislation or solving the real problems in our country. Its a shame. It is one of the most cynical moves ive seen, a fairly transparent attempt to show that the republicans are doing something when in fact they want to do nothing in reality. Were in the middle of a pandemic, an historic unemployment, industry struggling from one end of america to the other, and leader mcconnell isnt searching for bipartisan progress. He seems to be looking for political cover. Once this bill goes down, well be right where we started at the start of the week, waiting for our republican colleagues to wake up to the size of the crisis in our country and work with us on a bill that actually makes sense. We want to work on a bipartisan bill. The speaker and i have come down 1 trillion off our initial request which was based on the real needs of the American People during this pandemic crisis. Our republican colleagues, both the president , minions, and the Republican Senate, have refused to budge. But i still have some hope once this bill is defeated. If past is prologue, theres actually a significant chance that the public heat on Many Republican senators as they go back home will have them come to their senses, and theyll start negotiating with us in a serious way. That happened on covid 2. It happened on covid 3. It happened on covid 3. 5. I pray and plead for the sake of our country and the people who are suffering, that it will happen again, and republicans, once they see they cant pass this emaciated, terribly insufficient, and poison pill pocked proposal that theyll start negotiating in reality with us, something they have not done as of yet. Now, on President Trump, yesterday it was reported in a taped interviews with bob woodward, President Trump acknowledged that he knew the danger posed by covid19 way back in february, but he deliberately, deliberately down played the threat to the American People. We now know that the president wasnt illinformed. He wasnt being overly optimistic. He was lying to the American People. He was deliberately down playing the virus to the American People at a time when early and forceful action could have saved so many lives. Look, when the house is on fire, a fivealarm fire, you have an obligation to let people know. If you dont, theyre going to burn and theyre going to die. When we look at the rest of the world and see why theyre doing better than we are in fighting this disease, the reason is simple. They had some leadership. Weve had none from the white house. None. Weve had lying. Weve had ignoring the problem. Weve had misleading the American People, but no leadership, at a time when we desperately need it. Other leaders around the world were clear about science. They faced it up. They faced up to the problem and worked hard to solve it. They instituted policies to test, trace, and isolate. We had a president who simply lied about the dangers of the disease and suggested that americans inject bleach. Other leaders took responsibility and ownership. We had a president who said it is what it is. In the annals of history, this will be one of the five greatest examples of lack of leadership in american history. President trump, the history books are not going to regard you kindly. They are not going to regard you kindly. The president is coming up with great excuses now for his proif i profidious lies. This time he said he didnt want to tell the truth about covid because it might cause panic. Is this the same president busy panicking america right now, telling women in the suburbs their safety is at risk when the suburbs are not at risk at all . Is this the same president who invented a caravan of migrants in an attempt to panic americans before the last election . This president always uses panic as a tool when he thinks it serves his interest. So the idea that he did it because he didnt want to panic americans does not ring true. It seems like an ex post facto excuse for the president s profidious lies. President trump doesnt mind panicking people when it serves his interest. What is worse is he will not tell the truth when it hurts his interest, even, even if lives are at stake. The president s comments in this interview were despicable. It should serve as a warning to all americans about who this man is and his total, complete, abject failure to lead. Finally on transit, covid19 has changed nearly every aspect of american life, but Senate Republicans in the white house only want to address the barest sliver of the problems in our country, so this week ive been pointing out many of the things that the republican proposal leaves out. Yesterday i spoke about the plight of live venues and the need to save that essential part of our culture and our economy. Today i want to address another topic that has received far too little attention from the Senate Republicans transit. Public Transportation Systems are the lifeblood of Great American cities. Regional Networks Connect workers to jobs and consumers and businesses. As anyone can imagine during the pandemic, while transit authorities like the m. T. A. Have continued around the clock operations to serve the people, ridership on Public Transportation has plummeted, leaving them in a state of crisis. God forbid if Public Transportation were forced to shutter or drastically reduce operations like on long island where they rely on the long island railroad. The damage to regional economies and to the National Economy would be severe. But there is not a penny, not one single penny in the republican bill to help Public Transit systems or even help state and local governments which fund a lot of transit systems. Not a penny. My republican friends seem to look at this crisis through a narrow lens. Some of my colleagues have criticized democrats for the outrageous idea of wanting to help our state governments and essential Public Services they provide. Well, i have news for our colleagues. These Regional Transit systems are Mission Critical to the National Economy. Its not just a new york problem or a new jersey problem or an illinois problem. Its a national crisis. The metropolitan Transit Authority alone carries about 40 of the nations transit riders and drives as much as 10 of the national g. D. P. 10 . The facts argue for heavy investment in public Transportation Systems to staunch the bleeding and jumpstart the economy when the pandemic wanes. The lack of investment in transit systems in the republican legislation is unacceptable. Finally, according to a whistleblower complaint filed by a former senior official in the office of intelligence and analysis at the department of homeland security, political leaders at d. H. S. Told him to refrain from sharing reports about putins efforts to interfere with our elections because, quote, they make the president look bad. And this d. H. S. Whistleblower goes on to allege a broader pattern by trump and his lieutenants of politicizing and misrepresenting intelligence, altering the information to fit the president s way of thinking, what the president thinks makes him look good. We know this president doesnt like to hear the truth. He literally cant handle it. But whats even more alarming is that former d. N. I. Director dan coats, according to Bob Woodwards new book, could not shake his, quote, deep suspicion that is vladimir putin, quote, had something on the president. Many americans believe what coats said, that the reason donald trump bows down in obeisance to putin is that putin knows something that the president doesnt want made public. Thats how egregious the pattern of President Trumps behavior has been. It cries out for an explanation, and there is no logical one. There is no honorable one. His pattern, President Trumps pattern of down playing the threat from putin, placating the dictator and pursuing policies that have long been the goal of moscow asks an enormous question. What does president putin know that President Trump is so afraid of . So here is what needs to happen. Before we leave the election, there has to be an allsenators briefing on the threat from putin to our election. Every senator, democrat, republican, liberal, conservative, north, south, east, and west has an obligation to our constituents and the country we all love to find out what exactly putin is up to. I yield the floor. The presiding officer the senator from illinois. Mr. Durbin mr. President , i want to thank my colleague from new york for his comments this morning. Hes right. We have seen this play before. We know how it ends. Senator mcconnell, the republican leader, comes to the floor, proclaims that his latest creation is bipartisan. Democrats have a choice to vote yes or no, take it or leave it, were done. We have been through this over and over again. That is not how congress or human activity works. We have a split government between democrats and republicans. When we sit down together and compromise, good things can happen. Weve proved it. March 26. The vote was 960 for the cares act. A 3 trillion bill early on to address the coronavirus pandemic and deal with the serious challenges to our economy. Thank goodness we did it. It gave 600 a week in additional federal supplements and unemployment to families who were facing layoffs and closures of their businesses. We helped Small Businesses injecting billions of dollars back into protecting their payroll and keeping the lights on for the day when they could return. It worked it worked on a bipartisan basis. But where we are today reflects a failure and a repetition on the republican side. Explain to me this. Why did the Republican Senate leader refuse to physically present himself at any stage of the negotiation since march 26 for relief from this coronavirus pandemic . Thats right. Senator mcconnell refuses to enter the room where representatives of the white house and Democratic Congressional leaders were meeting to discuss a bipartisan compromise. We cant reach a compromise unless we clearly have all the parties at the table, and when the republican congressional leaders, mcconnell, mccarthy of california on the house side boycott these meetings for negotiations, nothing happens. I cant tell you how many times back in illinois during the august recess i was asked so are you going back to washington . And i said yes, were planning on going back the first week in september. What are you going to do . I said i dont know. At this point, there has been no negotiation, no compromise. Well, today we have a vote. We have been through this before. It is a mcconnell proposal that was not put to any kind of bipartisan negotiation. It is a onesided offering. It fails in so many respects. Think if you were unemployed, trying to make your mortgage payments, car payments, medical bill payments, credit card payments, put food on the table, make sure the kids are road to go back to school, and senator mcconnell announce, well, were going to cut that check you have been receiving for Unemployment Benefits in half. It wont be 600 a week. It will be 300 a week. Why . For that family, their needs and their bills are still the same. The economy is still hurting with 30 millionplus americans out of work. 800,000 in illinois receiving Unemployment Benefits. Im sure thousands in the commonwealth of kentucky. And yet the reality is whats going to be proposed by senator mcconnell today will create a hardship on these families they never envisioned. Is there any money in there to protect these families from being evicted . No. Wait a minute. How about food stamps and snap . Many of these families are struggling to put food on the table. Any help in this bill for them . No. Well, how about money for testing so that we can find out if people have positive results and should quarantine themselves and stay away from others. No. Not the kind of investment that is needed at this moment in history. Time and again what this senator from kentucky has given us is just an effort to say we tried, but he didnt. He didnt present himself at world cup of the negotiations to make a bipartisan bill. There is one provision i just want to spend a minute on here that really is troubling. Senator mcconnell has announced for months that nothing will move, nothing will help americans unemployed or Small Businesses until he gets what he called his red line proposal on liability and unity. Basically what they have done is to write a provision in this bill which be a solves businesses from their responsibility to the public and to their employees when it comes to safety in the workplace and the marketplace, and they have argued they have to do it because of the tsunami of frivolous lawsuits that they anticipate because of covid19. Well, it turns out that that socalled tsunami has never materialized. The lawsuits that are being filed are by businesses against Insurance Companies to decide coverage under insurance policies by inmates in prisons who are protesting what they consider to be inhumane conditions in the midst of a pandemic. Its only a handful of lawsuits that have been filed against businesses or malpractice suits related to the covid19. Here is the bottom line. Cop shenandoah conscientious Business People in illinois and across america are prepared to make their business place safe for the people who work there in the marketplace. What they need is a rational, clear statement of Public Health experts as to what they must do. Ive heard this over and over again. They said to me, senator, give me the standards on social distancing, labeling, sanitizers and masks, and we will live up to them. We can never guarantee that someone wont file a frivolous lawsuit, but we should be able to say to people if you will follow the Public Health experts with a real standard of care, then your motion on this is going to prevail in that lawsuit and that will be the end of it. But senator mcconnell thinks there is a better way to really absolve them from meeting any standard when it comes to Public Health. In fact, what he proposes today basically says if you comply with any local ordinance, good enough, enough said. It doesnt have to be any standard of Public Health that is credible. That doesnt keep america safe. What its going to do is encourage the bad actors to do little or nothing. If were going to deal with this pandemic, everyone has to be serious about it. From wearing these masks to social distancing to putting up with what has become a tedious responsibility of staying away from friends and family when you want to be with them to get this behind us. And when it comes to the business and marketplace, the same thing applies. They are going to have to pitch in. If they want to reopen and i wish they could today or tomorrow but if they want to reopen, they have to pitch in with a goodfaith effort to meet a Public Health standard. I will stand by them and everyone else will, too. Senator mcconnells approach be a solves them from responsibility. It is liability immunity and an invitation for bad actors to do little or nothing in protecting innocent people, including their own employees. Mr. President , im going to yield the floor at this point and say that we can do better than what senator mcconnell is offering the senate today. We can gather on a bipartisan basis and reach a compromise if he will attend the negotiations. I yield the floor. A senator mr. President. The presiding officer the senator from alaska. Ms. Murkowski mr. President , i have listened to the minority whip here, and i would say that i agree with him. This bill that we will have an opportunity to vote on later this afternoon does not have everything in it. I think almost i think every one of us would agree it doesnt have everything that we would like. It certainly doesnt have everything that i would like. In fact, it has a few things in there that i would have just as soon be jettisoned. But what we will have an opportunity to vote on today is a targeted relief measure. It is targeted towards our Small Business men and women that have been feeling the just the kick to the gut on a daily basis in my state and certainly in a state like florida that relies on tourism. It is targeted relief that is designed to help our kids get back into school and teachers be able to be in a safe environment. It is targeted relief that is designed to to help provide additional child care resources. It is targeted relief to help us advance to a vaccine that is accessible and affordable to all americans. It is targeted relief that will help us with additional testing. I think we recognize that more testing is going to be better than less testing. There is assistance for the United States Postal Service. Its not enough, in my view. I would like to see it increased significantly. But that is not in there, but there is some targeted relief for our Postal Service as well. The minority whip mentions the Liability Protection that is included within this measure. It has been no secret that that has been a priority, not only of the majority leader, but of of a majority of so many of us who have looked at and heard from those in our communities, our School Districts that are concerned about their liability, our Small Businesses that are concerned about reopening with no liability. This is not a get out of jail free card. This is designed that if you have have followed the protocols, if you have followed the requirements that have been set out there, that you are not going to lose that business, your School District is not going to be really, in terms of their funding, eroded because of litigation. So, again, it does not absolve if you have been negligent in in any way here. So, again, what i want to reinforce is we will have an opportunity here to vote on a measure today that is not everything to everybody. We couldnt get there. Negotiations i think its fair to say we all wish that there had been greater success with broader bipartisan negotiation. We havent gotten to that place. And so we are at a place where we do have an opportunity to put a measure out there that is is more directed in its targeted relief, that does leave out certain areas, that in my view does include some things that should not be in here, but it is where we are today. And so we either have an opportunity to do some incremental steps to build on what we put in place with the cares act several months ago, or to do nothing for an interm gnat period for an indeterminate period of time. In my state, i have Small Businesses for whom the p. P. P. Was a lifesaver, but i come from a state where we are pretty seasonally focused with our economy. And the relief that they were able to get for those few months in the summertime, that that allowed them to kind of stay open. But when you dont have your tourists come to town, when you really dont have your economy kick into gear during the summer, believe it or not, folks, it doesnt happen in the wintertime in alaska. We dont have those people coming to visit us. We dont have the cruise ships, we dont have the airplanes with the people willing to come and spend their money. And so we have to wait until at least next may. And alaskans are hoping and praying they can hold on till may. There are some things in this targeted relief package that will help them, an opportunity for a second round, an opportunity focused on our smaller businesses, an opportunity for an extension of time within which to pay to pay down those those cares act money. Thats the thing ive heard more often than anything else is give us more time to spend this because we dont want to spend it on things we dont need right now because we know that the winter is going to be long and dark and tough. Give us that ability. We didnt get the flexibility that we had asked for. That would have been important, but the time extension will be important. The loan forgiveness piece for the smaller loans will be important. The extension of the additional u. I. No, its not a full 600, but it does allow for Additional Support for those who are suffering most. Again, what were trying to do is were trying to target the relief, not put it will all out there in areas where some didnt need it, some did, hope we get it right. Again, this is this is a a measure that many will say is a half a measure, but im talking to folks back home that are saying give us something. We need to have something now because otherwise we dont know how long we can hold on. So this is this is something that im going to be supporting later this afternoon despite what i point to as the flaws in it. Im not going to spend my time here today to talk about why i i disagree with some of the school some of the School Choice provisions that are in here. I think my position on that is relatively well known. But im going to vote for this regardless of the fact that those provisions are in there. They are provisions that are going to help our fishermen, going to help our Small Businesses, going to help our schools and help those who need this additional unemployment insurance. There is a measure in this bill, though, that has ee advocated is evoked an interesting bit of controversy and its in an area that i authored. This comes from the text of my american mineral security act. This is a bill that we reported from the Energy Committee last year. And the portion of the bill that is in controversy right now, according to my friends on the other side of the aisle, is actually text from a bipartisan bill that my friend and the Ranking Member on the Energy Committee inserted himself. I cosponsored it, but it would effectively authorize the department of energy to conduct research to develop advanced processes to help recover rare earth elements from coal and coal by products. It authorizes a total of 23 million per year for seven fiscal years. We saw this was a particularly worthy provision to advance. We know that we import almost all of our rare earths from abroad, primarily from china. We know the supply is precarious. China has dmorn straitd its willingness to cut off a country. We need it for jet engines, satellites. Its all about supply chain. So i was a little bit bemused, i guess, when i saw that this particular provision was the object of partisan scorn. It was actually the Obama Administration that helped fund the research to help examine the potential of these technologies. Nettle, the National Technology lab has been working on this, as has a number of universities. But with when you think about what were doing here, it is were seeking to recover rare earths from coal waste. Its a little bit like like turning your trash into treasure. It is the ultimate in recycling. Youve already disturbed the earth, thats already happened. Now what were doing is were going through that and were trying to determine if we cant utilize some of that waste for something of that great value, rare earth. It could ironically add to our domestic supplies without necessitating new mines. You would think that those on the other side of the aisle who dont like mining, would agree that recycling that waste is a strong and positive thing to do. Some have said, well, why is this why is this mineral security act, any of the provisions in this bill at all . I think one of the things that we learned from this pandemic is that supply Chains Really matter, whether its supply chains from the pharmaceutical end or supply chains when it comes to these minerals that are so essential to everything that we do. So theres been some interesting attacks on this bipartisan provision. One of my democratic colleagues declared that it could fasttrack coal mines. One said its targeted to corporate donors, another said on twitter that it amounts to corporate welfare to the coal industry during an emergency. You dont know where to rebut that. Let me cite a couple. The department of energy has a research issue. They do not permit coal mines. There is no fasttracking under the provision because there is no authority within the d. O. E. To do so. It doesnt exist. We are not putting labs in charge of the review process. So youre not going to see one of your National Labs become a permitting office. Ive also been surprised to hear that Research Grants from the department of energy are somehow or other corporate welfare now. I i have a great deal of respect for the work that goes on within d. O. E. I think that they are the ultimate engine for innovation, leading to good jobs, economic growth, cleaner air, cleaner water. These grants are not just directed to industry. They are directed many many of our universities will be among the likely recipients. It is important, i think, to recognize that what we are establishing within this measure is something that would benefit our economy, benefit jobs, benefit the environment. I mentioned that this provision is an authorization of of appropriations. It doesnt allocate any taxpayer dollars. It simply creates a new option for those of us who serve as appropriators to choose as part of our normal budgeting process. So and weve seen a lot of of accusations, misleading attacks over Different Things that are in this bill, or perhaps some things that are not in the measure. I think, again, what we have in front of us is is an opportunity to provide targeted relief to americans at a time that they are in need. And so what we do today, how we do it today i think is important. I think it is unfortunate that we will likely see this as a as a wholly partisan exercise. I would like to think that we would have a different outcome. I would like to think that each of us can look at these provisions and say, well, it might not be as much as i would have liked or that constituents in florida or alaska, but it does allow us to to advance one step further. My hope is that we will continue aggressive negotiations because i continue to hear from people in my state who are still reeling from the impact of this pandemic. They do not see the upcoming months giving them notable relief from an Economic Perspective and they want to know that their federal government will be a partner with them in aiding them in their recovery. Theyll have an opportunity to vote on that later, and i would certainly hope that all members look at where we are today with the offering that is in front of us. With that, mr. President , i yield the floor. Mr. Gardner mr. President. The presiding officer the senator from colorado. Mr. Gardner i ask unanimous consent that the vote schedule for 11 30 begin now. The presiding officer is there objection . Without objection. The question occurs on the jarbou amendment. On the nomination. Is there a sufficient second . There appears to be. The clerk will call the roll. Vote vote vote the presiding officer are there any senators in the chamber wishing to vote or wishing to change their vote . Seeing none, the ayes are 83, the nays are 15. The nomination is confirmed. The clerk will report the next nomination. The clerk the judiciary, thomas t. Cullen of virginia to be United States district judge for the Western District of virginia. The presiding officer the question occurs on the nomination. Is there a sufficient second . There appears to be. The clerk will call the roll. Vote vote the presiding officer are there any senators in the chamber wishing to vote or wishing to change their vote . Seeing none, the ayes are 79, the nays are 19, and the nomination is confirmed. The clerk will report the next nomination. The presiding officer nomination, the judiciary, diane gujarati, of new york, to be United States district judge for the Eastern District of new york. The presiding officer the question occurs on the nomination. Is there a sufficient second . There appears to be. The clerk will call the roll. Quorum call vote vote vote the presiding officer are there any senators in the chamber wishing to vote or change their vote . Seeing none, the ayes are the 9, the nays are zero. The nomination is confirmed. Under the previous order, the motions to reconsider are considered made and laid upon the table, and the president will be immediately notified of the senates action. The presiding officer 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 motion to concur in the house amendments to s. 178, an act to condemn gross Human Rights Violations of ethnic turkic muslims in zing shank and calling for an end to ashtory harassment and torture 6 of of these communities inside and outside amendment with a further amendment number 2652 signed by 17 senators. The presiding officer the senate will be in order. The senate will be in order. The senate will be in order. By unanimous consent, the mandatory quorum call has been waived. The question is, is it the sense of the senate that debate on the motion to concur in the house amendment with amendment number 2652 to s. 178, an act to condemn gross Human Rights Violations of ethnic turkic muslims and calling for an end to arbitrary detention, torture and harassment of these communities inside and outside china shall be brought to a close. The yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule. The clerk will call the roll. Vote vote vote the presiding officer are there any senators in the chamber wishing to vote or change their vote . If not, on this vote, the yeas 00 are tea, the nays are 47, threefifths of the senators having chosen and not having voted in the affirmative, the motion is not agreed to. A senator mr. President . The presiding officer the senator for arkansas. Mr. Cotton i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to legislative session for a period of morning business with senatorsment prosecuted to speak therein for up to ten minutes each. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Cotton i yield and i note the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call quorum call mr. Brown are we in a quorum call . Mr. President. The presiding officer the senator for ohio. Mr. Brown thank you mr. President. I ask unanimous consent to dispense with the quorum. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Brown i come to the floor today first to thank senator duckworth for leading many of us to come to the floor this week to stand in solidarity with all the military families around the country and throughout our nations history who have sacrificed so much in service of our country. I hope we can all join together not as republicans and democrats, but as servants of the American People in expressing outrage and disgust at the comments made by the president that were confirmed by multiple news outlets last week. A deep reverence for the Service Members, including the presiding officer, who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country, a deep reverence for all Service Members, but especially those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country, has never before been a partisan issue in this body or in our country. These americans laid down their lives because they love this country, they love what we stand for. They understood something that President Trump never will, the idea of service. The ethos of giving your all for something greater than yourself. I know some of my colleagues will continue to bury their heads in the sand to pretend the president couldnt possibly have said those things, but if you dont believe it if you dont believe its within President Trumps character to denigrate our troops, you havent been paying attention the last five years. President trump called our former colleague and our friend, senator john mccain, an american war hero to every one of us. Trump called him a lures. He denigrated all p. O. W. s and their families. He attacked a gold star family whose son paid the ultimate sacrifice for our country with antimuslim bigotry. He repeatedly attacked and retaliated against Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman who spent his life serving our country. Its not just President Trumps words, as despicable and disrespectful as they are, its his actions. He diverted funding from our military bases to pay for his vanity project border wall. He made it easier for payday lenders to prey on our Service Members by selling them loans at exorbitant rates. Look at the payday lenders that crop up around our military bases. The president handed out favors to foreign banks like santander that illegally repossess Service Members cars and foreclose on their homes while they were defending our country. He ordered the closure of the militarys newspaper stars and stripes because it refused to serve as a Propaganda Machine for him. Under pressure, now hes saying hes going to bring it back. Now hes failing to protect our troops and our veterans from this disease, and his administration used them as guinea pigs, prescribing hydroxychloroquine tablets and unproven covid treatment. He did that this spring as he was not telling the country about the seriousness of this disease. None of this should be partisan. I know my republican colleagues and i disagree on a lot of things taxes, budgets and health care poig. But i never heard any of us disagree on the fact that americans who serve our country are american heroes, whether they fought during world war i against fascists like my father did or are defending us today, we owe them and their families a debt of gratitude. Those who made the ultimate sacrifice were mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, aunts and uncles. They had hopes and they had dreams of devoting careers to service. All of my colleagues have spoken to the families of the fallen. We try to empathize with the unbearable pain they go through. Some of my colleagues have been those brothers or sisters or sons or daughters. All of our Service Members, all of our veterans, all of their families deserve better. I ask my colleagues to join me and join senator duckworth in standing in solidarity with all american Service Members and veterans and their families. Well never forget the debt we owe you. Were humbled by your commitment to service. I note the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call quorum call ms. Stabenow mr. President , i would ask to lift the quorum call. The presiding officer without objection. Ms. Stabenow thank you very much, mr. President. I have two items id like to speak to a few moments on today. But first i want to rise to say how pleased that i am that the senate voted to confirm judge hala y. Jarbou to serve as the federal judge in the u. S. District circuit for the western direct. We reported our blue splips and we are very pleased to support her confirmation. I think she will do an excellent job. And judge jarbous story is really an american story. She was born in iraq and came to this country as a young girl. She was the first person in her family to earn her College Degree from the university of michigan and her law degree from wayne state university. She is the first kelvian judge to serve on the Circuit Court level in oakland county, michigan, and she is now the first to serve on the federal bench. So very, very pleased that she was confirmed today. Judge jarbou greatly values the opportunity shes been given, i know, and has worked hard to extend those opportunities to others during her career. Shes active in the michigan legal communities and in the kalvianamerican chamber of commerce and other organizations. She served as a mentor and worked to increase the diversity of clerks in her own courtroom, and, again, im just very pleased that she was overwhelmingly confirmed by the United States senate today
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