Skin two. 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. Mighty god, teach us to trust you more fully, to wait quietly for the unfolding of your providence, to pray fervently, and to worship more humbly. Reassure us with your wisdom, power, and love, that your providence will prevail. Lord, you are our shelter for every storm. Remind our lawmakers to remember how your purposes have prevailed in our nations history so they need not fear for the future. Provide them with a firm faith that will enable them to meet the daunting challenges of these times. Lord, lengthen their moments of prayer until their lives become a continual aspiration after you. We pray in your matchless 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. Mr. Grassley mr. President. The presiding officer the senator from iowa. Mr. Grassley i ask for one minute for morning business. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Grassley the poisoning of russian Opposition Leader alexis navaldny, this happened last month, was a very disgusting thing to hear about. But such action in russia or by russia is not unprecedented. In 2015, the leading Democracy Advocate in russia, boris netov, was gunned down within the sight of the kremlin. The square in front of the Russian Embassy in washington is now named in his honor, echoing the effort that i led to name the street in front of the old Russian Embassy after the dissident andrei sakarov. Netovs protege and the russian opposition murza was then poisoned, poisoned twice but miraculously survived, and continues to work for russian democracy. The good news is that mr. Neva mr. Nevalny is reportedly conscious. Now, a Silver Lining may also be that putins latest attempt at assassination is bringing our allies towards a consensus to treat putin as a pariah. There are reports of senior german politicians reconsidering their support for nordstream 2 pipeline which divides our european allies. This pipeline is opposed by countries like poland and baltics who truly understand that putin will use it as a Strategic Influence tool as well as by the Trump Administration and bipartisan majorities in congress. So i hope all of these happenings is the start of a new era of cooperation with our russian allies to counter russian influence. I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call quorum call mr. Mcconnell mr. President . The presiding officer the majority leader. Mr. Mcconnell i ask consent that further proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed with. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Mcconnell whm i addressed the when i address the situation in the middle east, its often for discuss instability, terror, or other threats to the United States and its partners, like israel. Those threats still exist, but im very glad to be speaking today about peace breaking out. And its breaking out more quickly than we can even stage the official ceremonies it memorialize the diplomatic achievements. A few weeks ago with major help from the United States and the Trump Administration, israel and United Arab Emirates reached the first arabisrael peace deal in 26 years. The abraham accord is named for the shared religious roots that christians, jews, and muslims all hold in common. It will make the u. A. E. Just the third arab nation and the very first in the gulf to normalize relations with israel. In the words of the Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu full official peace, full diplomatic agreement with embassies, investment, commerce, tourism, and direct flights between tel aviv and dubai and abu dabi. Weve come along way indeed. What a moment. Leaders in both countries made sacrifices to make this deal possible. Prime minister net and the sheik understand that both arabs and israelis will benefit from the peace and prosperity that tearing down barriers can bring. America will also benefit from these two regional friends working more closely together and reducing tensions across a challenging region. Now, to be sure, work is not finish and no single step like this should be confused for an overnight miracle. In this case we in congress have an obligation to review any u. S. Armed sales package linked to the deal. As we help our arab partners defend against growing threats, we must continue ensuring that israelis qualitative military edge remains unchallenged. But the winds of change are blowing, mr. President , and theyre bringing good news for peace all across the region. Of course a few extreme voices perhaps correctly sensing that their moment is slipping away are not at all happy. A predictable cast of characters wasted no time condemning the agreement and branding the u. A. E. As traitors to the arab or muslim world. But, unlike Iranian Clerics or al qaeda terrorists, everyone whos actually living in the 21st century is celebrating this major progress. This major step forward is being documented aality signing ceremony documented in a signing ceremony at the white house tomorrow. But between the abraham accord and the official ceremony tomorrow, another arab state has joined the parade toward peace. On friday, september 11, israeli and bahrain announced their agreement to open formal diplomatic relations. After egypt, jordan, and the ut a. E. , this makes the fourth historic step toward normalization by israels arab nation. Along with President Trump, Prime Minister netanyahu and king had a mad of bahrain called the agreement, quote, an historic breakthrough to further peace in the middle east. And, indeed, reports suggest that still more arab states may not be far behind. This is a new course with the potential to fundamentally fundamentally change the middle east. Dennis ross, former advisor to president obama and a longtime practitioner of the peace process, wrote just yesterday that these agreements are a bonafide breakthrough that are changing the Political Landscape of the middle east and the israelpalestine state mate for the better. Thats dennis ross from the Obama Administration. Thats how former Obama Administration officials are praising the Trump Administrations successes. Im grateful for this administrations work to encourage peace. Im proud of this historic opportunity that American Leadership and diplomacy has made possible. Now, mr. President , on a totally different message, i had hoped and republicans had hoped that the American People had hoped that the senate would be spending this week finishing up another bipartisan agreement on Coronavirus Relief. We want to get hundreds of billions more dollars into the pipeline for kids, for jobs, for health care, but, unfortunately, Senate Democrats chose to block it all. Our democratic colleagues voted against hundreds of billions of dollars to help americans fight the virus. This wasnt even a vote on final passage, just a procedural vote to break the Democratic Leaders filibuster and move forward with something. Senate democrats, nevertheless, filibustered the aid. And then just a few short days later they went right back to signaling that a Democratic National majority paired with a President Joe Biden would abolish the filibuster and permanently vandalize the institution to more easily force radical change. Radical change on the country. This threat to permanently disfigure to disfigure the senate has been the latest growing drumbeat in the modern democratic partys war against our governing institutions. There was former senator reed starting the Nuclear Exchange back in 2013. There have been years of unprecedented tactics to try and deny President Trump the government the people elected. Theres been the latest has been the least fair, least thorough,and most rushed impeachment inquiry in important history. And now, mr. President , the most shameless the most shameless hypocrisy. Senate democrats happily use the filibuster to block Coronavirus Relief and senator tim scotts Police Officer reform bill at the very same time theyre conspiring to destroy that very tool so they can ram through their radical agenda if they ever win power. Gradea hypocrisicy. Gradea hypocrisy. Nothing more. Weve had former president obama called for, quote, eliminating the filibuster another jim crow relic. About one month after his party used it to kill senator tim scotts Police Reform bill. We have some of former Vice President bidens allies in the senate daydreaming daydreaming about ending the filibuster even as they them self use the filibuster to kill pandemic relief for working families. Democrats want completely different sets of rules depending on whether or not they hold power, a different set of rules depending on whether they hold power. New england want to assert they want to assert minority rights when they have the minority and steam roll them if they get a majority. Heres nbc news democratic insiders are assembling a coalition behind the scenes to wage an allout war on the senate filibuster. Veteran party operatives, activist groups, and supportive senators are coordinating message and strategy. This takes measuring the drapes to a new level. The democratic leader and his colleagues arent just measuring the drapes, theyre calculating how much kerosene it could take to burn the drapes down. They arent just threatening to pass radical policies like medicare for none or the green new deal. No no no. The far left wants to hotline democrats itself. Things like packing the Supreme Court with new seats or packing the senate by handing out new statehood to one individual city. I said it a few months ago todays democrats have lost patience with playing by the rules and want to wage war on the rulebook itself. Theyre saying as much out loud. Perhaps our colleagues think promising a shameless power grab is the only way to radicalize their considering energize their farleft base. But the real effect is to make the stakes in these issues completely and totally clear to the American People. The framers designed the senate to be the countrys firewall against illconsidered and radical change. Thats what the senate was all about from the beginning. If our democratic friends have concluded their worst ideas could never clear the high bar, if they think their ideas could never clear the high bar, its their bad ideas that need to be scrapped, not the core checks and balances of our government. The presiding officer under the previous order the leadership time is reserved. Morning business is closed. 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. Mark c. Scarsi of california to be United States district judge for the Central District of california. Mr. Rubio mr. President . The presiding officer the senator from florida. Mr. Rubio in the events of the last few months well be seeing on the streets, the protests, all the issues that surround that i think it forced the country to grapple with our history on the issues of race. And in particular the what we teach Young Americans about what that means and how it fits in the broader story of america. Is america in fact a nation founded on racism, one that makes our very founding and its principles almost irredeemable . Its an important question. You cant ask americans or any generation to sacrifice or defend any nation so deeply flawed. So it is one i think we need to talk about. This country was founded in the year 1776. It was founded by this declaration that all men are created equal, that your rights come from god, from your creator. Now, we take those words for granted today. They were extraordinarily radical ideas 244 years ago. Up until that time, every person on earth was told that your rights were whatever the sovereign allowed you to have, whatever the king allowed you to v you didnt have any rights that were natural to you. So the very principle itself is pretty radical. The problem is that from the very beginning, many of the people, including who put their name on that document and our laws at the time, did not reflect that founding principle. And our story can largely be summarized as a 244year journey to more fully i have up to the promises made at our founding. For our first 89 years as a nation, human beings were owned as slaves. And beyond just the who arers of slavery, they were the subject of torture, of rape, of seeing their children sold away, away from them, never to see them again p. When that horrible institution finally came to an end, it was followed by another 100 years of separate unequal. Black americans were told where they could live, work, go to school, and more. They were told where they could eat, where they could sit or not, where they were allowed to stay overnight. They were even told what side of the road they would be allowed to walking on in many parts of this country. They were denied right to vote, either directly or through intimidation or threats. And it was a time when any black man was one false accusation awade from losing his life to the hands of a lynch mob. That is sameful truth, an undeniable part of our history, a stain on our legacy as a nation. But it is not the whole story. From the very beginning, it was clear that the promise of our founding and our failure to live up to it, these two things could not ultimately coexist. From the very beginning, within a year and even before the founding of our nation there were already americans working to end slavery. Sometimes they paid for it with their lives. Ultimately, it became the single most divisive issue in the country to the point that it was only resolved through a blood did i civil war. Through a bloody civil war. For the next is 00 years, during the era of separate but unequal, it was also americans who worked to end segregation and jimcrow laws. Americans of every walk of life. Little children who braved angry mobs to desegregate a school, protesters and those in the streets who faced down bull connors dogs and beatings. Little girls who died when their church was bombed. Ours is not simply the story of a people who for 189 years failed to live up to the promise of america. Ours is also the story of the americans who ultimately succeeded in making us a nation that was closer to who we were supposed to be. Thats why at least for me when they play the National Anthem and the flag that i face and put my hand over my heart to honor, that flag thats not the flag of slave owners. Thats the flag of the abolitionists. Thats the flag of Harriet Tubman and frederick douglass, who were american heroes. The flag that i pledge allegiance to, its not the flag of the segregationists. Its the flag of the freedom riders. Of the people who made the march from selma to montgomery. Thats the flag of rosa parks and dr. King. Our history does not simply belong to the villians. It belongs even more so to the heroes who frankly made us more american in each successive generation. I have heard in some corners people suggest that our founding documents themselves are documents embedded in racism because, i imagine, many of the people who signed it indeed were or did not live up to the words they signed their names onto. But that would be forgetting the fundamental fact that every single Great Movement in american history, every movement for equality in the history of this nation in the history of this nation, has not been a rejection of our founding documents. Has not been a rejection of our founding principles. Has not been a call to overthrow the constitution or the declaration of independence. Every one of these movements, Great Movements in the history of this country towards equality has been an appeal towards those principles, a demand that we live up to those principles. Dr. King said the magnificent words of the constitution and the declaration of independence, an appeal to our founding documents, which he called a promissory note to which every american was to fall heir. As we talk now about what is taught to our children in our schools and in our lives, i think our children deserve to know the truth about their country. All the truth. We must teach our children about the times in which our nation fell short. We must teach them about the people responsible for us falling short. We must point to the times, even now, when we fall short. That is the only way you learn the lessons of history, the only way to avoid repeating them. But we must also teach them that it was americans who dedicated and even lost their lives to end these evils. While were at it, we should teach them too about the greatness of our country. Teach them about the Young Americans who died far from home for the freedom and liberty of others, who lost their lives in iwo jima and qa guadal canal, in San Juan Hill and manila bay. Teach them also, teach them about how when disaster strikes anywhere on this planet, it is their country who responds first and with the most, to fukushima, japan, and west berlin, a