fill them today with your joy. we pray in your righteous 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. the president pro tempore: under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved. the president pro tempore: the senator from wisconsin. ms. baldwin: i notice the absence of a quorum. the president pro tempore: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: mr. schumer: madam president. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent the quorum be dispensed with. the presiding officer: it is so ordered. mr. schumer: now, madam president, the past few weeks in the senate have been extremely productive. senate democrats delivered on our promise to pass bold covid relief legislation, and we have now confirmed 16, 16 cabinet level officials. today we'll continue to -- continue moving the ball forward on the president's nominees by confirming representative deb haaland to serve as president biden's secretary of the interior. rep haaland has already made history as one of two members who became the first native american women to serve in the house of representatives. she is a citizen of the laguna pueblo nation, and her family's roots in new mexico can be traced for 35 generations. by her own account, she grew up poor, moving frequently. her mother served in the navy, and her father spent a 30-year career in the marines. while the federal government has often mistreated and neglected indigenous americans, the haaland family has proudly and bravely served this country. now representative haaland is making history twice over as the first native american secretary of the interior and the first native american cabinet official in american history. rep haaland's confirmation represents a gigantic step forward in creating a government that represents the full richness and diversity of this country because native americans were for far too long neglected at the cabinet level and in so many other places. rep haaland will have an important task ahead of her. she must refocus the interior department on preserving and protecting almost 500 million acres of public lands, combating climate change and environmental degradation, and upholding the federal government's obligation to tribal nations. the trump administration did more to undermine the relationship between the federal government and the sovereign tribes than many have in decades, from desecrating sacred burial sites to building a border wall to neglecting the desperate situation of native tribes during the pandemic. shame on them. in elevating rep haaland to lead the department of interior, we reset the relationship between the federal government and tribal nations to one of cooperation, mutual respect, and trust. so different than the last administration's attitude. mr. schumer: i greatly look forward to voting in favor of rep haaland's nomination in a few short hours. now, throughout the week, the senate will process even more of president biden's highly qualified cabinet nominees, including xavier becerra to serve as the next secretary of health and human services, isabel guzman to serve as s.b.a. administrator, and katherine tai to serve as u.s. trade representative. as the president -- as president biden continues to fight the covid pandemic and begins implementing the american rescue plan, he deserves to have his team in place asap. as soon as possible. now, on the american rescue plan, late last week, president biden signed the american rescue plan into law. the most significant federal recovery effort in decades is now under way. $1,400 checks are heading out the door to 85% of american households. relief for schools, businesses, families, and state and local governments is starting to arrive. shots are going into the arms of americans from coast to coast. more than 135 million doses of the vaccine have now been delivered. over 100 million doses have now been administered. that's one-third of the population and much more quickly than had been previously projected. and our economy is poised for its own shot in the arm. as the american rescue plan begins to take effect, economists are projecting that american economic growth could more than double as a result of this bold, strong legislation. already americans are more optimistic about businesses being able to reopen. jobs coming back and the national economy taking off. as one headline read over the weekend, americans see better days ahead in pandemic and economy. after the american rescue plan passed through the senate a little over a week ago, i've been highlighting parts of the bill that may have escaped notice, and there are so many. we all know about the $1,400 checks. we all know about the shots in the arm. but today i want to take some time explaining how it helps our nation's students. first of all, the american rescue plan provides substantial emergency relief to colleges and universities weighted towards those colleges and universities without million dollar endowments. fully half of that funding must be used for emergency financial said grants to -- aid grants to students, at least $20 billion nationwide. and of course many students will benefit from the $1,400 checks. any student with a young family will benefit from the historic expansion of the child tax credit, but these emergency financial aid grants are another way that students with exceptional need can access relief. that's not all. the american rescue plan also sets the stage for president biden to deliver incredibly meaningful student loan forgiveness by making all types of student loan forgiveness tax free through december. at the moment debt cancellation is usually treated as taxable income. so without this provision, forgiving a student's debt would stick them with a tax bill. giving with one hand, taking away with the other. this would apply to more than a hundred thousand students who are already in repayment programs that offer some student loan forgiveness. crucially, this tax provision would apply to future efforts to forgive student loans as well. i believe the current administration has the legal authority to forgive up to $50,000 in federal student loan debt, a life-changing policy decision that would boost our economy and help close the racial wealth gap. 20 years after starting college, the median white borrower will owe 6% of their debt while the median black borrower owns 95% of their debt. canceling up to $50,000 in student debt would close the racial wealth gap by 28% -- 28 percentage points among those households. that's just one of the many reasons senator warren and i have been advocating this policy, to cancel $50,000 of student debt and, as i mentioned, it's become an issue of racial justice as well. president biden to his credit has already proposed some student loan forgiveness, up to around $10,000. but now one of the objections that some in the administration have had, that students when we forgive debt will have to pay taxes is gone, gone, gone because of the a.r.p. and i particularly want to thank senators menendez and warren for their work on these provisions. for much of american history, education has been the ladder up. for too many of these days, student debt has become the anchor weighting them down making it harder to start a family, buy a home, plan a career, and so much more. the pandemic has stressed student finances even closer to the breaking point. thankfully, the american rescue plan not only delivers short-term relief but clears the way for long-term relief for american students by saying when we forgive your debt, you don't have to pay taxes on it. and american students collectively bear more than $1.7 trillion in student debt. when you think of young people and they're starting out their lives and there's so much excitement and enthusiasm, and then they have $1.7 trillion of debt on their shoulders weighting them down? that's not the american way of sunny optimism and can do. this system sprung out of control in many ways. going after the for-profit colleges and making sure they don't take advantage is one way we're trying to curtail it. but for the students who have this debt, future actions won't do any good in terms of changing the way we finance colleges and what we -- how we deal with the for-profits. the best way is canceling $50,000 in student debt and the good news? the a.r.p. makes sure no taxes are owed on any of that cancellation. so no matter how their team performs during march madness this weekend, the american rescue plan gives every student something to cheer about. go syracuse. i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: quorum call: mr. mcconnell: madam president? the presiding officer: the republican leader. mr. mcconnell: i ask consent that further proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: last thursday i spoke about the pain and disruption this pandemic has caused this past year. i also discussed the optimistic springtime that lies before us. the brighter horizon is not a product of a partisan bill that was signed last week or an administration that was sworn in less than two months ago. it was built by the american people and supported by the five historic and completely bipartisan bills that congress passed just last year. later on thursday, the nation heard remarks from president biden. the president spoke in a heartfelt way about grief and loss, but his vision for the days ahead was badly lacking. along a number of crucial dimensions, the biden administration keeps trying to rewrite recent history and year rule science -- and overrule science. let's take vaccinations. the myth that his administration -- set goals that nobody believed were achievable and has met those goals against all odds. madam president, this is just not true. the president said, quote, i set at goal that many of you said was way over the top, but the benchmark of 100 million vaccines in 100 days was not some audacious goal that was met with great skepticism. a million shots per day was just the pace that the biden administration actually inherited. we averaged more than a million shots per day the week of the inauguration. we totaled more than 1.5 million the day the president was sworn in. the groundwork we laid last year is proving an historic success. where the biden administration is continuing to help streamline distribution, they should of course get some credit, but their effort to sprint to the front of this year-long campaign should not fool anybody. the president announced another supposedly audacious goal on thursday that all adults in all 50 states should be able to schedule vaccinations by may 1. here's the problem. dr. fauci said a month ago we'd be there by april. quote, i would imagine by the time we get to april, that will be what i would call open season; namely, virtually everybody and anybody in any category could start to get vaccinated. that was dr. fauci's prediction last month. so the president's announcement of may 1 wasn't ambitious good news. it was actually a walkback. something tells me that if the last administration had contradicted dr. fauci and push add vaccine milestone back a whole month, we might have heard about it from the media. then there is the k-12 schooling. for months science has confirmed that schools are remarkably safe and do not surge transmission of the virus. this administration's own experts amplified this before liberal politics got in the way. in early february, president biden's c.d.c. director specifically said vaccinate ago the grown-ups who work in schools should not be a prerequisite to reopening them. but on thursday instead of calling for schools to reopen right now, the president endorsed big labor's moving goalpost. he said that because the democrats passed their spending plan and because he's tried to move teachers toward the front of the line for vaccines, now -- now -- schools can move toward reopening. this approach has put liberal interest group politics ahead of vulnerable kids and their parents. it was reported last week that the following message was posted in a private online group from members of one public school union in california. here was the quote -- friendly reminder. if you're planning any trips for spring break, please keep that off social media. it's hard to argue that it is unsafe for in-person instruction if the parents see vacation photos and international travel, end quote. further reports from california suggest that some local governments may suggest using some of the massive bailouts that democrats sent them on bonuses. one union argues that grown-ups should get things for such things as, quote, an airplane trip to hawaii when this is all over, end quote. a lot of working-class families through the country are struggling, in large part due to the liberal dogma that schools have needed lots more cash to keep safe. now they are talking about trips to hawaii? every day the biden administration does not urge schools to reopen safely, right now, with simple precautions, it hurters kids that -- it hurts kids. biden also said maybe if citizens behave themselves, we'll be able to have small, outdoor gatherings by july 4. he made sure to stipulate that politicians reserve the right to c down again, however. but that carrot dangled before americans with small outdoor gatherings about four months from now. this was bizarre and it problematic on several levels. number one, let's be clear. the federal government does not instruct free citizens how they may gather in small groups with their own families. i've equity haved strongly for follow -- i've advocated strongly for following guidelines and taking all precautions during the pandemic. the white house confers a bully pulpit. it does not confer premiumcy. about ten months ago, many liberal politicians applauded massive outdoor gatherings because they supported is a political cause. i'm not sure how much capital these officials have to micromanage backyard bar beus could. number two, the strange proclamation was out of step with science. current c.d.c. guidelines say it is already safe, right now, right now, for fully vaccinated people to meet in small groups. not just outdoors but indoors. and they can be joined by an unvaccinated household if they're low-risk. that's the c.d.c.'s advice. talking not about july 4 but right now -- right now. so the president went on national tv to move the goalpost way beyond what his own c.d.c. is saying. why? there's no science-based reason why a few fully vaccinated people couldn't get together outdoors right now, not july the 4th. today. and if a healthy young adult who is still waiting for the vaccine wants to meet up with a few vaccinated relatives, that's about a personal assessment of a very small risk not a matter of presidential policy. that brings me to point three, the president's proclamation was far out of step with what's already happening across the country. it was advice for an alternative -- or an alternate universe. the president's advise certificates may need to get out more. americans are already getting together in small groups outdoors in blue states and red states and smalltowns and big cities. the country is not locked down waiting for july the 4th. in my home state of kentucky, the governor backed indoor gatherings of up to eight people from up to two households. here in the district of columbia, as of next week, outdoor gatherings of up to 50 people will be permitted. 50 people here in the district. americans are getting vaccines. they've learned about this disease. they've learned about the low risk of outdoor transmission. they're making their own determinations as free people. look, i've been a consistent advocate for following the science, wearing a mask, and taking precautions. i believe we should all keep following the science. nobody wants to fumble a ball on the 5-yard line. but that doesn't mean just citizens. it means politicians, too. and science doesn't only run in the direction of more restrictions. the american people were told 12 months ago that accepting major disruptions for a limited time would flatten the curve and prevent a health care collapse and americans rose to the occasion. one year on, if the president and his administration want to continue to give advice to free citizens, i suggest they exit the alternate university, stick to the actual science and get acquainted with where the american people actually are. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the senate will proceed to executive session to resume consideration of the following nomination, which the clerk will report. the clerk: nomination, department of the interior, debra anne haaland of new mexico to be secretary. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: quorum call quorum call: the presiding officer: the assistant majority leader. mr. durbin: i ask consent the quorum call be suspended. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: thank you, madam president. last week my friend and colleague, the senior senator from texas, came to the floor to speak about two highly qualified nominees seeking senior positions in president biden's justice department. lisa monaco and vanita gupta. i was pleased to hear senator warren express support for lisa monaco. she served as multiple roles as a career employee and senate confirmed official. she is also someone who is predicted and responded to the greatest threats of our time, including global pandemics, the rise of domestic terrorism. she has what it takes to serve as the number-two person in the department of justice and to be with the attorney general, merrick garland, to restore independence and integrity in the department. unfortunately, my friend from texas went on to take a different view when it came to vanita gupta who has been nominated to be associate attorney general, the number three position at the department. every senator, of course, has his right to oppose any nominee even though many of my colleagues across the aisle has spoke about the importance of deferring to president biden and his choices to lead his cabinet. but when opposition turns to just beyond feeling negative towards someone to stating things about that person which may not be altogether accurate, i feel obligated to come to the floor and correct the record. i'd like to address a few of the false attacks that are being leveled against ms. gupta. she unequivocally stated in her testimony under oath before the judiciary committee last week that she opposes defunding the police. any suggestion to the contrary is patently false. we've seen statement after statement from law enforcement organizations who support vanita gupta and her nomination. they admitted plain that they know she doesn't call for defunding the police. yet, we also continue to see statement after statement from republican senators and many of their allies buying television ads claiming the contrary. ask yourself this basic questioa wants fo defund the police, how would she get the support and endorsement of the fraternal order of police, the international association of chiefs of police, major cities chiefs association, national sheriffs association, federal law enforcement association, and others? i think we know the answer. she doesn't want to defund the police. it is simply something that is said about her that is not true. but, ms. gupta called for and what she reiterated bfort judiciary committee last week -- before the judiciary committee last week is making sure the police officers, the men and women who put themselv