Colleagues in discussing the important ways this funding will help our Public Health experts, frontline healthcare professionals, and state and local officials combat the spread of this virus and mitigate its effects. Its a serious agreement to meet a serious challenge. And today we will send it to President Trumps desk. Said today will be an important day for the country. B and it was going to be a proud day for the senate. But instead, the nations eyes are on this body for an entirely different reason. A few weeks ago, i spoke on this floor about a dangerous trend that threatens our selfgovernment. I explained how some of the Democratic Party appear more interested in attacking the institution of our government, than in working within them. How democrats increasingly respond to political disappointments with extreme claims that our system of government itself, must be broken. The failure cannot be their own, it cant be the left needs better arguments or ideas, no. No. The fault must lie with the constitution itself. Democrats tried to cloak their anger at President Trump and rhetoric about protecting norms and institutions. But in reality, it is their own side of the aisle, or any institutionalism is rampant. Rampant. We can talk about attacks on the office of the president , on the electoral college, on the first amendment, on the senate itself. But most striking of all, has been the shameless efforts to bully our nations independent judiciary and yesterday, those efforts took a dangerous and disturbing turn. By now, many already know what the democratic leader shouted outside the Supreme Court yesterday morning. I am sorry to have to read it into the record. First, he prompted a crowd of activists to boo two of the associate justices. As those Supreme Court justices were professional athletes and senator schumer were jeering from the stands. And then to say your senator from new york said this, i want to tell you for such, i want to tell you, kavanaugh, you have released a whirlwind and you, you will pay the price. You wont know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions. Madam president , i am not sure where to start. There is a nothing call this except a threat. And theres absolutely no question to whom it was directed. Contrary to what the democratic leader has since tried to claim, he very, very clearly was not addressing hepublican lawmakers or anyone else. He literally directed the statement to the justices my name. And he said quote if you go forward with these awful decisions, which could only apply to the court itself, the minority leader of the United States set and threaten to associate of the u. S. Supreme court. Er there is no other way to interpret that. Even worse, the threat was not clearly political or institutional as i will discuss in a moment. These threats are sadly democrats. This is much broader. Much broader. The democratic leader traveled to the workplace of the two judges, and in front of a crowd of activists, he told those judges you will pay the price. Right in front of the Supreme Court building. And you wont know what hit you, he said. Right in front of the Supreme Court building. If any american had these words shouted at them from a sidewalk outside their office, they would hear those threats as personal. And most likely, they would hear them as threatening, or inciting violence. Thats how any american would interpret those words if they were directed at us. And that certainly how the press and leading democrats would have characterize them if President Trump or any senior republican had said anything remotely similar. We have seen much more hey made out of much less. Perhaps, our colleague thanks this is absurd. Perhaps he would like the most generous possible interpretation. That he got carried away. And did not mean what he said. But if he cannot even admit to saying what he said, we certainly cannot know what he meant. At the very best, his comments were astonishing astonishingly reckless and completely irresponsible. And clearly, as the chief justice stated in a rare and extraordinary rebuke, they were quote dangerous. Because no matter the intention words and carrying the threat of violence can have horrific unintended consequences. In the most recent year on record, madam president , the United StatesMarshals Service tract thousands of threats andts Inappropriate Communications against the judiciary. Thousands of threats against the judiciary. Less than three years ago of course, and unhinged and unstable leftwing activists attempted a mass murder of Congressional Republicans at a baseball field, right across the river. A Senate Leader appearing to threaten or incite violence on the steps of the Supreme Court could be a matter of deadly seriousness. So, i fully anticipate our colleague would quickly withdraw his comments and apologize. That is what even reliably liberal experts have publicly urged. Instead, our colleague doubled down. Double down. Tried to gaslight the entire country and stated he was actually threating fellow senators. As though that would be much better. But thats fiction. Hours later the democratic leader triple down. Instead of taking chief justice statement to heart, he lashed out again and applied the chief justice was biased, biased for doing his job and defending the a court. Hlet me say that again. He tripled down, and he lashed out yet again and tried to imply the chief justice wasnt biased for doing his job and defending the court. Our colic therefore, succeeded in attacking 33 of the Supreme Court in a space of a few hours. Throughout the impeachment, and this senate trial for months, washington democrats preached sermons about the separation of powers and respect among equal branches. So much for all of that. And sadly, this attack was not some isolated incident. The leftwing campaign against the judiciary did not begin yesterday. Not yesterday. My colleagues will recall it was during the impeachment trial the senior senator from massachusetts, and outside Pressure Group tried to attack the chief justice sitting right inha that chair, for staying neutral instead of delivering the outcomes they wanted. These same groups came to senator schumers defense yesterday with gratuitous attack against theef chief justice for condemning the threats against his colleague. And last summer, last summer a number of Senate Democrats sent externally brief to the court and it threaten to inflict institutional change on the court if it did not rule the way the democrats wanted. In other words, give us the ruling we want, or we will change the numbers of the hecourt. Heres what they wrote. The Supreme Court is not well. Really . The Supreme Court is not well. Perhaps the court can heal itself before the public demands it be restructured. Now what that means is, you rule the way we want, or we are going to expand the numbers. And change the outcome. Political threat, plain as day. You just read the document, you half expected it to end by saying that some nice Judicial Independence he got over there, it would be a shame if something happened to it. They could not have been more clear. Independence from political passions is the cornerstone of our judiciary and our country. T Judicial Independence is what enables courts to do justice. Even when it is unpopular, to protect constitutional rights. Even when powerful interests want them infringed, Judicial Independence, madam president , is what makes the United States of america a l republic of law rather than of men. It has been almost a century since the last time democrats threatened the Supreme Court because they wanted different rulings. History still judges that disgraceful episode to this day. So i would suggest, that my democratic colleagues spend less time trying to threaten impartial judges, and more time coming up with ideas that are actuallyio constitutional. Fortunately, this extraordinary display contains one ironic silver lining. These clumsy efforts to erode a pillar of american governance have just reminded everyone why that pillar is so crucial. These efforts, to attack Judicial Independence remind us that independence is essential. Every time democrats try to threaten sitting judges, we are reminded exactly, exactly why the framers gave them life tenure and salary protection. Precisely why they did it. Every time democrats toy with packing new seats onto the court we are reminded exactly why Justice Ginsburg recently said, nine seems to be a good number. Justice said nine seems to be a good number the distinguished men of limited Supreme Court do not and must not serve at the pleasure of angry partisan must not serve at the pleasure of angry partisans. They do not need to pay any mind to unhinged threats. As shameful as they may be. In fact, as a chief justice remind us yesterday, they are duty bound to pay such things, no attention at all. Their Job Description is simple. To apply the law, review the facts, as the chief justicet put it, without fear or favor from what ever. I have great confidence the court will do just that. I am confident that the facts in the constitution wouldve led the courts to disappoint the democrats they will still feel free to do so today. And tomorrow, and beyond. Notwithstanding these shameful tactics. Now i had hoped i would not need tot reiterate what every republican senator told the court in august, after Senate Democrats since their threatening brief. But today, i have no choice but to say it again. Bs republicans are absolutely and unshakably committed to the core constitutional principle of an independent, federal judiciary. The core constitutional principle of an independent, federal judiciary. As long as this majority holds the gavel, we will never let the minority leaders become policy. This majority will make sure the only casualties of this recklessness are the reputations of those who engage in it. Now madam president , i just listen to theis republican leader and there is a glaring omission in his speech. He did not mention what the rally yesterday, my speech, or the case before the court was about