Transcripts For CSPAN2 U.S. Senate U.S. Senate 20240713

Director of intelligence and and votes throughout the day. Live coverage of the u. S. Senate now here on cspan2. 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. Lord of our lives, make these moments of prayer more than mere words, but may this reverent pause fill our hearts with gratitude and love for you. May our lawmakers appreciate the fact that through prayer, they have the privilege of talking to you, the superintendent of the universe. Lord, inspire them to use this intercessory opportunity to seek your wisdom and guidance, knowing that you are eager to help them. Give us all the wisdom to remember that you continue to be our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble. And lord, as we approach memoriamemorial day, thank you e men and women who gave their lives for this nation while serving in the United States military. Were grateful also for the great sacrifices made by their loved ones. We pray in your merciful name. Amen. The president pro tempore please join me in the pledge of allegiance to the flag. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of america, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Mr. Grassley madam president . The presiding officer the senator from iowa. Mr. Grassley permission for one minute in morning business. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Grassley we all ought to be very concerned as i am about the ongoing religious persecution happening in nigeria, maybe happening in a lot of other countries, but i just want to mention nigeria today. This the last six months, theres been multiple attacks. This includes the murder of 11 christians by extremists identified as part of isis. Can you believe it, the beheading of a pastor by boca ha haran militants. A barbaric video was released of a child about 10 years old executing a christian. The nigerian authorities need to stop this persecution right now and our own government, the u. S. Government needs to do what it can to support that effort. For sure those responsible must be held accountable for their actions. I yield. Mr. Mcconnell madam president . The presiding officer the majority leader. Mr. Mcconnell all month the senate has been on the job attending to the needs of our country. Weve legislated. Weve confirmed nominees. Weve held major hearings and conducted oversight on the historic response to covid19. Now yesterday we learned that our Senate Action will continue to contrast with our absentee neighbors across the rotunda. While essential workers across the country continue to clock in, the Democratic House of representatives has essentially put itself on paid leave for months. Since the early days of this crisis, the selfdescribed peoples house has been suspiciously empty of people. I understand theyve convened for legislative session a grand total of two days, two in the last eight weeks. At this point im wondering if we should send senators over there to collect their newspaper and water the plants. Its not just their physical absence, madam president. Its House Democrats absence from any serious discussions at all. About the only product to emerge from their lengthy sabbatical has been an 1,800page 3 trillion messaging bill that couldnt even unite their own conference. Yesterday the speaker announced this rangement will continue for arrangement will continue for another 45 days at least. But theres a new wrinkle. House democrats jammed through a precedent breaking remote voting scheme that will let one member cast ten additional votes. One member cast ten additional votes. Actually one person, 11 votes. Remember, these are the people who want to remake every States Election laws. There are several problems with this. One of them happens to be article 1, section 5 of the u. S. Constitution. Which says a majority of house shall constitute a quorum to do business. For about 231 years, congress has managed to fulfill the job requirement. Theyve worked through a civil war, two world wars, terrorist threats, and a major pandemic without trying to shirk this duty. The 12th congress endured the war of 1812 including the occupation of washington and the burning of this very building that were in right now without abandoning inperson meetings. The constitution requires a physical quorum to do business. Normally both chambers may presume one, presume one. But any house member has a right to demand an inperson attendance check. The democrats new rule says one person may mark himself and ten others present, even if they are nowhere in sight. A flat out lie. There will be enormous constitutional questions around anything the house does if they fail to demonstrate a real quorum but plow ahead anyhow. Two normal work days in eight weeks . One absurd, unserious proposal . And now theyre playing games with the constitution so they can continue their never ending spring break well into july. So lets come over here to the senate. In the past three weeks weve filled crucial posts at the National Counterintelligence and security center, the Nuclear Regulatory commission, and the department of Homeland Security. Today well confirm the next director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe will lead the Intelligence Community encountering threats from great power, rogue nations, and terrorists and ensuring that work is untainted by political bias. The Banking Committee has heard from chairman powell and secretary mnuchin on the workings of the cares act and the state of our economy. The Homeland Security and Government Affairs committee has reported the nominee to be special Inspector General for Pandemic Recovery programs. A special committee on aging is examining all the ways this crisis has hurt americas seniors. The help committee has discussed with top experts like dr. Fauci and admiral giroir how schools, universities and businesses will begin to reopen. Senator cornyn and i are working on Legal Protections that our Health Care Workers deserve and institutions will need if they want to return to anything resembling normal. On the floor weve passed major bills, renewing Key International security tools and dialing up the consequences for communist chinas abuse of human rights. In short, the senate has just followed the lead of the American People. For months now Health Care Workers have been clocking in to help and heal strangers. Every mirn on the job an act of selflessness and bravery. Families have forged new routines and set up home offices and home schools overnight. Community volunteers have found new ways to pitch in and help the vulnerable from 6 feet apart. Tens of millions of workers are kept collecting paychecks instead of pink slips because of our Paycheck Protection Program which has sent hundreds of billions of dollars to keep Small Businesses alive. Covid19 has killed nearly 100,000 americans. It has cost tens of millions their jobs. This is a generational tragedy. But in the midst of it, our country is pulling together. My home state of kentucky is showing us how its done. A glass producer transformed its operation to make protective shields for businesses. A High School Principal named evan jackson invented a virtual commencement so graduates didnt go uncelebrated. Dr. Aaron fraser, a pediatrician found the time to set up standup food pantries. Hope is being spread by donated meals to first responders. And one group of restaurants headquartered in louisville called texas roadhouse has gone to Great Lengths to avoid layoffs. The founder gave up his salary, put his own money into a worker assistance fund. So far theyve spent 17 million on their workers covering everything from Health Care Premiums to bonuses. These past few months have been trying, trying indeed. But the American People have been truly inspiring. This spring the senate wrote and passed the largest rescue package in American History to try to help bridge this period. And this nation of merely 300 Million People put their lives on pause to protect our medical system. And it worked, madam president. The American People did what americans do. They got it done. We kept our Health Care System intact. We did not let this virus break us. And as far as we know, not one single american who needed a ventilator could not get one. Weve not yet won the war, but the citizens of this nation have won an important battle. So what comes next . Sustaining this flattened curve will take vigilance. Safely reopening schools, universities, and businesses will take care and leadership. The race for even more testing, therapeutics and of course a vaccine will be one Great National project. Rebuilding the prosperity we had just a few months ago will be another. Life will not go right back to normal. Repairing the damage will take creativity, but the greatest country in the World History will find a more sustainable middle ground. Every one of my Senate Colleagues should be proud of how weve helped our nation win this battle. Every day our historic rescue package has continued to push out money and aid. Every day were working on ways to smooth the road toward reopening that lies before us. The American People have already been heroes. Its our honor as senators to stand with them. Madam president , i ask unanimous consent that the action, of the senate with respect to s. J. Res. 72 be vitiated. The presiding officer is there objection . Without objection. 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, office of the director of National Intelligence, john l. Ratcliffe of texas to be director. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call mr. Schumer madam president . The presiding officer the democratic leader. Mr. Schumer i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be be dispensed with. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Schumer now you madam president , one side effect of the covid19 pandemic is that weve become accustomed to grim statistics. The United States now leads the world in the number of confirmed cases of cases with more nan 1. 5 million. Another 2. 5 million workers filed jobless claims in week joining the more than 38 million americans who have applied for unemployment assistance since the crisis began. Very soon our country will reach another grim milestone. We are fast approaching the day when more than 100,000 american lives who have been lost to covid19, the size of a small city erased from the map p senator pelosi and i sent a letter to President Trump this morning requesting that the American Flag be flown at halfmast on the day that the toll reaches is see,000. As families all across this great country mourn the loss of friends, colleagues, and loved ones, flying the flag at halfmast would be a national expression of grief. And, of course, this weekend is also memorial day, where we commemorate the so Many Americans who through the centuries have lost their lives for our country. And we never forget them. We never forget them. I Hope Memorial day every american will take a minute amidst this crisis to remember our veterans who have served and made the great sacrifice and to remember their families as well. Now, in a flash, this disease has washed over our country like a flood, changing nearly every aspect of American Society except perhaps the Republican Senate. If you looked at our activity in the last three weeks, youd hardly know that there was a covid19 crisis t leader mcconnell called the senate back into session three weeks ago n that time, the Republican Leadership has not put one bill on the floor of the senate related to covid19, not one vote on legislation having to do with the covid19 in the entire month of may. The house has not been in regular session, but it has voted on much more covidrelated bills this month than the Republican Senate. For leader mcconnell to say that the senate is working and the house is derelict is the opposite of what happened. The house has passed a major bill dealing with covid. We have done nothing on this floor to vote on anything about covid. For leader mcconnell to think were doing our job by voting for some rightwing judges, by engaging in some sort of show trials to go to pursue conspiracy theories from the far right and even from russia to besmirch political opponents past and present . Thats that the what we should be doing. When americans look at what the house has done over the last three weeks and what the senate has done over the last three weeks, theyll see that the house has done far more on covid than the senate because leader mcconnell is not allowing the senate to focus on the issues we should be focusing on. What little business we have done related to the crisis oversight hearings in a few committees required weeks of pressure from senate democrats. We had to push and push and push our colleagues to even fulfill their most basic responsibilities. To do a hearing, to do oversight as to whether the money we passed weeks ago is being spent properly. In the interest of making incremental progress, just incremental progress, democrats have asked this chamber to consent to smaller chambers related to our relief efforts. We asked our colleagues to increase transparency in the Small Business lending program. We asked to release the unedited c. D. C. Guidance to help families, states, business, and schools reopen safely. Senate republicans blocked those ideas. The inaction by Senate Republicans has gotten so bad that even one of my colleagues on the other side doesnt want to adjourn today because his party has done nothing on the coronavirus for an entire month. Leader mcconnell has long presided over a legislative graveyard. But in this time of national crisis, when americans paul across the country when americans all across the country are desperate for relief, the inaction of Senate Republicans is staggering. Making matters worse, republicans arent just ignoring the coronavirus, theyre practically sprinting towards focusing on a partisan election instead of us coming together and trying to solve this problem. Instead of debating covidrelated legislation on the floor, leader mcconnell has asked the senate to confirm the rights some rightwing judges. In the Homeland Security security, the republican chairman convened a chairman that slanders the family of the president s political opponent with conspiracy theories invented by none other than the kremlin. The Homeland Security committee should be Holding Hearings with the fema administrator about the alarming shortage of p. P. E. , but instead the republican majority is busy following bread crumbs left by the putin and his intelligence services. What a disgrace. What a sham, and what a dereliction of duties. The house, again, theyre doing their job. They passed a major bill. Senator mcconnell says, lets wait. Lets pause. He doesnt see the immediate urgency. Well, americans do. In the judiciary committee, now, the republican chairman wants to issue a bonanza of subpoenas about yet another conpircy theory related to the 2016 exwills in the hopes of diving down as many rabbit holes as can be found. And today in the Foreign Relations committee, the republican chairman is holding an audioonly hearing to advance President Trumps handpicked nominee for the voice of america, a nominee that is currently under investigation by the attorney general of washington, d. C. Thats right. The republican majority of the Foreign Relations committee is turning the cameras off so the press and the public cant see what theyre doing. Giving a protection to Steve Bannons Business Partner in the middle of a health crisis. This is such a gross misuse of power of the majority. While unemployment reaches astro the senator reaches astro the senator from mick levels the Senate Republic is off on a wild goose chase. The conspiracy caucus is back with a vengeance. Thats the name of this Republican Senate majority leader, conspiracy caucus. Thats where their zeal is, where their focus is, not on eradicating covid, not on helping people get back to work, not on feeding hungry families, but on pursuing conspiracy theories. Wow. The memorial day and the state work period is usually a time for senators to meet with their constituents and hear their concerns. In these strange times, we wont be able to do that in person, but we will find ways to hear from the people in our states, and i expect my republican colleagues will get an ear full. The American People should be furious about what Washington Republicans are doing in congress and more to the point, what theyre failing to do. As we approach a day of reckoning, more than 100,000 deaths from the coronavirus, i cannot imagine the American People are happy that Senate Republicans cant focus on the coronavirus because theyre too busy doing Opposition Research for the president s reelection campaign. On another matter, later today the senate will vote on whether to confirm representative John Ratcliffe to serve as the director of National Intelligence which oversees the 17 different agencies, different intelligence agencies. Its one of the most important posts that this chamber is asked to fill. It requires someone with unimpeachable integrity, deep experience and the independence and backbone to speak truth to power. Thats what d. N. I. s, including the previous one, dan coats, did. Unfortunately, mr. Ratcliffe doesnt even come close to meeting that high bar. Earlier this week i had the opportunity to speak with congressman ratcliffe over the phone. I expressed my concerns that his history is as is a vocal defendr of the president casts doubt on his qualifications and credibility. I asked him about the 17 intelligence agencies, that putin interfered in the 2016 elections to help President Trump. He could not confirm it. I asked him if hed committee to specific steps to improve transparency and communications between d. N. I. And congress. For instance, that every two weeks staffs of the gang of eight be briefed by the d. N. I. On what is happening in terms of election interference, that immediately congress be notified if russia or another foreign country attempts to interfere in our election. I asked him to do that within 72 hours. In neither case could he commit. That is not the kind of d. N. I. We need. So congressman ratcliffe did little to address my concerns about his nomination, and i will vehemently oppose his nomination today. More than ever, we need the right person to serve as d. N. I. Over the past few months we have watched President Trump try to short circuit nearly every measure of independence and accountability within the executive branch by baselessly firing one Inspector General after another. President trump has shown he will not tolerate anyone standing up to his personal political interests, right or wrong. This is a dangerous pattern that should send a shiver down the spine of anyone who believes in democracy and is particularly relevant to the Intelligence Community which must be able to inform the president of difficult truths. Mr. Ratcliffe unfortunately has not demonstrated the qualities nor the independence that we should expect of the next leader of the Intelligence Community. I will vote no and encourage my colleagues on both sides of the aisle for the sake of the independence and strength of our Intelligence Community which has served us so well for decades to join me in voting no. I yield the floor. Mr. Thune madam president. The presiding officer the majority whip. Mr. Thune madam president , the minority leader just got up and attacked the senate for not doing anything and then proceeded to announce that were going to be voting today on the director of National Intelligence. It seems like a pretty important position, the person thats in charge of all the intelligence activities that we conduct around the world to make sure that we keep our country safe. So if the senate is here and not doing anything, it seems like a real contradiction to suggest that were actually going to vote today on a consequential position, or a position thats important to Americas National security interest. Just one of many that were going to be voting on or have been voting on, madam president , over the past several weeks. The other thing that the leader, democrat leader forgot to acknowledge is that last week we passed reforms to the foreign Intelligence Surveillance act, a piece of legislation thats also important to National Security that authorizes and funds all our intelligence activities and also included reforms, reforms that many in this body on both sides of the aisle wanted to see adopted. That was an important piece of legislation and one that i think has tremendous consequences. I would add great consequences for the United States of america and our National Security interest. The senates also been very involved, i suspect maybe to the democrat sleerds chagrin to the Democratic Leaders chagrin in examining all the coronavirus legislation weve already passed and the impact its having and whether or not it is being effective and where we need to do more and where we need to fix things or refine or tweak things in a way to make those programs that we funded and authorized work better. But, madam president , to suggest that the senate hasnt done anything on the coronavirus, really . Really . My gosh, we passed four bills, four bills, madam president , totaling, totaling almost 3 trillion through the United States senate, through the house of representatives, on the president s desk and signed into law. 3 trillion, madam president , four pieces of legislation. And it was done in a bipartisan way, democrats and republicans cooperating because its important to our country to make sure that we are responding to an enormous crisis, an extraordinary crisis that required an extraordinary response and a response, i would argue, madam president , has been extraordinary. Never in my lifetime or certainly my time in the senate or, for that matter, i would argue anybody elses time in the senate has the United States senate done anything of that scale, scope, or consequence. And many of those programs that we authorized and funded, those four pieces of legislation which passed as recently as a couple of months ago, are the dollars are still getting out there, theyre in the pipeline going out to state and local governments, going out to health care providers, hospitals, nursing homes. Theyre going out to Small Businesses. Theyre going out to workers, employees, people who have been unemployed, through the Unemployment Insurance program. Theres a lot of dollars in the pipeline, after the resources that have been expended, madam president , by the United States senate, United States house, and signed into law by the president. And so it seems logical, i would think, for us as stewards of the tax dollars, as representatives of the people of this country, as policymakers, to make sure that the policies that were putting into place are having the desired effect or actually working. So what has the senate been doing for the past three weeks . Well, exactly that. Taking a look on a committeebycommittee basis at whether or not some of the things that weve already done are being effective. The health, education, labor, and Pensions Committee had in the head of the c. D. C. , the head of the n. I. H. , two critical agencies when it comes to fighting the Health Emergency of this country, to determine and to ask them questions about whats working, whats not working, what have we done, what should we be doing differently, what can we do. That is a hearing that the health, education, labor, and Pensions Committee had last week widely participated in by members on both sides of the aisle. I sit on the Senate Commerce committee. We had several hearings. We had a markup yesterday, marked up 14 bills yesterday. But we also have been looking at the impact of coronavirus legislation on those constituencies that are under the jurisdiction of the Senate Commerce committee, one of which is the Airline Industry. And so we had a hearing examining the impact of the coronavirus on the aviation, on the Airline Industry in this country and on the things that we have done to help assist and support the Airline Industry in this country. So that was another thing, madam president , that the Commerce Committee did. And then more recently than that, we had a hearing on broadband, connectivity, and the way in which people through the coronavirus are staying, able to stay connected, the way business is conducted. Actually, frankly, for that matter the way government is conducted because were doing a lot of things through connectivity as well. We looked at whats working, whats not working, are there areas in terms of making sure that parts of the country that dont have highspeed internet services, that dont have Broadband Services could be better connected and is that something that ought to be a part of any future legislation that we look at. The Banking Committee, madam president , this week, the Banking Committee had the chairman of the Federal Reserve board and had the secretary of the treasury in front of that committee to ask them questions about whats happening in the Financial Services industry and what is the effect of all the money that weve spent, that we put out the door, how is that working out there, and again, what can we be doing differently, how can we improve, how can we do this better as we look to the future. Those are just three committees that i can off the top of my head, not to mention the fact that the Banking Committee is also reporting out the nominee to be the Inspector General for the pandemic, a very important position, i might add, and so they have been very active, very busy doing oversight work with respect to this pandemic. And so, madam president , that is just, that is just not true. What the democratic leader said is not true, its not accurate. And frankly, i would think in the eyes of the American People, its illogical to say that we have spent 3 trillion and we wouldnt want to take a look to see how that 3 trillion is being spent, whether its being effective and whether its being efficient, and then look at where we need to do more before we rush headlong in there and just push another 3 trillion out the door. I think thats a rational way of looking at things, and i think most of the American People would accept and believe that these are, this is what we elected you to do. We want to make sure that youre taking our tax dollars and spending them as wisely and well as possible in an efficient and effective way. By the way, just as a reminder to my colleagues, every dollar, every dollar, madam president , that we spend is borrowed from our children and grandchildren. This doesnt just magically appear. We just dont out of thin air. Were borrowing money. Granted, money that we needed to borrow, particularly what weve already done. Everybody acknowledges we had a crisis, we had to put out the fire, and weve been doing that. But every dollar prospeckively. Every dollar is a borrowed dollar borrowed from future generations of americans and someday dollars were going to have to repay. So wouldnt it be prudent, logical, rational for this body, the custodians, stewards of the American Peoples tax dollars to take a hard look at whats working and whats not working before rushing headlong intoing spending another 3 trillion, which the democratic leader got up here and applauded the house of representatives for blowing into town for 24 hours last friday, cobbling together an ideological wish list. Granted there are some things in there that are probably good ideas and maybe things in the end that could end up in a piece of legislation. But it didnt get a single republican vote and it didnt have a single consultation with republicans in the house of representatives about how to put it together. You know what . In the end they couldnt keep all the democrats. There were 14 democrats that voted against that in the house of representatives. And not a single republican, which makes sense if youre a republican. You never get asked. Youre never at the table. You have no input whatsoever. They come in and put this thing together, 1,800 pages, 3 trillion, and whats it got in it . Crazy stuff. Crazy stuff like studies, studies as to whether or not there is diversity and inclusion in the marketing of marijuana. 68 references in the house bill to cannabis. 68 references. Only 52 references to jobs, which is what i would think the American People are a lot more concerned about. The house of representatives evidently waited, and in the balance thought, well, my gosh, studies on the diversity and inclusiveness of the marketing of cannabis was more important and weighed more heavily on the scale than the jobs that have been lost for the American People. Thats what it looks like. They threw everything in there. They through a tax cut. A tax cut for millionaires and billionaires. These guys get up here every single day and talk about republicans helping out millionaires and billionaires. And what did the house bill have in it . A tax cut for millionaires and billionaires. 56 of that tax cut proceeds would go to those 1 top wage earners in america. Just think about that. Does that make sense . Does that make sense when were fighting a papped . Probably not. They pandemic . Probably not. They added tax increases on Small Businesses. Tax increases are always something their aquick to do. Madam president , theyre quick to do. Mapped, i have to take issue with what the democrat leader was down here saying and his characterization of whats going on here. This place when responding to a crisis needs to act in a bipartisan and a constructive way. Not in a partisan ideological way. And i would also think in a thoughtful way. Giving a lot of consideration to what are we doing here with those borrowed dollars, borrowed from our kids and grandkids and are we making the best use of them. That to me seems like maybe the great divide here and the great debate that we have not only in this but a lot of other issues. It just seems like the natural instinctive solution for my friends on the other side of the aisle as we can just solve this by throwing a lot of money out there. Well i have to tell you i dont think thats the way the American People view it. As they sit down and are making hard decisions right now about how to take care of their families, how to get through this economic crisis, i would think the decision theyre making are along the same lines of the decisions that we ought to be making, and that is how are we going to spend our dollars wisely and well. How are we going to be efficient and effective . This isnt our money. This is the American Peoples money. This is a crisis that needs a response. We have responded in a massive way relative to anything thats happened probably in history, for sure in history. 2 trillion, 3 trillion. I cant think of a single time when we passed the annual Appropriations Bills they never get up to that level. Were talking about dollars on a scale like nothing weve ever seen before because thats what was required. And this institution demonstrated that notwithstanding our differences, we could Work Together in a constructive way, in a bipartisan way to do what was necessary to deliver for the American People. And we will do whats necessary to get the American People through this crisis. But please, please, can we do that in a thoughtful way, in a constructive way, in a bipartisan way, in a way that says wow, lets actually sit down and think about what makes the most sense here . Lets see whats out there and whats actually worked. The Paycheck Protection Program arguably has worked really well. We put now 660 billion into that particular program. And i think its gotten pretty big a pretty big result. A lot of businesses are still functioning, still operating. A lot of workers are still working. Thats what that was all about, was to keep those job, keep those workers working. There have been some hiccups and some things that need to be fixed. We ought to look at would we can do to refine trks make it work refine it, make it work better and efficiently. We have 150 billion in the pipeline that have gone out to state and local governments, many of which, i made add, are probably going to need help, particularly with revenue replacement. But theres a lot of dollars in the pipeline already in addition to the 150 billion that weve done for state and local governments that went out in previous versions, previous legislation of the four bills that we passed, the total sum now of dollars that have gone to state governments is about 500 billion or half a trillion dollars. So its not just the 150 billion that we put out. But a lot of that is still in the pipeline. And a lot of it before we put more out there, before we say lets put another trillion out there which is what the house is proposing, maybe we ought to look at what the need is. Maybe we ought to find out what the receive few loss actually is. Because those numbers are just coming in. This thing really hit us hard a couple of months ago so the real the real impact of this is going to be felt april, may, into the summer. But as things start to open up again, hopefully we gradually climb out of this and those numbers start to improve. Those horrible unemployment numbers, those horrible revenue numbers at the state level, those start to come back. We start to see the economy get going back in a more normal direction. But before we rush, before we rush out there with another several trillion and who knows, madam president , who really knows at what point you hit the wall when it comes to borrowing. I mean, we think the the Federal Reserve thinks they have lots of levers and can leverage their Balance Sheet and they can still do things and they think fiscally we have head room that we can maneuver within. But if you think about this before this all started, our debt to g. D. P. Ratio was 79 . 79 . You know what . For 2020 our debt to g. D. P. Ratio was going to be and that doesnt include anything we do from here on, it just captures whats already been done, our debt to g. D. P. Ratio will be 11. 11. That was always the level when we sue the greeces of the world and all these countries that were just completely in this downward spiral, this quagmire ever debt. That was always the metric, 11, 100 to g. D. P. Thats when you start entering that really dangerous territory. Imagine if we add another 3 trillion on top of that. The 3 trillion that weve already done taken the debt to g. D. P. From 79 to 101 is the biggest increase, the biggest increase in debt to g. D. P. That weve seen since 1943 when we were powering up for world war ii. Granted this is like a war. This is a fight that we have to win. And we need to do whatever it takes to win it. But lets do it in a smart way, in a thoughtful way, in a way that gives consideration to the future generations whose liability, everything that we spend a day will become because everything we do is borrowed money. And weve got to remember that, madam president. So madam president , i came down here to talk about the internet and i guess its a speech i can save for another day. I was going to talk about china and the things that we need to be doing with china when it comes to protecting our cybersecurity. But i see my colleague from illinois here is waiting to speak. But i just thought it was important that we take a moment and pause and think about where we are and what weve done and as we think about what were going to do next, make sure were doing it in a thoughtful, smart, conscientious right way, an efficient and effective way on behalf of the American People and the american taxpayer. So, madam president , i yield the floor. Mr. Durbin madam president . The presiding officer the senator from illinois. Mr. Durbin madam president , we will adjourn today and be gone next week for the memorial day recess and then return the following week. The senate at the request and call of the Senate Republican leader, senator mcconnell of kentucky, has been in session for three weeks. Senator mcconnell has said that we are here because we need to be at our duty stations. Hes used that term over and over again. A military responsibility to stay where youre assigned and to be prepared to fight. Those who those who take a look at what weve done the last three weeks have to ask where is the battle, where is the fight when it comes to covid19. The simple fact of the matter is this. The United States senate in the last three weeks has not considered one piece of legislation on this floor relative to covid19, not one. It has reached the point where the press told me this morning that two republican senators are now complaining publicly that weve done nothing on covid19 and shouldnt leave for the memorial day recess until we do. Well, i think they ought to take their appeal not to the American Public but to their republican leader because he decides what comes to the floor of the senate. And he has decided over the last three weeks that nothing will come to the floor of the senate relative to the Biggest Issue in the modern history of america, the national emergency, the Public Health crisis over covid19. I listened to my friend from south dakota talk about the amount of money thats been spent. It is an amazing amount. Ill be the first to concede it. Almost 3 trillion so far. Its the largest effort i can remember. Ill just say flat out ever when it comes to a rescue package or a relief package. But of course it comes at a time when were facing the worst economic crisis in america for almost a hundred years, going back to the great depression. 38 million uninsured americans, 1. 5 million americans so far infected by this virus. The United States sadly leads the world leads the world when it comes to these infections. I would say when the president calls that a badge of honor, i do not. We could have done much better. We should do much better in the future. And now in just a matter of days im not sure when owe we will reach not sure when well reach the tragic milestone of 100,000 americans who have died from the coronavirus, 100,000 americans will have died. I join with the democratic leader in saying that we should mark that tragic milestone with grief for the families and their loss and standing as americans in honor of the sacrifice theyve made. But more than that, we need to do what needs to be done and to argue that weve done enough now, lets sit back and see what happens is to ignore the obvio obvious. Jerome powell is the chairman of the Federal Reserve and went on 60 minutes last sunday and said to congress, to the senate, to the house, to the president dont stop doing your part. The Federal Reserve is trying to loan money to create opportunities, to rebuild this economy, but we need to did our part to do our part. And he didnt say 3 trillion is all in. He basically said we need to do more. We had a briefing from mark zandy, an economist in the last day or two. Hes well respected. Hes been an economist advising both democrats and republicans, and he said the same. If we dont move and move quickly and decisively and boldly to restore this economy, what is now a recession could be much, much worse. That means of course helping those families that have already been hurt. Last friday the house of representatives did pass another measure for relief, another effort to deal with the covid virus. So while we have been here for three weeks and havent brought one single bill to the floor on the covid virus, not one, they move forward last friday and passed without the cooperation of any republicans, they passed a measure to deal with the continuing crisis in america. Let me say at the outset i dont agree with every provision in that bill. I know that negotiations are likely to follow and a compromise is likely to produce a work product that is somewhat different. But lets look at what that bill did. The senator from south dakota came to the floor and said that bill did crazy stuff. He repeated it. Crazy stuff. Well lets talk about what the bill did. What the bill did was to restore the president s cash payment to families. You remember that well, im sure. Supported by both political parties, 1,200 for each adult, 500 for each child, absolutely necessary for families who are struggling to get by. In the house version that passed last friday, there was a renewed cash payment, 1,200 for adults, 1,200 for children. The amount of money that we initially allocated for this has been all about spent at this point so this is an area where we believe as democrats, families still need a helping hand. Why do the republicans in the senate insist on not bringing this measure to the floor of the United States senate or at least into meaningful negotiation . Do they believe that families across america have received all the money they need to receive to get through this crisis . I dont. If they do, theyre out of touch. The second thing this bill did was to extend the unemployment compensation. Remember, 38 million and counting unemployed americans. We created in the cares act a federal boost for Unemployment Benefits. So if you equal identified qualified for Unemployment Benefits from your state, you would receive an additional 600 a week. I think that was necessary and good for the economy and for the families affected was a lifeline they desperately needed. But that program, the 600 a week, expires on july 31. Does anybody believe well be through with this economic crisis by july 31 . Of course not. We need to continue to help those families. And the bill that passed the house of representatives, what the republican senator calls crazy stuff, what the bill did was to extend that federal unemployment benefit of 600 week until the end of this year. I think that is sensible and reasonable. I might tell you that we expanded the category of those eligible for unemployment, too. Many finally get their chance to get some help at this moment in time. To call that crazy stuff and not even consider it on the floor of the senate makes no sense at all the. What about the Paycheck Protection Program . That was one for Small Business loans that could be forgiven if the money was spent for specific purposes. Well, theres a reason why we had to revisit that. The money had to be spent by the businesses by the end of june, june 30. I can tell you, having spoken to many Small Businesses across the state of illinois, some of them will not even be open for business by june 30. Requiring them to spend money before they can open their doors doesnt give them an opportunity to use this money to really get back in business. There were revisions made in the house in the measure that passed last friday, revisioned in terms of the revisions in terms of the period of time that the business had to spend the money. Under the current setup its eight weeks. We think that should be a longer period of time. I think it makes common sense that we would do something that basic. Yet the republican Senate Leader has refused to bring that to the floor of the senate in the weeks since it has passed and there is no meaningful consideration under way. And were leaving for another week. But another provision that passed in the bill of the house of representatives was to help state and local governments. My friend and colleague from north dakota talked about the 150 billion which if all in could be even larger thats been given to state and local governments. And i would say to him, dont listen to him. Listen dont listen to him. Logjam to Governor Hogan from maryland p ask him if weve done all we can . Were not even close. Lost revenue by my state and many others is dramatic. So what happens if these states dont have the money to pay their bills . Well, senator mcconnell came to the floor im sorry, on an Interview Program and said bankruptcy. Bankruptcy is an option. Reallily . Does he believe that were going to restore this economy by watching state and local governments go bankrupt . And what will be the net result of bankruptcies for these state and local governments . It will mean laying off, perhaps firing, policemen, firefighters, e. M. T. s, paramedics, and teachers at a time when we need to restore our educational calendar, bring students back to school, the senator from kentucky suggested bankruptcy. Laying off teachers, firing teachers makes no sense whatsoever. So the bill that passed the house of representatives has 1 trillion roughly is trillion for state and roughly 1 trillion for state and local governments. I can tell you that governors and mayors will step forward and tell you that that is exactly what they need now, to get back in business. Remember, as senator murray said in response to another suggestion, building a bridge halfway across a river is not of much value. We need to build a bridge in this economy from where we are today to where we want to be, with Small Businesses opening and people back at work. The notion that we can shortchange parts of this economy and survive is just wrong. There is a provision in that bill in the house, too, that i introduced in the senate it is not an original idea but others have thought of it, too. A third of the people who lose their jobs, lose their Health Insurance because thats where their Health Insurance came from. Their employer used to pay a share, and they paid a share, and they were covered with good policies. But when they lost their job, the next day they lost their insurance. What were their options . Sign up for the Affordable Care act, which covers about 20 million americans, perhaps qualifying for medicaid if their Family Income is low enough, or using whats known as the cobra program. The cobra program says you can keep that policy you had at your place of employment. However, you now are personally responsible for both ends of the payment the employer and the employee. Well, that comes out to about 1,700 a month. Imagine that for an unemployed person. They cant do it. So what i proposed and was passed in the bill of the house of representatives was 100 coverage for that Premium Payment under cobra. So that these families would have the peace of mind that they can continue to have Health Insurance during the course of this crisis. Ive given you some highlights of what this bill did. I would just suggest and challenge those who call this crazy stuff to come to the floor and be more specific. What part of what i just described is crazy stuff . Extending cobra protection for more Health Insurance for those who are unemployed . Extending Unemployment Benefits for the remainder of the year . Extending the period of payback for Small Business loans . Making sure as well that there is more money for hospitals . Ill just tell you, ive been on the telephone for the last several weeks with Hospital Administrators and ive joined in with my republican members of the house and democratic members and weve called appeared opened the lines and said, what are you finding . Many of these hospitals in the inner city as well as those in rural and smalltown areas in states across the midwest are struggling to survive. Yesterday i read a list of six hospitals in kentucky that were furloughing hundreds of employees. In most of the communities downstate where we have hospitals in illinois, they are the major employer. And these hospitals are hanging on by a thread. Whats wrong . A the although of covid19 cases . No. Just the fear of covid virus. One Hospital Administrator said we had four elective surgeries scheduled for monday. Senator, thats where our revenue comes in. Three of the four patients canceled at the last minute. They were afraid because of the covid virus. Well, the bill that passed the house of representatives last week had another 100 billion for hospitals. And ill tell you flat out there is a sense of urgency there because if you lose if you lose that community hospital, it is a grievous loss in many parts of our state, in the rural areas and small towns in particular. But yet we have not even brought that issue up on the the floor of the senate over the last three weeks. Weve got a lot of would, that weve got a lot of work that needs to be done. We didnt do it in the last three weeks. We considered two Circuit Court nominees before the Senate Judiciary committee, one from the state of kentucky is a fellow that has six months experience on the federal bench. Hes being proposed by senator mcconnell for a lifetime appointment to the secondhighest court in the land. Really . Thats the best republican nominee for the Second Highest Court in the land, a man with six months experience as a trial judge . He does have woning he does have one thing in favor from senator mcconnells point of view he is opposed to the Affordable Care act. So they have two nominees in the midst of a Public Health crisis in america who are asking for Lifetime Appointments to the court who are opposed to the Affordable Care act, a measure which extended Health Insurance coverage to 20 million americans and provides protections for over 100 million americans in terms of their own personal policies and really making sure that those with preexisting conditions have coverage they can afford. At this moment in time the Republican Party came up with two lifetime nominees who are opposed to the extension of Health Insurance in america . Timing is perfect. If you look at the whole question of relevance and you ask, what is the most irrelevant thing that has occurred in the midst of this crisis, its the last three weeks of the United States senate; that we have been here and put at risk 10,000 employees, which is a scaleddown workforce in the United States capitol, that we put them at risk and never mentioned in legislation the word covid virus or coronavirus or pandemic on the floor of the senate is disgraceful. We were elected to serve and respond to americas needs. For the last three weeks on the floor of the senate, we have not. The random committee hearing, good. Thats what were supposed to do. Thats normal. But you would think that senator mcconnell would have decided, as the house decided last week, that this is still the numberone priority in america. It should be. Perhaps after we return from memorial day, there will be a sense of urgency, which sadly does not exist on the republican side of the aisle of the senate. Mr. President , i yield the floor. A senator mr. President . The presiding officer the senator from iowa. Mr. Grassley in 50 minutes were voting to confirm the nominee as director of National Intelligence. Today i want to discuss congressman ratcliffes confirmation as director of National Intelligence. I want to congratulate that congressman on a job well done. With this new position comes great responsibility. Congressman ratcliffe will have tremendous power to do good and to be transparent. Id like to remind congressman ratcliffe, as i have reminded many heads of departments before , transparency brings accountability, and the publics business ought to be public by its very nature. The Intelligence Community is a secretive bunch. They often operate in the shadows and have to in order to do the job that we asked them to do to protect our National Security. However, that doesnt mean when Congress Asks them questions, the Intelligence Community has a license to withhold information. When Congress Comes knocking, the Intelligence Community must answer. After all, the Intelligence Community does not after anywhere in the constitution. The Intelligence Community is a creation of congress. Congress isnt a creation of the Intelligence Community. The Intelligence Community answers to us and, in turn, to the American People. Acting director grenell, now in that position as acting, understood that. Hes perhaps one of the most transparent government officials in my time serving the great people of iowa. Ambassador grenell is a breath of fresh air. Mr. Ratcliffe has some big shoes to fill. Thats for sure. Luckily, he has acting director grenells example to guide him. Mr. Grenells short time as acting director has resulted in a number of very important items being declassified. For example, he and attorney general barr declassified dozens of footnotes from the Justice Departments Inspector General report that show how the department of justice and the f. B. I. Mishandled the russia investigation. Just to give some highlights of what those previously classified footnote show, let me go through six or seven of them. One the russian intelligence was aware of steeles antitrump research in early july 2016, before the f. B. I. Opened cross fire hurricane. That means the russians knew that he could possibly use the steele dossier as a vehicle to plant disinformation and sow chaos to undermine the american government. Second the f. B. I. Had an open counterintelligence case on steeles key source by failed to give that information to the fisa court. The f. B. I. Had intelligence that some of steeles sources had connections to the russian intelligence. Thats point three. Point four steele had sources connected to the russian president ial administration and some supported clinton, not trump. Five the Crossfire Hurricane Team was aware in latejanuary 2017 that russian intelligence may have targeted orbis. Six, steels primary source viewed his or her contact not as a network of sources, but rather as simply friends that discuss current events. Seven, two intelligence reports, one from january 12, 2017, the other from february 27, 2017, indicated that information contained within the steele dossier was a product of russian disinformation. This information was withheld from the fisa court and the f. B. I. Continued to use the steele dossier to justify surveillance on carter page. I also want to note a very interesting fact about the january 12, 2017, date. Not only did the f. B. I. Learn that the dossier, their central and essential document, was most likely filled with this russian disinformation and then they failed to inform the fisa court about it on that very same day the f. B. I. Got the fisa renewal on carter page. And you know why . It was renewed two more times. My fellow americans, what the f. B. I. Did is a complete travesty, and you have to ask yourself why did they do it. Well, the Text Messages from strzok and page that i made public help us better understand that question. Their animus towards trump helps to explain why the f. B. I. Employees cut corners and didnt follow regular protocol in running their inquiry. As i mentioned before, strzoks text to page about how he will, quote, unquote, stop trump from becoming president is very telling. But thanks to acting director grenell and attorney general barr, these texts can now be read in a greater context. For example, on august 15, 2016, strzok texted page, quote, i want to believe the path that you threw out for consideration in andys office and that was referring to Andrew Mccabe that there is no way trump gets elected. But im afraid we cant take that risk. Its like an insurance policy, that in the unlikely event you die before youre 40, end of quote. The next day, on august 16, 2016, the f. B. I. Opened the flynn probe, conamed crossfire razor. On august 17, 2016, the f. B. I. Used a briefing for trump who was now the republican nominee, and flynn to surveil flynn for his quote, unquote, mannerisms. Whats that about, i dont know. And whether he mentioned anything about russia. Lets also not forget about the text from november 2016 that senator johnson and i made public. Those texts between strzok and page show that the f. B. I. Used a november 2016 briefing for president ial transition staff as a counterintelligence operation. For example, strzok told page, and i quote, he can assist he can assess if there are any new questions or different demeanor. If katies husband is there, we can see if there are people we can develop for potential relationships, end of quote. That is an astounding finding. Imagine if that had been done by the democrat nominee, you wouldnt hear the end of it. In fact, theyd probably call for another special counsel. Yet, because its trump and flynn, the media has gone largely quiet. On january 14, 2017, the f. B. I. Wrote a closing memorandum on flynn that said the Intelligence Community could find no derogatory information on him. That should have been the end of it. But on the very same day the f. B. I. That the f. B. I. Was ready to close the flynn case, strzok asked another f. B. I. Agent, quoteunquote, well, quote, hey, if you havent closed razor, doesnt do it yet, end of quote. The case was still open at that moment, and strzok asked that it be kept open, quoteunquote, for now. Strzok then messaged lisa page saying that razor still happened to be open because of some oversight and said, quote, yeah, our utter incompetence actually helped us. 20 of the time, end quote. Then the next day, on january 5, 2017, president obama met with director comey, Deputy Attorney general sally yates, Vice President biden, and National Security advisor susan rice. In that meeting they briefed obama on the Russian Investigation. On january 5, 2017, the very same day as the oval Office Briefing with obama and biden, and Obama Administration officials leaked the existence of the december 29, 2016, flynn call with the Russian Ambassador. However, that leak hadnt yet been publicly reported. Also on january 5, obamas chief of staff requested to unmask flynn. According to Deputy Attorney general yates, when she met with obama on that day, obama already knew about flynns call with the Russian Ambassador. She was surprised that obama knew about it already. On january 11, 2017, u. N. Ambassador Samantha Powers requested to unmask flynn. She requested this be done seven times after the election. She ought to explain why she did that. Then on january 12, 2017, Vice President biden requested to unmask flynn. That same day the existence of flynns call with the Russian Ambassador was leaked and ran in the Washington Post. Then on february 2017, the alleged contents of the call were leaked. Those leaks are a criminal action. They are some of the criminal leaks that occurred during the transition period and also at the early days of the Trump Administration, which were obviously designed to undermine the new administration. I assume that attorney general he no. U. S. Attorney durham is investigating all those leaks. With respect to the unmasking, what id like to know is why did so many Obama Administration officials that were not within the intelligence field request to unmask flynn. The sheer volume of unmasking and the timing cause me to question whether it was politically motivated. Based on the facts that we now know, it appears the Obama Administrations Top Law Enforcement Agency swells the Intelligence Community engaged in a coordinated effort to cut the legs from under the Trump Administration before they could even get their foot in. And you know what . The American People have had to suffer through years of criminal leaks, innuendos, false news reports, and flatout lies all designed to destroy the Trump Administration. The Russian Investigation should have closed shop early on, especially when the people they surveilled from the Trump Campaign offered exculpatory evidence, evidence which showed that the Trump Campaign waned waned wasnt involved in the Democratic National Committee Hack and didnt have the russian connections the f. B. I. Thought that they had. And, by the way, that evidence was hidden from the fisa court by the f. B. I. Obama had said d. O. J. And f. B. I. Must be kept independent of white house interference. Yet, based on information that we have had at this point, it appears that he and biden were much more involved in aspects of the Russian Investigation than theyd like to have us believe. Ultimately obama and biden will have to answer for what they knew and when they knew it. That shouldnt be a problem for the socalled most Transparent Administration in history, as they used to tell us all the time. Simply said, heads need to roll over this. If they dont, the Intelligence Community, the department of justice, the federal bureau of investigation may never get the peoples trust. Where do we go from here . On may 12, 2020, i wrote a letter to acting director grenell that requested a broad range of information relating to unmasking by the Obama Administration. On may 19, i expanded that request with senator johnson. Prior to that, i wrote to the Justice Department and mr. Grenell requesting the transcripts of flynns calls with the Russian Ambassador and that susan rices infamous january 2017 email to herself be declassified, among other things. That email has now been declassified and casts further doubts on the f. B. I. s actions. Ive also requested along with senator johnson underlying intelligence reports from the russia investigation. Moreover, reports suggest that the Obama Administration unmask a lot more u. S. Persons related to the Trump Campaign than just general flynn. The responsibility to respond to these requests will now fall on congressman ratcliffe. Hopefully hes as helpful to congressional oversight and public accountability as ambassador grenell. So lets see it all. The American Public has waited long enough. And finally i want to remind congressman ratcliffe and the Intelligence Community the hold i placed on William Evanina for general counsel. I did that two years ago. I placed that hold in my capacity as chairman of the judiciary committee. Ive explained in detail many times before why i placed a hold on him, and im not going to bother explaining it again other than to mention that Deputy Attorney general rosenstein agreed to give me the documents, and he never did. In turn, general rosenstein blamed director coats, who then blamed rosenstein. Youve heard it before. All of my colleagues have. Whether you have a republican or democrat administration, its your typical bureaucrat blame game. Thanks to acting director grenell and attorney general barr, the blame game has ended. But importantly, especially for future administrations and for congressman ratcliffe, i want to make very clear that the judiciary committees jurisdiction extends to Intelligence Community. Since the authorization resolution that created the Senate Select committee on intelligence, the senate explicitly reserved for other Standing Committees such as the Senate Judiciary committee, independent authority to, quote, study and review any intelligence activity and further, quote, to obtain full and prompt access to product of the intelligence activities of any department or agency. And further quoting, when such activity directly affects a matter otherwise within the jurisdiction of such committee. The Senate Judiciary committee has jurisdiction over all federal courts, including the foreign Intelligence Surveillance court, where a lot of intelligence activity takes place. Of course all all of congress has the Constitutional Authority over the Intelligence Community. So in conclusion, please, congressman ratcliffe, and please, the greater Intelligence Community, remember, you were created by statute, but congress was created by the constitution. I yield the floor. A senator mr. President. The presiding officer the senator from oregon. Wyden. Mr. Wyden mr. President , in a few minutes, the senate will vote on John Ratcliffe to be director of National Intelligence and i have come to discuss this important nomination. Now, senators often come to this floor to talk about the importance of speaking truth to power. John ratcliffe, in his statements before the Intelligence Committee in his written responses revealed he would not speak truth to power, he would surrender to it. He demonstrated that he is so eager to serve power he will twist the truth, and he showed this again and again. We saw, for example, in the name of helping power, we saw him dance around direct questions about whether he would respect or even understood the law. John ratcliffe made a number of extremely disturbing statements that make it clear that he has and will misrepresent and politicize intelligence without a moments hesitation. Mr. President , i ask the congressman at his hearing about a law that requires a public unclassified report on who was responsible for the murder of Washington Post journalist and u. S. Resident jamal kashoggi. This was a law passed by the congress of the United States. This law required the director of National Intelligence to produce that unclassified report on who called Kamal Kashoggi in february. That has never happened. So at his nomination, i simply asked the congressman whether the government was bound by the lwcf. His response, the congressman called the law a request for unclassified information. Thats how he referred to this law. Then the congressman promised to take a look at the law. So in his own words John Ratcliffe wouldnt commit to following that important law because without knowing the circumstances of who killed Kamal Kashoggi, i believe it is open season on journalists. How John Ratcliffe danced around that question of whether he would comply with the law is a disqualification by itself to be the head of National Intelligence. Now this was a pattern throughout the hearing. John ratcliffe had his talking points down, but the moment he was asked anything specific, he danced away. And im just going to take a few minutes to give some examples. Obviously its critically important to know a nominees views for this position on the question of spying on americans. So i asked John Ratcliffe three times in prehearing questions at the hearing and again after the hearing whether the statute that prohibits warrantless wiretapping on americans was binding. Each time John Ratcliffe left himself lots of wiggle room to suggest that whatever this law said the president might have ways to go around it. He also said he worked with the attorney general, who we know has explicitly said that he doesnt believe foreign Intelligence Surveillance law is binding on the president. So this is really where John Ratcliffe could be dangerous. Donald trump as president , and william barr as attorney general, the leadership of the Intelligence Community is one of democracys last lines of defense. Thats why the American People need a director of National Intelligence who understands how the law protects their rights and wont start conducting warrantless wiretapping on americans just because the attorney general wrongly claims that its legal. But nothing that John Ratcliffe has said during his confirmation process or throughout his career provides a glimmer of hope that he is a person who would speak truth to power and stand up for the rights of americans. Now, there are plenty more reasons to im oppose this nomination, but in the interest of time, im going to focus on just one more, and that is John Ratcliffes blatant misrepresentation and politicizing of intelligence. This was obvious in how he talked about the Intelligence Communitys assessment that the russians interfered in the 2016 election to help donald trump. Now, this is a view undisputed within the Intelligence Community. The senate Intelligence Committee looked that up and down and it was the unanimous judgment of the Intelligence Committee that it was true. But for John Ratcliffe the intelligence really doesnt matter. All that matters is that he makes donald trump happy. And if donald trump doesnt want to acknowledge that the russians helped him, then those are John Ratcliffes marching orders. It is the exact opposite of speaking truth to power, and that is why at the beginning of my remarks i described his views with respect to power as not speaking truth but totally surrendering to power. Hes also perfectly happy to misrepresent the intelligence even when its public and we can read it with our own eyes. Three times during the hearing he said that the russians did not succeed in changing the outcome of the 2016 elections. Now this position of John Ratcliffes directly contradicts what the Intelligence Committee had written in plain english. He said, and i quote, we did not make an assessment of the impact that russian activities had on the outcome of the 2016 election. So i asked John Ratcliffe where he got his information. He referred back to the Intelligence Committees assessment and the committees report neither of which supported John Ratcliffes statements. Mr. President , you have to ask yourself why would John Ratcliffe Say Something that is obviously obviously not true . Thats because donald trump wants us to believe that he didnt benefit from russian interference and that first and foremost is what matters to John Ratcliffe. If John Ratcliffe is willing to misrepresent intelligence assessments that are already public that anybody can read for themselves, my take is theres no telling how he would misrepresent intelligence that is still classified. There is every reason to believe his public statements would be designed for one purpose, one purpose own, and that is to make are sure that that donald trump is pleased. Neither the congress nor the American People have any reason to trust that John Ratcliffes testimony or his other public statements are accurate. So my view is this kind of approach taken by the director of National Intelligence is a real threat to democracy. When the director of National Intelligence demonstrates that he is willing to bury the actual intelligence and say whatever makes donald trump happy at any particular moment, the American People are going to lose confidence and lose confidence quickly. Its not just about foreign interference in our democracy. Thats plenty serious as it is. Its about other threats like in kroi and mass destruction and whether the government is secretly spying on americans without a warrant or committing torture and ultimately its about the issue of war and peace and whether americans will be asked to die for our country. The American People look to Intelligence Leaders for the facts. The facts, the unvarnished truth on these and other issues which is why it is so important this position must have a foundation of credibility. Time and time again John Ratcliffe has demonstrated that he does not clear that lowest bar, that bar that means youve got to have credibility in this position, and i urge my colleagues, when we vote in a few minutes, to reject John Ratcliffes nomination to be director of National Intelligence, and i yield the floor and i would note the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call quorum call quorum call a senator madam president. The presiding officer the senator from florida. Mr. Scott i ask that the quorum call be vitiated. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Scott i ask for the yeas and nays. The presiding officer 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 yeas are 49, the nays are 44, and the nomination is confirmed. The senate will resume the senate will resume consideration of the following nomination which the clerk will report. The clerk nomination, the judiciary, John Leonard Badalamenti, of florida, to be United States district judge for the district of florida. The presiding officer under the previous order, with respect to the ratcliffe nomination, the motion to reconsider is considered made and laid upon the table and the president will be immediately notified of the senates actions. The senator from maryland. Mr. Cardin thank you, madam president. I know that we are all looking forward to trying to finish our legislative work this week. The majority leader has announced that next week the senate would be in recess for the memorial day traditional recess. But let me just urge our colleagues that before we leave for the recess, we need to act on the challenges that covid19 is imposing on our state and local governments. To me, it would be irresponsible for us to leave, to go into recess recognizing that our state and local governments are so much impacted by covid19. They are making decisions now. They have to put their budgets together. They have to adjust this years budget and plan for next years budget. And whats in the balance . Well, its for our municipalities, its law enforcement, its police, its fire, its emergency rescue. For our counties, its our schools and funding of our schools. It also deals with Public Health. For our state its Public Health and so many different issues that are dependent upon the state having the resources in order to respond to the needs of their citizens, our constituents, as well as to deal with the challenges of covid19. Ill give you one example. I met this week by teleconference with representatives of our Higher Education university of maryland. They depend very much on the revenues they get from the state and the revenues they get from their students. Both are very much in jeopardy today. The least we can do is to make sure that the states have the resources to continue these Critical Missions. And they just dont have it. Let me just give you some of the numbers so my colleagues are aware of it. For the state of maryland, the revenue projections are that for the current fiscal year, that ends june 30, that their revenues will be off by as much as 925 billion to 1. 25 billion. Thats revenue losses. And put on top of that, that their f. Y. 2022 revenue projections are another loss of 2. 1 billion to 2. 4 billion. Thats the state of maryland. Baltimore city is projecting a loss of revenue of 42 million this year. Thats going to require layoffs and they have already talked about layoffs and not hiring Additional Police officers. Those Police Officers are needed in order to keep baltimore safe. We know of the challenges we have in our municipal centers, and Baltimore City is under a consent order, a decree. So thats being jeopardized by the inability of baltimore to deal with these costs. They have to balance their budget. The state of maryland has to balance its budget. Baltimore city has to balance its budget. It doesnt have the leeway we have in order to respond to a crisis by pumping money at a problem. Baltimore county, 172 million revenue projection. Thats a 22 reduction in this years budget in regards to Income Tax Revenues alone. A 70 reduction in motel and hotel tax revenues. For montgomery county, our neighbor, borders here in d. C. , a 250 million projected revenue loss for this year. Prince georges county, 134 million revenue loss for this year. That includes a reduction of 886 million in Income Tax Revenues. Ann arundel county, 63 million loss of revenue. Theyve frozen all positions. Howard county, 30 million to 40 million loss of revenue. They normally have a growth of 25 million. Thats a swing of 65 million to 65 million for a county not large enough to get help under the cares act. Thats an important bill. When we brought it up it didnt include a provision for state and local. We put that in and were pleased we were able to do that but it is limited. How is it limited . The money we made available under the cares act provided help to state and local governments under direct costs associated with covid19. That money has been used for direct costs associated with covid19. Ive already pointed out the revenue losses in the state of maryland and in our subdivisions. The cares act does not provide any help in regards to making up for the revenue losses. The cares act only went to jurisdictions of 500,000 or more, over 500,000. So my state, only a few of our counties were eligible for help. Most of our counties were not eligible for help directly. They had to apply through the state but they were not eligible for direct help. Let me give you one wacamaco county on the Eastern Shore of maryland where the Poultry Farms of located and where the problems of covid19 needed to be contained. We did not provide any direct help to wacamaco county in regard to stabilization funds. That was wrong. As we all know, we treated where we are here, our host jurisdiction, the district of columbia, wrongly by not allowing them to get the same minimum distribution as the state. The cares act helped but it didnt deal with the Current Crisis that we now find at state and local government. So the governors have issued a bipartisan plea. Governor hogan, who is the chair of the National Governors association, the republican governor from maryland, and governor cuomo, the governor from new york, a democrat, have joined with all of our governors in saying they need help now from the federal government in order to maintain Critical Missions of public safety, of Public Health, of education. And, yes, to meet the direct needs related to covid19. They need help now. And, yes, we need to respond. I am pleased that theres a Bipartisan Group of senators that have filed the smart act. The governor say they need 500 billion in order to get through this immediate crisis. 500 billion more. Well, the smart act provides 500 billion, twothirds would go to the state and onethird to the local governments. Thats an important start. But we could do better than that. The heroes act, the bill that passed the house of representatives, provides 875 billion. 57 goes to the states, meeting what the states needs. 42 goes to local government, half to the counties, half to the municipalities. That would go a long way to meeting the needs of our local first responders, our police, our fire, our emergency rescue, our schools, those types of issues could be addressed under that need. Weve got to respond. We just cant go home and say this is not our problem. These are our constituents. They depend upon local police and fire. They depend upon the schools being prepared to educate their children. They depend upon sanitation being collected. They depend upon the Public Health capacities. Thats where they get those services. And if we dont provide the wherewithal under the balanced budget rules, theyre not going to be able to provide those essential services. So, madam president , my plea is that before we go into recess, let us take up at least the issues affecting state and local government and do something to help so that they can continue to provide essential services to our constituents, so they can deal with the direct costs associated with covid19 in their communities as we are beginning to reopen our communities, we need to make sure our state and local governments have the resources to respond to the challenges when more people are getting together. And we also need to respond, if were going to get our economy back on track. Its not going to get back on track with our state and local governments laying off their workers. We need to respond in a positive way, and we need to do that now. I urge my colleagues to take up legislation before we go into recess in order to help the people of our nation through our state and local governments. With that, madam president , i would suggest the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call quorum call quorum call a senator mr. President . The presiding officer the senator for texas. Mr. Cruz i ask unanimous consent to vitiate the quorum call. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Cruz mr. President , i rise today to discuss the single most dangerous geopolitical threat that america faces now and through the next century china. Were in the midst of a pandemic that has infected over five Million People and has claimed the lives of over 300,000 people worldwide. In the United States alone, the pandemic has infected over 1. 5 Million People and has claimed over 93,000 lives. The coronavirus pandemic has shattered the lives of husbands and wives, daughters, sons, granddaughters, grandsons, brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews who have lost loved ones to covid19. It has also shattered the lives of those who have lost their jobs, their livelihoods because of this disease. 38 million americans are now out of work. The Unemployment Rate is at the highest it has ever been since the great depression. And entire industries are on the brink of collapse, just four months ago when the economy was booming, that was unthinkable. Where did this pandemic start . In china. Whether it began at the wuhan wet market, a breeding ground for disease where snakes and turtles and puppies and bats and other wildlife and farm animals are killed or whether it began due to substandard safety protocols at the Wuhan Institute of virology where research into coronavirus was being conducted and specifically coronavirus from bats, we dont yet know. Heres what we do know. Not only did the coronavirus outbreak start in china, the Chinese Communist government did everything it could to cover up the severity of the outbreak, from lying about the origin of the virus to how its transmitted to destroying evidence to silencing the brave whistleblower doctors and scientists and journalists and activists who tried to warn the world and prevent a global pandemic. Its been reported recently that between january 1 and april 4, the Chinese Government charged 484 people with crimes because of comments they made about the coronavirus pandemic. In wuhan, eight doctors who sounded the alarm about coronavirus in december were accused of spreading lies, arrested, and forced to sign documents claiming that they had made false statements that, quote, disturbed the public order. In reality, they were telling the truth. They were warning us. One of those doctors, dr. Ai fen, has been missing since late march. Another, dr. Li wenliang, has since died from the coronavirus. Dr. Li wenliang, his wife was pregnant with the couples second child when he died. And its not just chinese doctors who are paying the price for telling the truth. Journalists and activists who courageously spoke up, theyre disappearing, too. Xu zhangrun, a chinese law professor, who spoke out about the Chinese Governments handling of the coronavirus outbreak and criticized chinese president xi, hes been missing since february. Chen qius. I, a chinese journalist and lawyer, who went to wuhan to report on whats been happening there, has been missing since february 6. Feng bin, a journalist and businessman who reported on the number of bodies piling up outside a wuhan hospital, has been missing since february 9. Li johua, a journalist who quit his job as a broadcaster for the Chinese Communist partys tv station so he could report on what was happening in wuhan, went missing for 28 days and then was allowed to reappear in public only after he praised the governments policy. Reign xijiang, a real estate tycoon who had been publicly critical of the handling of the coronavirus, has been missing since march 12. And shu jaihon, a civil rights lawyer and legal scholar who criticized president xi for his handling of the coronavirus crisis, has been on house arrest since february 13. If the Chinese Government had acted responsibly and sought the advice of Public Health professionals instead of silencing them, there is a very real possibility the coronavirus could have been contained as a regional outbreak. Instead, we are now dealing with a deadly global pandemic. These brave men and women are just the latest targets of Chinese Communist governments relentless attacks on truth tellers, on Freedom Fighters and religious and ethnic minorities. The Chinese Government is a 1984 style dystopian state, and its imprisoned millions of uighurs and other religious minorities. They are constantly tracking the movement of millions of people, using cuttingedge biotechnology and artificial intelligence, and it has put one million uighurs right now into concentration camps. In 2017, i led a bipartisan resolution in this body condemning the Chinese Communist partys persecution of religious minorities, particularly buddhist tibetans. Last year, i introduced legislation and urged the Trump Administration to blacklist Chinese Companies that are aiding the Chinese Government in its persecution of the uighurs. The administration implemented the recommendations in my legislation, and, as a result, those companies are now banned from acquiring american goods. Thats a step in the right direction. We have known that chinas surveillance step and censorship practices are a great threat to human rights. But what the pandemic has shown success that chinas surveillance state and censorship is also a great threat to the our National Security and to Public Health. Had those doctors and journalists and activists who were trying to tell the truth, desperately trying to warn the world, had they been allowed to speak, the coronavirus outbreak might have been stopped in its tracks. We may not have had to deal with this devastating pandemic that has claimed the lives and the livelihoods of men and women all over the world. Thats why today im introducing legislation to sanction chinese officials who helped censor political speech or suppress the dissemination of medical information by citizens of china. This legislation would impose visa bans and asset blocks on those who punish or censor chinese citizens for reporting Accurate Information about a disease or a pathogen, and hopefully will help prevent Something Like this from ever happening again in china. We need to be vigilant and to act where we can to thwart the Chinese Governments attempts to twist the truth, to censor and to silence within china. But we also need to be vigilant about the Chinese Governments attempts to censor and silence elsewhere, including in our own nation. In the United States, the Chinese Government attempts to spread propaganda by two ways, by leveraging their enormous Market Access to coerce americans into selfcensorship, especially to hollywood and sports teams who stand to make billions of dollars in china, and by simply purchasing access to our cultural and educational centers. With both levers, chinese officials have one objective to shape what americans see, hear, and ultimately think. China has the worlds second largest film market, second only to the United States. And it does around 8 billion in Box Office Revenues per year. The chinese film market is comprised of chinese films, but they also make sure to allow a few dozen American Films into their market every year. The number is deliberately kept low, and in exchange for access, American Film Companies submit their films to chinas censors who often force them to change those films. American companies have learned this fact, and theyll often change the films even in advance of submitting it. As a result, they control not just what audiences see in china, but also what americans see. The Chinese Governments Censorship Office seeks to edit anything to do with tibet, tiananmen square, with human rights, with democracy, with religion, or with any criticism, particularly that of the chinese party. Recently the Chinese Government has succeeded enforcing changes to movies such as top gun the sequel, such as the remake of red dawn, pixars, Bohemian Rhapsody were changed. In Bohemian Rhapsody, the Chinese Communist party he had illiterated out references to the edited out references to the fact that frey i was gay. In the top gun sequel, the taiwanese and japanese flags on the back of mavericks jacket were removed to appease the Chinese Communist party. Think the about that for a second. What message does it understand is that maverick, an american icon, is apparently afraid of the Chinese Communists . Thats ridiculous. Thats why today im introducing the script act which would cut off hollywoods studios from the assistance they receive from the u. S. Government if those studios censor their films for screening in china. Its common practice for major hollywood films to contract with the pentagon to use jets and tanks and to film on bases on aircraft carriers. The script act should be a wakeup call for hollywood. Studios would be forced to choose between the assistance from the federal government or the money that they want from china p. The second way the Chinese Government attempts to spread propaganda is by purchasing access to our Cultural Education centers. The Chinese Government spends billions of dollars to shape what the next generation of americans know and think about china. They have a pervasive presence in our k12 education, in our colleges and universities, especially through confucius institutes. And by directly financing departments and centers. The National Defense authorization act for fiscal year 2019, i authored Bipartisan Legislation prohibiting the department of defense from funding universities when the money could go to confucius institutes. As a result, over a dozen confucius institutes have closed. We need to stand up and deal directly with the threat china poses. China bears direct responsibility, direct culpability for the over 300,000 people who have died worldwide, for the trillions in economic livelihoods that have been destroyed. Today i introduce three pieces of legislation to directly address chinese censorship and their responsibility for this pandemic, and we as a body, as a bipartisan body, need to stand and stand strong protecting u. S. National security, protecting the lives of americans, and ensuring accountability that the Chinese Communist party had accountability for their censorship, their hiding of the facts of this pandemic, and the lives that have been lost as a result of their coverup. Mr. President , i yield the floor. Mr. Hoeven mr. President . The presiding officer the senator from north dakota. Mr. Hoeven i have three requests for committees to meet during todays session of the senate. They have the approval of the majority and minority leaders. The presiding officer duly noted. 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 nomination of John Leonard Badalamenti of florida to be United States district judge for the middle district of florida. The presiding officer the question is, is it the sense of the senate that debate on the nomination of John Leonard Badalamenti of florida to be United States district judge for the middle district of florida shall be brought to a close. The yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule. The clerk will call the roll. Vote voted vote