Lord, were grateful that though wrong seems strong, you continue to rule. Fill our lawmakers with reverence and trust in your prevailing providence. May that reverential awe keep them on the path of courage, integrity, and wisdom. Lord, remind them that you have invited them to seek and discover your might. You declared in psalm 50 15 call me in the day of trouble, and i will deliver you. We praise your holy name. Amen. The president pro tempore please join me in reciting the pledge of allegiance to our 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 one minute for morning business. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Grassley the house of representatives has passed a bill thats kind of like a onesizefitsall for elections. That everything ought to be run out of washington, d. C. Contrary to what weve done in this country for 240 years where we have had 50 States Running the elections. So i want to refer to what happens in the state of iowa. Last week, iowans voted in record numbers in our june primary. In most elections, about 40 of iowans choose to vote by absentee ballot. This year in our primary and understandably because of the pandemic, the vast majority casts their vote by absentee ballot. A state decision, a personal decision, not something dictated by washington. Now, as i have already referred to, there are those here in washington, d. C. And the congress and maybe outside of the congress saying that unless the federal government mandates states adopt a whole new centralized, nonoptional vote by mail system before november, americans will not be able to vote from home. Iowas successful primary election shows that the absentee Ballot System already in place in our state, in most states, run by iowa county auditors is up to the task. Weve proved that. Every iowan who wants to vote absentee in november can do so, and those who want to vote in person can also do so safely. I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call quorum call mr. Schumer madam president . The presiding officer the democratic leader. Mr. Schumer i ask unanimous consent the quorum be dispensed with. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Schumer so, madam president , as protests over the deaths the death of george floyd continue, house and Senate Democrats came together yesterday to unveil sweeping reforms to our Nations Police departments. The justice and policing act was not only a response to the recent protests but a reflection of years of failed efforts to root out injustice and racial bias in our Law Enforcement. The bill would ban the use of choke holds and other tactics that have left black americans dead. It would limit the transfer of military weaponry and equipment to Police Departments. It would change the Legal Standard to make it easier to hold Police Accountable for misconduct when they used deadly force on american citizens. And through increased data and transparency as well as important modifications to training and practices, it would help prevent Police Misconduct in the first place. This is a very strong bill and rightly so. I give tremendous credit to senators booker and harris and so many others who contributed as well as the black caucus led by karen bass and chairman nadler of judiciary. They have put together a very strong bill. And the reason is simple. The moment does not call for half measures. Hundreds of thousands of american protesters are not asking us to chip away around the edges. They want bold reform and meaningful changes to a system that all too often delivers unequal justice for too many black americans and that has existed that way for too, too long. Well, that kind of bold reform and meaningful change is what the justice and policing act will deliver, meaningful change and democrats are going to fight very, very hard to make this proposal a reality. Now, of course, in the senate its ultimately up to leader mcconnell to decide what proposals if any come to the senate floor. Thats his prerogative as majority leader. But for two weeks leader mcconnell has refused to respond to my request for the senate to consider a Police Reform bill before july 4, the end of the current work period. I have heard the republican leader speak to the frustrations that swept the nation. I trust he is aware of the many abuses that have been allowed to persist unchecked in our Police Departments. Where is leader mcconnell on actually doing something about it . And, of course, theres another crisis of the moment, the covid pandemic. According to reports in the press, leader mcconnell has told the Republican Caucus not to expect another relief bill until late july at the earliest. This is happening even as some states begin loosening restrictions on business and travel but even as that happens, our economy is hampered by severe depressionlevel unemployment. While the number of new cases is falling on the east coast, the number of cases remains steady in much of the country and is increasing in a good number of states. And were coming to a whole lot of cliffs. States are preparing their budgets in advance of the new fiscal year in july. If they dont get help soon, they may be forced to make severe cuts to public service, and thousands, hundreds of thousands, even millions would be laid off of hardworking state and local officials who our communities depend on. And there are other cliffs as well. The moratorium, the threemonth moratorium on eviction expires. Unemployment expires july 31. There are so many cliffs here. And make no mistake about it, covid is related to Racial Justice as well. In the heroes bill, for instan instance, hazard workers, frontline workers get extra pay, hazard pay. More than 40 of them are minorities. These are the people on our front lines. Rental assistance for people who might be evicted, a large percentage of minority folks do not cannot afford to own a home and rent so we must act on that as well. So the kind of Racial Justice that were talking about, the kind of inequality that exists, some of it, a good chunk of it would be relieved if we passed the heroes act, the covid four bill. So both of these are important to do. Racial justice, civil rights, a global pandemic, an economic disaster, these are not merely issues of the month but of this moment in american history. Its truly a time of historic challenge and leader mcconnell and the Republican Senate are missing in action. No commitment to consider Police Reform. No urgency to provide our country relief despite the upcoming cliffs that are going to be soon upon us. There are still four weeks remaining before july 4. I say to leader mcconnell, commit to a Police Reform bill on the senate floor. Work with us on another emergency package that can come to the floor as well before july 4. We have waited too long already. For weeks we democrats have had to relentlessly pressure our republican colleagues to even hold the most routine oversight hearings. The republican majority on the Homeland Security committee in particular has wasted time these past few weeks trying to smear the family of the president s political opponent instead. Here we have a major crisis, a major crisis on the health front, on the economic front, on the Racial Justice front, and what are so many of our republican friends doing . Raising back already discredited conspiracy theories, to go after the president s political opponent at a time when americans are calling for unity and coming together and doing something about our problems . Its a shame. And members of and the Homeland Security committee will finally today conduct a hearing with the people with a fema administrator for the first time in so long. This crisis has been raging for months. More than eight weeks ago we passed a 3 trillion bill. Why has it taken so long to have any oversight at all . But finally, members of the committee will have the opportunity to press Administration Officials as to why in the early days of the pandemic the distribution of p. P. E. And other critical medical supplies was marked about i so much confusion, secrecy, incompetence and delays. In fact senators warren, blumenthal and i formally requested an investigation into project airbridge, the name of the trump administrations fake medical supply chain project which by reports was a failure. Why arent we looking into why that went wrong and how we can correct it . We have lost too Many Americans, frontline workers, hospital and pledge pen nel to the horrible covid19 disease. Well never know how many we lost because we werent better prepared with the necessary protective equipment. The trump administrations failure should be investigated so it does not make the same failure again. Meanwhile, america is still waiting for the president to even acknowledge the issue of Police Violence an Racial Justice that are driving protests across the country and across the street from the white house. The president appears to be too preoccupied trying to emulate president nixon, of all president s. He is too occupied with his own political precariousness to try to bring the country together. As former defense secretary mattis wrote, donald trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American People. Does not even pretend to try. Instead he tries to divide us. We are witnessing the consequences of three years of this deliberate effort. We are witnessing the consequences of three years without mature leadership. But, he said, we can unite without him. And do that, we must, as americans. And those words were not written by some liberal democrat who theyll call names at, cast dispersions on, never discussing the argument. It was written by our great military leaders, former defense secretary general mattis. Every day every day provides fresh evidence that this country will have to unite in spite of the president , not because of him. I yield the floor. Mr. Mcconnell madam president. The presiding officer the majority leader. Mr. Mcconnell several times now i praised the Peaceful Demonstrations protesting Racial Injustice and the killings of black americans. Im grateful that after several harrowing days of looting and riots, Law Enforcement restored order and helped these Peaceful Protesters be heard. Notwithstanding the far left calls to disban the police all together, the memory of george floyd and Breonna Taylor can move us to combat residual racism. I need to discuss a different pressing problem that concerns americans constitutional rights. Its becoming clear to Many Americans, including many who appreciate and applaud the recent protests that our National Life during this pandemic has slid toward a double standard. For weeks state and local leaders put normal American Life totally on ice and asked citizens to prioritize fighting the virus. For weeks the Mainstream Media heaped scorn on any small citizen protest, outdoor gathering or even the suggestion that other important values might require a reappraisal of certain restrictions. Well, the American People did their part. They made necessary sacrifices that clearly helped the country and they are ready continuing doing their part as our reopening carefully proceeds. But now Many Americans feel theyve just sewn those seen those pass titus pass titus recommendations disappear because a new cause. A month ago small protests demonstrations were condemned as reckless and selfish. Now massive rallies that fill entire cities are not just praised but, in fact, are called especially brave because of the exact same health risks that brought condemnation when the cause was different. People just spent the spring watching their Small Businesses dissolve or canceling weddings or missing religious observances for the longest spells in their lives or missing the last days of a loved ones life and then missing the unit ral. Never funeral. Never were the American People told about any exemption for things they felt strongly about. I have no criticism for the millions of americans who peacefully demonstrated in recent days. Their cause is beyond righteous. It is the inconsistency from leaders that has been baffling. The same governor of michigan who argued that letting people carefully shop for Vegetable Seeds would be too dangerous during the pandemic now poses for photo graphs with groups of protesters. Here in the descriskt of columbia, the mayor celebrates massive street protests. She actually joins them herself. But on her command churches and houses of worship remain shut. The Largest Church buildings are subject to the ten person limit the mayor deems inessential. The rights of free speech and Free Assembly and religion are First Amendment rights. They have the same constitutional petigree. Prayer is still too dangerous. Politicians are now picking and choosing within the First Amendment itself. Last week one county in californias bay area seriously attempted to issue guidance that allowed protests of 100 people but still still kept all other social gatherings at 12 people and banned outdoor religious gatherings all together. Banned outdoor religious gatherings all together. Figure that one out. These governments are acting like the coronavirus discriminates based on the content of the peoples speech but it is the leaders who are doing that. It impossible to avoid the conclusion that local and state leaders are using their powers to encourage constitutionally protected conduct which they personally appreciate while continuing to ban constitutionally conducted conduct which they personally feel is less important. In new york city the mayor makes no effort to hide this subject activity of. He recounted our racism and compared it to a devout religious person and said sorry thats not the same question. The American Peoples constitutional liberty do not turn do not turn on a mayors intuitions. They do not get to play red light green light within the First Amendment. The First Amendment is not an alacart menu ma leaders may that leaders may sample as they please. Mass protests are continuing to be applauded but small religious services should be banned. These prominent democrats are free to let social protests outrank religious in their own consciousness if they choose but they do not get to impose that are ranking on everyone else. That is precisely the point of freedom of conscience. That is precisely the point of the First Amendment. Weeks ago citizens sued the mayor of louisville, kentucky, when he tried to ban drivein easter services. A brilliant district judge had to remind him and the whole country that in america faith can never be shoved into second class. It seems at least for a few local leaders they still need to learn that lesson. I hope they learn it soon. The American Peoples response to the coronavirus was courageous and patriotic. On the advice of experts, our nation sacrificed a great deal to protect our medical system. Politicians must not repay that sacrifice with constitutionally dubious double standards. Now, madam president , on an entirely different matter. Yesterday our colleagues voted overwhelmingly to advance the Great American outdoors act thanks to the guiding leadership of colleagues like senator daines and senator gardner. We have a rare opportunity to take a huge step forward for our nations cherished treasures. Every year Americas National forest, battlefields and public lands draw hundreds of millions of visits from across the country and around the world. Hunters and anglers, backpackers and climbers, bird watcher rs, and road trippers, school groups, and scientists. Across hundreds of millions of acres theres room for recreation and conservation alike. And where our nation makes its natural wonders possible, local communities thrive. According to the National Park service, park visitors contribute to more than 40 billion in economic output in adjacent towns from local hotels to restaurants to the Outdoor Industry itself they support nearly 330,000 jobs. It would be difficult to overstate the importance of our public lands and the lives of the American People. And when the Senate Passes legislation to secure permanent funding for keeping them safe and accessible, well be ushering in a Bright Future for american recreation and conservation. At the same time, and just as importantly, well be addressing the areas where decades of funding levels for routine maintenance have not kept pace, leaving some of our parks and public lands inaccessible and potentially unsafe. This, madam president , is where the rubber meets the road. This is where all of our love for the Great American outdoors needs to be backed up with some sober accounting. And senator gardners backyard in the u. S. Forest service Rocky Mountain region, the cost of backlog maintenance projects at nearly half a billion dollars. From the upkeep of roads, bridges and dams to wastewater and drink Drinking Water systems, we are talking about consequences for conservation and local economies. In kentucky we know all too well what happens when urgent maintenance is neglected. Untreated sewer leaks has restricted access to the largest cave system in the world and threatened some of its nativive species. Today more than 10 million of maintenance is still outstanding at that particular park. Were still waiting on funding to rehabilitate cave trails that havent seen major investment since the 1930s. At the Forest ServiceLondon District Office kentucky rangers are waiting for funding for critical security and accessibility updates. Public lands need regular maintenance. We shouldnt let key infrastructure language for decades and fight uphill to make up for lost time. This is a familiar problem that is felt in different ways in every corner of our nation. So the solution will need to be just as sweeping. Fortunately as last nights lopsided vote demonstrates, our colleagues have a deeply bipartisan set of solutions that our country deserves. Im proud the work led by our colleagues from montana and colorado have received the endorsement of hundreds of national and local advocates for american recreation and conservation. I urge all senators to join the experts and support the bill. The presiding officer under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved. Morning business is closed. Under the previous order, the senate will resume consideration of the motion to proceed to h. R. 1957, which the clerk will report. The clerk motion to proceed to h. R. 1957, an act to amend the Internal Revenue code of 1986 to modernize and improve the Internal Revenue service and for other purposes. Mr. Thune madam president. The presiding officer the majority whip. Mr. Thune is the senate in a quorum call . The presiding officer we are not. Mr. Thune madam president , as i begin this morning, i would like to just briefly comment on the outlandish idea of dismantling Police Departments that have seen substantial coverage in recent days. Well, there are exceptions to while there are exceptions, the vast majority of our Nations Police officers are men and women of character who care deeply about protecting everyone in their communities, and they provide an essential service, a service, madam president , that we cannot do without. The idea that any city can exist without a police force is so absurd that its difficult to believe anyone is seriously discussing it. We absolutely need to look at policies at the state, local, and federal levels to ensure that we are holding Police Officers to the highest standards, and i hope well be having serious bipartisan discussions on these issues in the coming weeks. I know at least one Senate Republican has already introduced legislation to require Law Enforcement agencies to report the use of lethal force, but bipartisan discussions will not be forwarded by extreme and irresponsible proposals like abolishing the Police Departments that help protect our communities. And i hope, madam president , that such proposals will not gain any traction here in the United States senate. Madam president , we are very busy, hard at work here in the senate. Our Main Business on the floor this week will be the Great American outdoors act, legislation crafted by senators daines and gardner and others that will help address the significant maintenance backlog at our National Parks, among other things. Out of the lime tight, senators will also be discussing how best to respond at the federal level to the tragedy of George Floyds killing. And responding to the coronavirus continues to be at the top of our agenda. Right now, were focused on monitoring the implementation of the 2. 4 trillion that congress has provided so that we can identify what more we need to do to fight this virus. Our committees play a leading role in this, and they have kept up a steady stream of hearings, examining implementation and identifying next steps. This week, we have no fewer than eight, eight Committee Hearings on various aspects of the covid crisis, including unemployment insurance, a Senate FinanceCommittee Hearing later today that i will be participating in, reopening schools, and the federal governments procurement and distribution strategies. Now, madam president , the democrat leader has spent a lot of time on the floor lately complaining about whats happening in the senate. He is apparently not happy that we are in session, and he claims were not doing anything on the coronavirus. Well, on the first point, madam president , id just like to say that the majority leader brought the senate back into session because we have responsibilities that we need to fulfill. One of the issues that we have to respond to as a matter of our constitutional obligation is the issue of dealing with nominations, both to judicial and executive branches of our government, and we continue to have to do that. There are important vacancies that we need to fill, some Important National security vacancies, judicial vacancies. Last week, we confirmed the Inspector General for the pandemic, somebody who was confirmed by a 7515 vote. Now, its possible, madam president , that we could do those and not be here. The democratic leader has said on various occasions he doesnt know why we are here doing these types of these nominations. Well, the reason we are here doing these type of nominations is because they insist on it. Even in cases where the nominee has broad bipartisan support, in some cases overwhelming support, we continue to have to stay here and go through the procedural roadblock that democrats throw up to getting these nominees across the finish line. In fact, madam president , if you look at any the Historical Context of nominations, we are living in unprecedented times. The democrats have filibustered now total 314 nominees that President Trump has put forward. All the previous president s combined, all the previous president s combined in our nations history, only on 244 occasions was cloture did cloture have to be invoked to shut down a filibuster on a nominee. So think about that, madam president. In the first three and a half years of President Trumps term, we have now had 314 nominees, judicial or executive filibustered, in the rest of the history of the United States senate. Even if you go back and say the advent of the filibuster is only in the last half century or so, think about that. 244 times throughout all of the presidencies combined, combined in our history, this president has seen his nominees filibustered 314 times. So if the democrat leader wants to know why we are here doing nominees, thats why. We have to. Its our job. Its our constitutional responsibility. And if the minority continues to make it as difficult as they have and continues to filibuster and force the leader to file cloture on all these nominees, we have to be here to vote. Thats our job, and thats why were here. Madam president , of course there is also the work, as i said, of responding to the coronavirus. There is also work that we have to do that doesnt stop just because there is a pandemic. If you look at the Paycheck Protection Program when it ran out of money, it took way too long to convince democrats to do something as simple as appropriate more funding for pandemicstricken Small Businesses. Funding our government, protecting our nation, making sure these important positions in the government, as i mentioned, are filled, we just cant skip those things because of the coronavirus, and they have made it increasingly difficult, virtually impossible for us to do any of this by unanimous consent while the senate was out of session. As for the democrats leaders charge that the senate hasnt been doing anything on coronavirus, madam president , as i pointed out, that is just a simply ridiculous charge to make. Coronavirus has been at the forefront of the Senate Activity since we returned in may. Our committees have held constrain hearings, examining the coronavirus assistance that we have already passed and looking forward to what will be needed in the future. As i mentioned, last week, we confirmed the nomination of brian d. Miller to be special Inspector General for the Pandemic Recovery at the treasury department, a key position with responsibility for ensuring that coronavirus funding is spent properly. We also passed last week legislation to update the Paycheck Protection Program to give additional flexibility to Small Businesses. Madam president , clearly, clearly the senate has been making coronavirus a priority, and i would argue that much of what we have already done has is having the desired result. The jobs numbers that came out last week are encouraging, obviously. We have got a lot of work to do. We have to keep it in perspective. Its no time to be spiking the football, but those job numbers were encouraging. I think one of the reasons we had those strong numbers, madam president , is because we have a very resilient economy, number one, but number two, because of policies that we have put in place. Tax and regulatory policies that encourage businesses to invest, consumers to spend, and the p. P. P. Program, the Paycheck Protection Program program obviously has, i think, done a lot of good out there. Its kept literally millions of businesses in business. It has kept literally tens of millions of workers employed. And that is exactly what we wanted to see happen. And those, madam president , dollars are among the bestspent dollars, i think, of all the several trillion dollars that we put out there. My state of south dakota is a good example. We have had over 21,000 businesses that have benefited from the Paycheck Protection Program to the tune of about 1. 6 billion. And i bet if you look at the numbers in every other state around the country, you would see the same thing. And its one of the reasons, madam president , i believe that were seeing some encouraging economic numbers and employment numbers, and lets hope that we can continue to build on that. But i guess that the when the democrat leader complained that the senate hasnt been doing anything on coronavirus, what he actually means to say is the senate hasnt passed another 3 trillion bill. The house of representatives, the democrat majority there, in a very partisan way, with zero republican support, and in fact some democrats opposing it, passed another 3 trillion. Well, its true. We havent done that here in the senate. Its because we dont believe we should be playing fast and loose with the American Peoples money like that. As i pointed out, madam president , congress has already provided 2. 4 trillion in funding to respond to the virus, which is a Staggering Amount of money, equal to roughly half of the 2020 federal budget. It was money we needed to spend, and we were glad to do it, and we will probably have to spend more before this crisis is over. But we have to make sure that we are appropriating what is really needed and not mindlessly throwing around trillions of dollars. And the way we do that is by monitoring the implementation of the funding that we have already put out there, thats already been delivered, which is exactly what we have been doing. And, madam president , i have to say a lot of the funding thats been authorized, some of it hasnt even been put out there yet. The 175 billion that we have authorized to help health care providers, hospitals, nursing homes, those folks on the front line, only about 75 billion of that has been made available already, so less than 50 of those dollars are even out there yet. Its pretty hard to decide whether you are going to throw more money at something before you determine whether the money you have already spent is having the desired effect and whether or not there is a need for more. So we need to see where that money goes before we decide what else we need to appropriate. Ive said it before and i will say it again, madam president , with every dollar that we have provided to fight the coronavirus is borrowed money. A significant addition to an already massive amount of national debt. Democrats may like to pretend that we can continue to borrow more and more money forever, but the truth is we cannot. The great greater our national debt, the greater threat it represents to the health of our economy, not to mention the future of todays younger workers. And so while we may need to borrow more money to meet our needs before the crisis is over, its crucial that we keep that borrowing as low as possible and only spend what is absolutely necessary. Madam president , so far, the democrats major proposal for the next phase of our Coronavirus Response is a 3 trillion bill produced by the house of representatives that mentions the word cannabis more often than it mentions the word job, which i think tells you all you need to know about how seriously some are taking this issue. If democrats really wanted to move additional relief forward, they would be sitting down with republicans to develop reasonable legislation that actually has a chance of passing congress and being signed by the president , but theyre not. Instead, theyre proposing outlandish, farleft messaging bills and engaging in the kind of partisanship that has become the modus operandi during this administration. And while im talking about democrats unhelpfulness, i just want to mention, madam president , the democrat leaders offensive suggestion on the floor last week that the judges that we are confirming in the senate will not protect civil rights. This is unfortunately right in line with their general attitude that the only legitimate judges are democrat judges, but it is nevertheless particularly irresponsible to be fanning the flames of division in this country right now by suggesting untruthfully that only democrats preferred judicial candidates will show a commitment to upholding civil rights. Madam president , the continued partisanship even during a National Crisis has been very pretty heartening, but im a hopeful guy, and i like to think that at least some democrats are more interested in actually helping americans than in farleft messaging bills, and i would invite those democrats to work with us. There is a lot more that we need to do before this pandemic is over, and republicans are committed to getting our country through this crisis and to helping americans thrive on the other side. Madam president , i yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call the presiding officer the senator from delaware. Mr. Carper i ask to vitiate the quorum call. Madam president , the bill before us today, the Great American outdoor act, is a landmark legislation. It would fulfill a longstanding promise to the American People to fully fund the land and Water Conservation fund. The measure would make the down payment on deferred maintenance. Im out of practice. Make a down payment on deferred maintenance of our nations beloved public lands, that includes over 400 National Parks. It also includes more than 500 National Wildlife refugees that is on the committee which i serve as Ranking Member. While i am proud to support the Great American outdoors act, we would be remiss if we did not put the senates consideration of this legislation in the context of Everything Else thats happening in our country today. As weve learned in the 15 days since the death of george floyd, we also have other longstanding promises to fulfill. Let me mention four of them. First, is the promise of an end to be racial violence in this country and a new beginning in pursuit of Racial Justice. The second would be the promise of equality. The third would be the promise of a more Perfect Union called for in our constitution preamble. The fourth and last would be the promise of a dream articulated nearly 57 years on the step of the Lincoln Memorial, not far from where were gathered here today by the late Martin Luther king. Our national and state parks, madam president have always been places that bring people from all backgrounds together. Our National Historical sites and monuments commemorate the events that have forged and tested us as a nation as well as the sacrifice thats we have made in our quest to become that more Perfect Union. There are also places from which people have called on their government, our government, for change and for equality. Yes, our National Parks have served as places of protest, protected under the constitution that delaware was the first state to ratify on december 7, 1787. In fact, delawares National Park, one of the newest in the nation, was created in large part to celebrate that history. The recent murders of george floyd in minneapolis and Breonna Taylor in louisville sparked widespread civil unrest rsm from coast to coast billions of americans have come together to protest the death of unarmed black americans and call for change, the call for justice, the call for racial equality. In washington, d. C. , some of those demonstrations have taken place on in our National Park system. Lafayette square, the sight of gassing and troubling use of crowd dispersion devices last week in response to a peaceful demonstration has seen its share of protests and turmoil. In its history before the marble monuments that now contains the square served as a slave market and it housed troops during the war of 1812 when the house and the u. S. Capitol, this capitol, were burned. Today, and nearly every day, people are gathered in lafayette in front of the white house, they are there to call for action as we debate the bill before us. But in january and february of 1917, women women staged two months of protests out of a row house located on lafayette in the pursuit of womens suffrage, the right to vote, one of our most sacred privileges. Other National Park sights in washington have been front and center for the call of Racial Justice in the last several days. The National Mall, the Lincoln Memorial and one of our Newest National sites, the memorial to dr. Martin luther king who caught our taught taught our country about the power of peaceful protests. Madam president , these places inspire us. They allow our voices to be heard. But they also give us strength. They give us solace, and they give us the opportunity to heal. The bill before us today helps us to ensure that our public lands remain places where we can remember, where we can reflect and we can recharge. Sometimes when i speak on the senate floor, i share anecdotes from my morning runs. A number of them over the years have been on the National Mall as i run from the capitol to the Lincoln Memorial and pass the Vietnam Memorial etched with the names of 58,000 men and women with whom i served in southeast asia. No matter how tired i might be when i get up in the morning, when i begin those runs and pass and pause at each of those places, i feel rejuvenated and to take up our work in service, the American People who sent us here. Interestingly, i heard a similar sentiment from hundreds of delawareans who asked me to support this legislation before us today. Many of our parks provide visitors a place to reflect, to reconnect and to enjoy the beauties of nature. That is in no small part because of the land and Water Conservation fund. Many of our colleagues know that delaware has a proud history as the first state the First State National historic park which we worked for a decade to create not long ago tells the story of the role delaware played in the establishment of our country. Our National Park is unique with historical sites in all three of delawares counties that connect our communities much like our state parks do. While you may not what you may not know is the first Land Acquisition through the state side of a land and Water Conservation program in this country occurred in delaware. Brandywine screec state creek state park was established in 1965. At the time of this monumental acquisition there was not much of a state park system in delaware, certainly not in newcastle county, our northern most county. Since that time the land and Water Conservation fund has enabled the purchase and development of many additional state parks that are crown jewels in all three counties of the first state. Ill mention a few of them. White clay creek, fox point, bellview, killings pond, and many more. For us in delaware these spaces are places of community. People from all walks of life come to these parks for many reasons for many different reasons. Some come to fish, others to bike, others to hike, play sports, fly kites, swim, go birding, learn, enjoy picnics, and enjoy concerts many those are just some of the reasons why people come to our National Parks. Not just from delaware, not just from america, but from all over the world. Some of the parks ive just mentioned might exist without the land and Water Conservation fund, but without it, they would not be the Community Cornerstones that they are today. When a park is revitalized it can become the nerve center of a community and create new opportunities new opportunities to bring us together. In many cases we have seen just that happen in our state. For example, bellview state park, located not far from our home, has been home to a Community Garden program for decades providing a place for families like my own. When our sons were young who may not have a lot of land on which to grow their own fruits and vegetables. In 2017, just three years ago, the city of wilmington was awarded an lwcf grant to improve father tucker park, which had been in disrepair for decades. The park is vital for play, for cultural gatherings and sports activities. It is now a valuable hub of that community. Further, the land and Water Conservation fund enabled the first public pool in kent county at the killings pond state park, 10 miles south of dover. It is now the killings pond water park and it has grown quite popular with residents across king county and its borders. So, madam president , this legislation also helps us to bring Economic Activity to our community, something that people might not think of at first blurb. In delaware blush. The land and Water Conservation fund has greenways and trails that connects businesses and communities. People come from all over the country to run and to walk on them. Basic investment in preservation of Land Investments in paths and trails is a tangible Community Building enterprise. People can get on their bicycle in downtown wilmington, ride through the city out into the suburbs and to fox point state park, three miles from our home. I might add theres another one too from the train station where i caught the train this morning to come down here, there is a jack markel trail that links the riverfront in will wilmington, delaware, to newcastle delaware where washington first landed and brought the deeds to pennsylvania and delaware. Those paths i just mentioned expand horizons, connect people to each other and create Common Ground in our communities. The delaware state parks youth conservation corps provides jobs in Environmental Restoration opportunities throughout our parks for young people from all backgrounds and it offers free summer concerts. It attracts different genders and diverse audiences. While the 2020 summer Concert Series was unfortunately canceled due to the ongoing covid19 pandemic, delaware state parks have remained open. Our state has waived entrance fees. As it became clear that physical location was key to preventing the spread of novel coronavirus, delawareans, especially those in your ban areas urban areas sought solitude in our parks. For many it was critical for Mental Wellness and now making that connection is more popular than ever. One example of of that is Brandywine Creek state park, it has seen record visitation this year. As i mentioned earlier in my remarks i heard from hundreds of constituents in support of the american outdoors act. Many of them have shared stories about their treasured moments and stayed in National Parks particularly during troubled times. I want to close my remarks today by sharing one of those stories. Its from a woman friend, as it turns out, the executive director of delaware wild lands and her name is kate hackett. About a year and a half ago, kate, with her family and another family traveled to a place called big ben National Park in the state of texas. This park is on the u. S. Mexican border, as some of you know. These two families were distressed by what happens happening along our borders. They wanted to visit border towns to experience their humanity themselves. As the two families hiked along the rio grande river, kates friend sang her favorite lullaby not in english, but in spanish the her song echoed in the canyon and when she paused, an unknown voice from across the border emerged with the next verse of the same song. These two strangers, divided by the depths of a canyon, alternated verses, savoring a shared experience regardless of borders, regardless of race, regardless of languages. I was moved at the time to hear how kate was able to use her familys outdoor experience that day. Im still moved today. And to hear about how that day taught her children a lesson in compassion, a lesson in humanity, and a lesson in acceptance of us all. As the soul of our nation continues to be tested, i hope the legislation before us, the Great American outdoors act, might somehow provide similar opportunities for others. In fact, i challenge all of us to make sure that it does just that. And most importantly, i also sincerely hope that we will fulfill two other longstanding promises for equality and justice that are critical for the future of this country and our democracy. Our public lands can be part of a greater multifaceted solution that brings equity and opportunity to all of our communities from sea to shinning sea. In the midst of all the turmoil we face in america today, lies opportunity. Its our job to find that opportunity and to Work Together to move this country which we love and revere, as imperfect as we are, forward. That is our challenge and that is our opportunity. Madam president , i dont know a lot of latin but i do know two words. Maybe a few more. My two favorites are these carpe diem. Seize the day. And this week we have the opportunity on this floor to seize the day. Madam president , right over your head where youre sitting are some other latin words. E. Pluribus unum. Thats what this country is all about. I think this legislation, maybe not something we would have thought of, can actually help make those words not just latin words carved in stone but a reality for many. With that i yield the floor and note the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Mr. Gardner madam president . The presiding officer the senator from colorado is recognized. Mr. Gardner i ask the quorum call be vitiated. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Gardner thank you, madam president. Thank you to my colleagues last night for an incredibly strong vote 8017 on the motion to proceed to this debate on the Great American outdoors act. Weve got a lot of work ahead of us this week. Obviously a lot more debate to take place. But one thing is certain of the we have taken the first step toward a historic bill that protects our public lands, that enhances the incredible work that our National Parks do, and the policies and goals and ideas that they represent around this great nation. The Great American outdoors act combines two longheld values of both our National Parks and the nations crown jewel Conservation Program, the land and Water Conservation fund. The restore our parks act establishes a fund to set aside dollars, the deferred maintenance backlog in our National Parks. It sets up 1. 9 billion a year fund to work on roads and Visitor Centers and the resources that are being loved to death at parks across the country but its beyond just parks, of course. It also funds our Forest Service, our bureau of Land Management grounds that are actually the bureau of Land Management excuse me, now headquartered in grand junction, colorado. And our fish and Wildlife Service properties as well as the bureau of indian education. This act will create jobs that will create opportunities but most importantly, it will enhance the resources that when country loves for generations to come. The second part, of course, of the Great American outdoors act is the land and Water Conservation fund. As you can see here, i have the monument of the great sand dunes National Park. This one right here shows the land and Water Conservation fund along the san juan byway. This is an Incredible Opportunity to preserve the land and Water Conservation fund, make it permanently authorized as we have done through the john d. Dingell conservation act but also permanently funded through the Great American outdoors act. This is a great opportunity for us to fully fund the land and Water Conservation fund. That bill that permanently authorized the land and Water Conservation fund passed 928. Last night the cloture on motion to proceed passed 8017. This is not a red or blue issue. This is not a left or right issue. This is not a republican or democrat issue. This is an American People issue. An idea that the American People instituted in this country centuries ago. In the case of our Forest Service, over a century ago, the opportunities to protect our public lands significant this week, historic this week. One of the greatest conservation achieves achievements that this congress will have had in decades. I want to turn to a little bit of the work weve done in colorado with the land and Water Conservation fund. This is an incredibly important opportunity for us because not only will it help with our most Precious Places but it also helps provide access to land that we already we already have, owned by the American People. Public lands that are already held by the American People but we have no way to access them. In fact, its estimated that we have an area the size of Rocky MountainNational Park. The Rocky MountainNational Park is the third most heavily visited park in the country. We have an area of land the size of Rocky MountainNational Park thats held by the public, owned by the public but they cant get to it. They have no access to it. So the land and Water Conservation fund is a tool to be used to provide access to those lands for hunting, for fishing, for hiking, for recreating. If you look at that economy, if you look at what it means to our state, its billions and billions of dollars in Economic Activity. Its hundreds of thousands of jobs in the great state of colorado. Across this nation its over five million jobs. Thats the importance of having new access to places to hunt, to fish, to hike, to recreate. Those opportunities. If you go back to the picture of the sand dunes here, i talked a little bit about it last night. We were able to purchase the baca National Wildlife refuge which is a key part of the great sand dunes National Park. It reserved an ecosystem that helps keep the sand dunes in place. Its important to recognize this isnt just about protecting the sand dunes. This isnt just about saying the sand dunes go from point a to point b and were going to protect everything in between. Because the entire ecosystem plays a role in the formation of the sand dunes. This particular area and the way the water is underground creates a charge basically that gives into the sand, the particulates and its what holds the sand in place. Without the water underneath the sand dunes, they simply blow away because they dont have the static charge to keep them in place. Were able to use the fund to preserve areas around the sand dunes that preserve that precious water resource for the San Luis Valley that keeps the sand from blowing away. As a result hundreds of thousands of people visit this area of colorado. They spend money at hotels. They spend money at restaurants. They spend money at Sporting Goods shops and helps grow the economy. While it has been closed for a while, its back open again. People are starting to get back out and to travel and to spend those dollars. Colorado has benefited from 38lwcf projects totals 28. 2 million over the last 50 years at the sand dunes, over at the gunnison, the rio grande, canyon 67 the ancient nant monument and beyond. If you look at the list of projects that have benefited our local communities, it is page after page of ball fields and parks and water projects and recreation opportunities. In counties from corner to corner across our great state. If you dial in a little bit closer to Rocky MountainNational Park, as i mentioned the third business yis park in the country busiest park in the country, it has about 84 84 million a little over 84 million in deferred maintenance backlog. This bill will help overcome that we need to rehabilitate the alpine Visitors Center. It is the highest basicked road in north america is trail ridge road going through rocky National Park and the alpine visitors rehab. An amazing spans of opportunity to learn and recreate. To reservice Beaver Meadows road, to improve the visitor safety and visitor access at several trail heads, to rehabilitate the east water system and marine park campground. To construct an Emergency Operations center. Those are the kinds of things we continue to work on at Rocky MountainNational Park. Not everybody has been to mesa verde National Park. You think about this, it was established in 1906 so well over a hundred years to preserve and interpret the archeological heritage of the pueblo people who made it their home for over 700 years. From 600 to 1300 current events. Today the park protects nearly 5,000 known archeological sites, 5,000 archeological sites and 600 cliff dwellings. Some of the best in the United States. We have to continue our work. 76 million in backlog at mesa verde park. Black canyon of the gunnison nearly 8 million in backlog. Great sand dunes National Park, over 8 million in backlog. We know that we have additional land and Water Conservation fund efforts that we could protect, preserve, and promote with the passage of this bill. And im just going you know i know were going to have more conversations with a talk about the economic benefit of this. You know, march as the first waves of coronavirus started to pose the Economic Impact that were dealing with today. Some of the very first places hit in terms of Economic Impact were the western slope areas of colorado. Areas that had their ski season shut down months early. Areas that had hotels empty and restaurants closed months earlier than they otherwise would have. And of course now were into the Summer Season and the Summer Recreation season has expanded dramatically thanks to the bipartisan work that congress has done over the past several years. Now those restaurants see fewer numbers in hotels, fewer numbers because its now affecting the Summer Recreation season. But this bill, the Great American outdoors act, comes at a time to provide new jobs to those communities who have lost jobs. In fact, it is estimated that we will create over 100,000 jobs in just the parks part of this legislation alone. That very 1 million we spend in land and Water Conservation fund, Outdoor Recreation, were growing to create between 16 and 30 jobs, that supports the creation between 16 and 30 jobs for every 1 million spent. At a time when America Needs it most. We have a chance to pass a bill, the Great American outdoors act, to create jobs, to create economic opportunity, to create the hope that we need in communities across this country who have spent the last three months not in the Great Outdoors but in the Great Indoors and theyre ready to get back to life. And there is no greater life than the opportunity to get out and enjoy the blessings of gods labor. So i want to thank my colleague joe manchin of West Virginia, my colleague steve daines from montana for the great work they have done to get this bill to the floor this week. Obviously senator portman and senator warner and senator alexander and king and senators heinrich and cantwell have played an incredible role. We have a lot more votes this week and i hope colleagues will continue to support opportunity to grow our economy, protect the outdoors and make this beautiful part of our country last for generations more. Madam president , i yield the floor. A senator madam president center the senator from montana is recognized. A senator a senator thank you, madam president. I rise today in support of the Great American outdoors act after yesterdays vote where we voted to move to debate this bill at 8017 margin. Mr. Tester it felt good. It felt good because some of us had been fighting this fight to fully fund the land and Water Conservation fund in particular for more than a decade. Its a program that senator udall explained yesterday that has worked out so very, very well since his dad introduced it back in the 1960s. But the Great American outdoors act does more than just permanently funds the land and Water Conservation fund which is a huge accomplishment in and of itself. It also puts money into our park service and areas around our parks that are so important for this country. Really the park system is one of the jewels of this nation. President Teddy Roosevelt was truly a visionary. At a time when there were plenty of wild places in this great nation, he had the good sense to preserve some of them for future generations because he knew they wouldnt have been around they wont be around forever. And quite frankly, the National Park system encompasses 419 parks, more than 84 million acres, including two crown jewels in montana yellowstone and glacier National Park. These are places where americans come together and experience the scale of americas natural beauty. However, i will tell you in recent years, we, congress, has not lived up to president roosevelts legacy in our and our parks have been left to fall in disrepair. Even as weve seen record numbers of visitors each year, the United States congress has failed to make parks a priority and even make investments in them. So the Great American outdoors act will go a long ways to correcting congress neglect. In fact, it invests 9. 5 billion in deferred maintenance on public lands across our country. Those are not only our National Parks but the areas around our National Parks, preserving the legacy of americas Great Outdoors for generations to come. And while this is very, very important, this investment in our National Park system, the first part of this legislation, we also need to know that we have places in this country, ecosystems in this country that will not be around for future generations if we dont preserve them today. And that is where the land and Water Conservation fund comes in. The lwcf is the most important conservation tool we have at the federal level. Nothing else comes close to it. It was founded five decades ago and montanans have used about 540 million of this fund to increase outdoor opportunities on our public lands around our state. We have used it to preserve tens of thousands of acres of worldclass elk habitat in central montana. It has been an essential driver of montanas growing 7 billionayear Outdoor Recreation economy. And it has established city parks and open spaces in our more urban communities in montana. And the best of it all is it doesnt cost the taxpayers a dime because the land and Water Conservation fund, as it was set up, was to take money from offshore oil gas revenue. Well, that hasnt worked out so well, so today were just saying its going to be funded, and its going to be funded permanently going into the future. But the lwcf is a nobrainer. It has overwhelming benefits. For states that investments are made for pennies on the dollar will receive in jobs and quality of life, will receive the ability to go out and hunt and fish and hike on our public lands. Unlike no other country in the world, we have these areas where you dont have to be a millionaire to be able to go out and enjoy the outdoors. But these victories did not happen magically overnight. The fact is, we worked long and hard with local conservation groups and public land enthusiasts around the country to build support where it never existed before. In our years of work and our years of work finally broke the dam earlier in year when President Trump and senator mcconnell reversed their opposition to this legislation because of overwhelming bipartisan momentum that we built on the ground. I welcome their change of heart, and i know it didnt come easy. There are so many montanans and folks around the country that i want to thank for putting in the work and bringing my colleagues from darkness to light. Your work has inspired me and inspired future generations that were going to benefit from your selfless efforts. I got a text message from one of those folks that said thank you. Thank you for yore hard work for the last 13 years on lwcf. I sent them back a text that said, i dont deserve the thank you; you do. Because, quite frankly, there have been folks that have been working on this much longer than i. But now, since the vote yesterday, the clock is ticking. Every day we are losing ecosystems in this country, and because of our hardiness in fully tardiness in fully funding the fund, we have lost 0 land. The future of our nations wild places hang in the balance, and we have something to do about it this week. We can fix it. So i would urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to vote yes on the Great American outdoors act so we can preserve our public lands for future generations, four our kids and our for our kids and our grandkids. Just as that visionary president , Teddy Roosevelt, did for us. Madam president , i yield. Mr. Daines madam president . The presiding officer the senator from montana is recognized. Mr. Daines this month will forever mark an historic moment for conservation across this nation when the u. S. Senate votes on one of the most important conservation bills in decades. The Great American outdoors act isnt just about tomorrow, next week, or even next year. This is a bipartisan bill about the future of our children and grandchildren, about legacy, about their ability to enjoy and access our Great Outdoors and our public lands. Standing here today, i can tell you there arent too many issues unfortunately that bring both republicans and democrats together. But protecting our public lands for future generations is something that brings us all here together. Just yesterday we saw a major bipartisan step forward to getting this bill across the finish line, an 8017 vote to move forward with this important bill. And today im joining my Senate Colleagues on both sides of the aisle to share how important it is that we pass the Great American outdoors act as soon as possible. Many may ask, well, how is it, then, we finally built enough bipartisan momentum to get this across the finish line . Well, over a year and a half ago, my colleagues and i passed an historic bipartisan public lands package that permanently authorized the land and Water Conservation fund, a critical Conservation Program in montana and across the country. In fact im standing here, im looking across the chamber at the Ranking Member of the energy and Natural Resources committee, senator joe manchin of West Virginia. This is what it is all about in washington, d. C. This is what should be happening more and more. When senators who sit on opposite sides of the Chamber Republicans on one side, democrats on the other here we are right now. Were not fighting right now. Were talking about how were going to come together and pass this. This is a great moment, a time when we need to come together. And once again its public lands that are pulling us together instead of dividing us. Back in february, just a few months ago, i sat down in the roosevelt room with senator gardner, leader mcconnell and President Trump to see what it would take to get full mandatory funding of the land and Water Conservation fund and how we can fix this maintenance backlog thats plaguing our National Parks and public lands across the finish line. In fact, i shared several of montanas land and Water Conservation fund funded projects and shared how vital this fund something for montana and those who visit. 70 of our fishing access in montana are funded by lwcf. The president listened. I remember he sat back in his chair. He commented how beautiful the landscapes were that he saw in these pictures. He said, we need to get this across the finish line. And he said hed sign it into law as soon as we did so. Protecting and preserving our public lands plays a direct role in our montana way of life. In fact, this picture here, this is the yellowstone river. In fact, its not far from chico. In fact, i remember as a kid back in the 1960s having church potlux at chico. I remember in 1979 i took the family griswald stationwagon, including the wood veneer on the side of it, with several of my high school classmates. Thats where we had our home coming dance in chico. I spent days hunting, fishing in the yellowstone, as shown here, enjoying all of montanas Great Outdoors in every corner of our state with my sweet wife cindy, our four children, and our dogs ruby and reaganen. Take a look at some of these photos. These are photos i have taken on my phone of some of montanas public lands. Thats ruby. And theres reagan. This is up in the bear tooth wilderness area a few years ago. In fact, i got another picture here. I got one of ruby. And we like to take our dogs along because this is wild country. This is country where theres a lot of grizzly bears, and having your dog along oftentimes can be a good deterrent, along with some bear spray. Theres ruby up in what we call the granite expires. One of the last summited high points in the lower 40 when it was granite peak is just around the corner. I summited that back in my college years. When i talk about public lands and protecting them and making sure we preserve that for generations to come, this is not some kind of theoretical discussion. This is something that i live and breathe personally. During the august recess, when we get to leave this town, when its hot and humid in d. C. , i get to be up in the wilderness areas of montana, where the area is crisp and clean. Thats why im standing here today fighting to bring this vote to the floor and make the Great American outdoors act a reality. Many folks may not understand the importance of the land and water conversion fund. Lets go over a few important facts a much the land and Water Conservation fund is critical for access to public land. As a hunter, a fly fisherman, i understand the importance of our public land. This Program Helps connect trails. It funds over 70 of montanas fishing access, and it does much more than that. In the land and Water Conservation fund provides certainty to ant managers, sportsmen and conservation groups. The land and Water Conservation fund invests in the Outdoor Economy and helps create jobs in our rural and gateway communities. Theyre struggling right now because our National Parks were closed for dont long. They need for too l they need this boost. The economy, tits 71,000 jobs in montana alone. In fact, 81 of montanans participate in Outdoor Recreation every year. 81 . I in fact every 1 million invested in the land an Water Conservation fund creates between 1 and 30 jobs. 16 and 30 jobs. The land and Water Conservation fund costs the taxpayers nothing. Let me say that again. It costs the taxpayers nothing and it promotes energy development. There is the balance we need in our nation to continue to develop Energy Independence and Global Energy dominance by developing american Natural Resources, at the same time the revenues coming off of there are used for the land and Water Conservation fund. Theres the balance between the two, promoting Natural Resource development and promoting conservation. This program is primarily funded by oil and gas revenue, and it makes conservation inextricably linked to a Strong Energy sector. Which means the land and Water Conservation fund is already paid for through the forest legacy side of the land and Water Conservation fund we will see the promotion of working forests to get our mills back up and running and help support and create goodpaying timber jobs and do a much better job of managing our in the forests because we will thin them and reduce the risk of wildfires. And perhaps you may have heard otherwise, but this Program Actually helps promote better Land Management. The land and Water Conservation fund acts as an important tool for land managers and agencies to address checkerboard landownership. I decided to bring pictures of the beautiful landscapes of montana. I could have gotten a little more technical and showed the checkerboard landownership in a place like montana and why we need lwcf to provide better access to our public lands. Because weve got 10. 5 million acres 1. 5 million acres of public lands that is landlocked. Montana directly benefits by the projects that help to consolidate landownership. Er youll have a checkerboard nature and by consolidating it and working with willing sellers, we can make the overall Landscape Management easier for agencies and private landowners and provide better access. The land and Water ConservationFund Supports locally driven, groundup solutions. These are slab aive solutions these are Collaborative Solutions and have local support. It is authorized at 00 million annually but we arent seeing nearly that much appropriated every year. Only twice since it was enacted going back to 1964 have we seen funding levels at 900 million and that was the original congressional intent. Lets be clear, what we are doing here passing this bill is bringing it back to what congress intended when it was first originated back in the mid1960s. Mandatory funding for the Great American outdoors act would greet certainty for land managers that the full 900 million goes towards this Program Every year moving forward. Thats so important because some of these complex checkerboard landownership structures take many years to sort out. Now we have certainty. If theres some place there is a lot of uncertainty, it is the United States congress. This removes a uncertainty going to forward. We must not forget about the other critical aspect of the Great American outdoors act address the maintenance backlog facing our National Parks, our forests and national ants. Were seeing record levels of visitation. I this about our public lands as our office of first impression. I believe they are what set us apart from the rest of the world. People come from owl over the world to see our parks. It is part of the amazing american experience. With this increased visitation, our park infrastructure has experience add lot of wear and tear. Were frayed on a lot of the edges. While a lot of people love to enjoy our parks, we must address the maintenance backlog to ensure that folks continue to enjoy what we refer to at last best place. If you look at some of these pictures, i think you might agree with me. Today there is nearly 20 million in maintenance backlogs on our public lands, forests, wildlife refuges, and parks. 12 billion of that is related to our National Parks. Including 700 million in glacier and yellowstone National Parks and over 34 million in montanas smaller National Parks. Addressing this 12 billion backlog to the Great American outdoors act will play a vital role in getting our National Parks back on track. Its going to create jobs, support our gateway and rural communities, and enhance Visitor Experience and safety. The restoration of our National Parks could generate over 100,000 additional jobs at a time when our economy needs that kind of boost. Well, this was an issue we have been working on for years with members on both sides of this infamous aisle, this is needed now maybe more than ever. Montanans are raised to love and respect the outdoors. Only once in a great while does such a historic piece of conservation legislation come along, perhaps only once every 50 years. Its essential we protect and maintain access to these lands for future generations. It is my highest honor to serve the people of montana in the United States senate. I encourage my colleagues to join us in supporting this great piece of legislation, one thats helped bring a divided government together. I believe its a conservative principle to conserve, and i will always continue fighting for that principle. I know myself and my colleagues here today are ready to get this done. Montanans know what it takes to practice conservative principles and work to conserve their public lands. Now its time for congress to come together in a bipartisan way and support the Great American outdoors act. Thank you, madam president. I yield back. Mr. Manchin madam president. The presiding officer the senator from West Virginia is recognized. Mr. Manchin first i want to thank my colleague, senator daines, from montana, and all my colleagues. Everyone has been so excited about getting up and showing the pictures of their beautiful state. All of us, its the United States of america, every one of us have something to be proud of and show off. And lwcf and restore our parks will protect each and every one of them. I have been in the senate for almost 10 years. I have not seen one piece of legislation that brought us together with more enthusiasm than this piece, the Great American outdoors act, because we from it. Whether it be in West Virginia, colorado, montana, wherever it be, its something that i can enjoy. Its something that all of my colleagues can enjoy because we all can visit and enjoy the great the Great American outdoors, if you will. The strong support for the outdoors act is a testament of importance to this legislation and what it does. We have never had a recovery, a financial recovery, economic recovery without infrastructure, investments and spending. We dont have a better piece of legislation that does this. Its a winwin all the way around. Close to 150,000 jobs will be created through the parks and through the lwcf. I think every county in america, every county in america i have 55 counties in West Virginia. Every county in West Virginia basically is receiving some sort of help from the lwcf. Weve all, weve all been greatly impacted by this. Today i want to talk about the impact of the land and Water Conservation fund on my home state of West Virginia. Today 54 of the 55 counties have benefited, as i said, from the land and Water Conservation fund. Its responsible for some of our most cherished outdoor spaces in West Virginia. In fact, since 1965, 243 million has been spent to enhance Recreation Conservation in the Mountain State alone. The lwcf has supported projects at the gully River National recreation area, the new river gorge. And this is the new river gorge. This is the new river. If you are in the eastern part of the United States and you havent floated on the new river or the gallee, you are missing a great opportunity. The scenery is unbelievable. Historical value with the rapids is something special. To float through there is an experience. I welcome and recommend everyone to come visit at least once in your life wild and wonderful West Virginia on these rivers. Its also helped towns like marlinton, West Virginia. Mayor sam felton was able to turn a vacant lot into the discovery junction, an allpurpose Community Gathering space with the help of 86,000 from the lwcf. The fund is also important for our hunting community. Hunting is a way of life. Its part of our culture. Its a tradition that we all cherish and value. The Great American outdoors act will increase access to all federal lands for hunting, fishing all across the country. A lack of access to federal holdings is a problem, and i know its frustrated sportsmen for years. As the congressman from montana has said, over 1. 5 million acres is owned by the federal government by all of us but doesnt have access. Were able to provide access now with the funding that it will take from this piece of legislation. Another thing very important that has been mentioned. There is not one iota of federar dollars. This is all user this is basically coming off of the royalties of of our offshore oil. I want to mention also we have some of our senators that we try to accommodate everybody in this piece of legislation. There is a few of the senators that i want to make a public commitment to that i will work as Ranking Member on energy and Natural Resources to do everything i can to make sure that we understand the need of the coastal states. The restoration and protection of our coastal states as it is impacted by the changing environment. And my commitment to them is i will work diligently with my Southern States and also my northern states, but all of my coastal states, and the senator from rhode island has my commitment to senators has my estimate, the senator from louisiana has my commitment. We will work to make sure they have the needed funds to protect their coastline and all the work that they have done and all the as sets that they have contributed to our great country and the values as far as in their coastal states, and were going to make sure that during the committee, i will do everything i can to make sure we have the proper hearings and proper attention for the changes that need to be made. We were unable to put that in this piece of legislation, but i am committed to help working through that and i will do that. The federal lands are surrounded by private lands. They can be essential and accessible. We have to make sure we have access. Hunting in West Virginia is a timehonored tradition. I have been a hunter every day of my entire life and look forward to opening day each year for all different types of game. I also enjoy fishing immensely. I dont think i have a better day than when im on the river or im in the river and walking the stream for the trout that we have plentiful of o something i have handed down to my children, my son and my grandson, they all enjoy it. With this bill, were going to be able to pass down this legacy. When you think about spending times in the United States senate, most of us have been in public life for giet some time in other aspects. I have been horned to be able to serve in the state legislature, as a member of the house, and a member of the state senate and secretary of state and governor of my great state, and now representing them in the United States senate. And you want to leave a legacy. You keep thinking what can i do that really will make an impact on future generations . I dont think there is anything that we can do that is going to be more impactful than what we are doing today, working this piece of legislation, the Great American outdoors act, to be able to enjoy the great National Parks that we have throughout this country, to be able to take your family and have a family outing and also the history that goes with it and who we are. If we dont know where we have come from, you dont know where youre going. And the history we have in america is pretty special. Our National Parks represent that. And also to have the access to the beautiful outdoors and the wonderful nature that we have with the lwcf funding, 900 million a year. Thats a legacy im proud of. I am proud that my children and my grandchildren and future generations would say that, hey, part of my family was involved in this. We worked this hard. We worked together. And to see democrats and republicans in the most troubling time our country has faced in many decades come together enthusiastically, enthusiastically be able to speak and enjoy being with each other and talking how we can get more of our colleagues involved and having a vote that we had last night of over 80 votes. I see the senator from tennessee who has worked so hard on our National Parks and has one of the most beautiful National Parks in his state, and im proud of it. So i just cant tell you how much i think this piece of legislation means to all of us, 100 senators in the most challenging times we are having in our country right now. West virginia has approximately 62 million in deferred maintenance just for our little National Park areas alone. This includes crumbling roads, bridges, outdated waste water, Electrical Systems and deteriorating monuments which i know were going to be able to start repairing. On average, 1. 6 million visitors enjoy our beautiful National Parks in West Virginia every year, from the New River Gorge National River to Harpers Ferry nasdaq historic park. Visitors to our National Parks generated 73 million for the surrounding communities. This act, the Great American outdoors act, will ensure our National Parks, forests, and other federal lands are well taken care of and remain accessible for everyone to enjoy. West virginians take great pride in our Great Outdoor playgrounds. We invite all of you, all of you to come to wild and wonderful West Virginia and enjoy everything that we have to offer. So we thank you so much. I want to thank my staff and the staff for the energy and Natural Resources committee, i am the Ranking Member, for working tirelessly through the pandemic, through the virus to make sure that were able to have a piece of legislation that generations of americans will be able to enjoy. Thank you, madam president. And i yield the floor. Mr. Alexander madam president. The presiding officer the senator from tennessee is recognized. Mr. Alexander while he is on the floor, i want to congratulate the senator from West Virginia for his leadership. Sometimes you say too many cooks spoil the pot or whatever the phrase is. There can be too many cooks, but not in this case. Senator manchin has, because of his Senior Leadership on the energy committee, and on this bill has been really a bulwark in bringing it to this point, and i thank him for that. And he has been excellent about including all sorts of us in th. We have an unusual assortment of United States senators, outside sportsmen groups, conservation groups, a president of the United States, all of the former secretaries of the department of interior from babbitt to zinke, someone said, going alphabetically. We all support this bill that came up last night with 80 different, 80 different votes. And among the among those who are deserve a lot of credit is another member of the United States senate who is also on the floor right now, senator warner of virginia. He became interested in this bill as soon as anyone. He may have been the first one to put his toe in the water, he and senator portman of ohio. They form a very strong team to bring this bill forward. Since then, many senators vul have joined in, and then senator manchin and senator gardner especially have added the land and Water Conservation fund. I thank all of them for their leadership. I would like to speak just briefly about what we call the Great American outdoors bill. I think it helps first to say what were talking about. Were talking about the chihowee campground on the edge of the great Smoky MountainNational Park in tennessee. It was closed for three years. Why . Because the sewage system didnt work. So 500 families who normally would use that campground in the summer, go up there and have the Majestic View of the highest mountains in the eastern United States didnt have that possibility. The great Smoky Mountains has about 12 million visitors a year. Thats three or four times as many as yellowstone does or any of the western parts because its in the east. It has 224 million of deferred maintenance like that campground. Its annual budget is 20 million a year. So you dont have to have gone too far in mathematics in the Maryville City School system to understand that it would probably take about 15, 20, 25 years or never to be able to get rid of the deferred maintenance in the great Smoky MountainNational Park, our most visited National Park. Now, thats a massive disappointment to people who consider our National Parks as our greatest pressures, to go there and find a campground closed, a bathroom doesnt work, a bridge thats closed, a road with a pothole, a trail thats worn out, a Visitors Center that could be dill dilapidated as they are in some of our centers around the country. This is what were talking about. This is what were talking about. Were talking about deferred maintenance. Things that are broken and dont work and interfere with the ability of the American People to go outdoors. And of all the times in recent history when people would like to go outdoors is right now. And of all the times we need some extra jobs, it would be right now when weve got 14 of the pooh emin tennessee out of work people in tennessee out of work. Some of them can go to work on the roads and bridges and trails and potholes and soothe systems and the other things that and Sewage Systems and other things that need to be fixed, if we had the motion to proceed. So thats the first thing this bill is about, is the deferred maintenance of the national porks. But not just the National Parks. With President Trumps enthusiastic support, weve added to the bill as its made its way through the senate other public lands. For example, the fish and Wildlife Service lands, the u. S. Forest service land, bureau of Land Management lands, bureau of korean education schools. Indian education schools. All of those are part of this bill which is among the 800 organizations, 800 outside groups that called all of us and asked us to vote last night, among the most enthusiastic are the fishermen and sportsmen. The ducks unlimited headquartered in memphis, theyre really for this bill because we want to use the public lands. We want them preserved. Fishermen want access to their streams. Tourists want to be able to drive up to the top of the great Smoky Mountains or to see the grand canyon or visit pearl harbor or to walk on the National Mall. All of these are part of our deferred maintenance problem. So there are two parts of the bill. The first is the land and Water Conservation fund. This is a fund that was created in 1964. It was a pretty good idea, ive always thought. You take on environmental burden, drilling offshore for oil and gas, and you create an environmental benefit, take some of the money and use it to buy treasured land. Senator daines of montana points out that 80 of the access to good fishing in montana comes with funding for the land and Water Conservation fund. So for 64 years weve had some money come through congress for the land and Water Conservation fund. Problem is, not all the money that congress intended, because in 1964, congress said, set aside a certain amount of money, about 900 million for the land and Water Conservation fund. Put it in the treasury. Then spend it for this purpose. Half to the states for their Land Acquisition, and half to the federal government for its. But congress didnt ever appropriate all that money p. We took that up in 19851966. The numberone recommendation for president reagans commission on the outdoors was to permanently authorize this land and Water Conservation fund. We permanently authorized it in the congress, this year well permanently fund it. The second part is the restore our parks and our public lands. And in that case, as i just described, whether it is the National Parks or the fishing or access roads or the bridges or other rundown, wornout trails or Sewage Systems, at the rate were going it would take 1520 years, maybe longer, maybe never, to finish all that deferred maintenance. But with this bill, we should reduce that substantially. The idea is to take about up to 14 billion over five years and use it to pay for deferred maintenance. Now, how do we pay for that . Well, we pay for it with real money. We pay for it with earnings from Energy Exploration on federal lands. Now, this is not a new concept. As i mentioned, the land and Water Conservation fund put that into law in 1964. Environmental burden, environmental benefit. Its also not a new concept for all the coastal states in our country, because we take money i think its 27 of the money we get from drilling just off the coastal states and we give it to those states. We also take some money from drilling in what we call an area beyond the threemile limit for Southern States, and give them 37 of that money. We also take some money from drilling, say, in wyoming and give wyoming 50 of that money or in alaska 90 of that money. The difference is we dont all of that before we give the rest to the treasury. So the idea that were spending real money from Energy Drilling in a new and different way is a little bit stretching it. Because we already spend a lot of money that we earn from Energy Exploration on federal lands by giving it to states before we give the rest of it to the treasury. The difference here is, after we give the rest of it to the treasury, were going to take half of that for five years and use it for deferred maintenance. Senator portman calls it using real money to reduce an unpaid debt. Now, it is absolutely true that the way the Congressional Budget Office looks at that, i. T. Not offset. Its not offset. But theres a difference of opinion here. President trump looks at it in a different way. He thinks its real money for deferred maintenance. The office of management and budget disagrees with the Congressional Budget Office. They approve this spending. The president s budget includes this spending. Were spending, as i said earlier, money that we already the same kind of money we spend we give to states before we give it to the federal government. So if im walking down broadway in tennessee where im from and im trying to say to them, where do this come from . We say, we use money from Energy Exploration on federal lands. Were going to use it for five years in the case for everything but the land and Water Conservation fund for five years. And if we dont have the money, we dont spend it. If we do have the money, we do spend it. And as a result of that, were going to be able to fix those broken bridges, those Sewage Systems, those dilapidated Visitor Centers, instead of maybe never fixing them or doing them hat a rate of 20 or 25 years, well be able to cut in half that deferred maintenance backlog and reduce substantially the time it takes to make these public lands the kind of lands that all of us expect when we go to visit. So im delighted to be in full support of this. I thank senator warner, senator portmanables all the others who have worked so hard senator portman, all the others who have worked so hard on it. I hope that the vote we had last night with both senators in support of moving ahead with the bill signals that as we go through the other procedural efforts this week, that well have support and send is it to the house and send it to the president. President trump is fully in support of it. Without him and his office of management and budget, we wouldnt have chance to do it. More than two and a half years ago secretary zinke, a big fellow from montana who was the interior secretary, came down to tennessee and asked me if id get involved in this because it was so important p. He said he had talked to Mick Mulvaney who was then at the office of management and budget and to the president and they wanted it done. So i got involved. And here we are today. So i hope we have Great Success with this bill. I know that the people of tennessee are looking forward to it t i would be remiss if i didnt point out i pointed out that with the smokies that our backlog is about 24 million. And our annual budget is about 20 million. Well never get the backlog fixed if we dont pass a bill like this or this bill. The same applies to other public lands in our state. The chair key national forest, which is the largest piece of public land in tennessee, will get help with their 27 million maintenance backlog to make sure their access roads and trails are kept open for three million visitors each year. Thats about as many visitors as many of our most Popular Western parks have. And the tennessee National Wildlife refuge will get help with their it with their 8. 4 million maintenance backlog. I thank the president. I yield the floor. Mr. Warner mr. President . The presiding officer the senator from virginia. Virginia virginia mr. President , the time mr. Warner mr. President , i timing has worked out pretty good. It is great to speak on this piece of legislation after my friend, the senator from tennessee, has just completed speaking. Were hearing i think some classic legislating coming from senator alexander. He was very generous in his compliments to senator manchin, to senator me to senator warner, me, to senator daines, to senator gardner. But we all know that we wouldnt be here on the cusp of passing the most significant piece of environmental outdoor lands legislation if it hadnt been for the leadership of senator alexander from tennessee. So many of us whove had an opportunity to work with him and become friend with him over his years in the senate have tried to emulate him at times, listen to him all the time. He is a senator that i wish we had more of in this senate, that says more often than not, lets not worry about who gets the credit. Lets just get some things done. There were two pieces of legislation that had to come together. There was the challenge of getting the administration in. There was the challenge that we had at one point maybe too many democrats, maybe not enough republicans. It was senator alexander that kind of guided us through this the least from the park side threeyear journey. And i just want to publicly acknowledge his enormous leadership on this piece of legislation, thank him for his friendship, thank him for the great work that he has done garnering as well the over 800plus environmental groups who have come to support this legislation, and i know that my friend, the senator from tennessee, is not going to stand for reelection. But i and i know he will have many, many, many legacy items from his tenure in the senate, but i believe this Great American outdoors act will rank in the top three or top five of his legislative accomplishments, in that kind of quiet lets not worry about whose name is first on the bill but lets just get it done is playing out this week as we saw last night with a remarkable remarkable 84 votes. We may not end up with 84 votes on the final passage, but, again, the path to get here has been a fascinating one and one that ive learned from. So i do want to rise to join all of the colleagues ive mentioned and others in support of the Great American outdoors act. I got involved in this issue over three years ago. We in virginia have were blessed with a lot of great National Parks. Were blessed with a number of historic battlefielded and other historic sights. We have some of the parkland roads shall the parkways, in northern virginia, a parkway George Washington parkway that i come up to work here in the capital every day. The Blue Ridge Parkway, the colonial parkway. We have 1 moi 2 billion of that backlog. This legislation is so critically important. The legislation has been mentioned represents the most significant investment in our public lands in a generation and particularly at this moment in time i thinking is critically important as well a job creator in our Outdoor Economy. The Great American outdoors act will provide up to 9. 5 billion over five years to address not only the deferred maintenance and backlogs at the National Park service but other federal land agencies as well. The bill also this is where the kind of mastery of senator alexander combines the two pieces of legislation. The bill finally provides full and mandatory funding for the land and Water Conservation fund. Its been a long road getting to this point, but im thrilled that we are finally at this moment in time in this important jobcreating legislation that is also preserving the legacy that god granted this country in terms of the outdoors, in terms of our history. This is really a gift to our kids, grandkids and future generations. Now, many of us have indicated how we got here, and i want to add my voice as well. Years of chronic underfunding has forcesed the park service to deferred maintenance on trails, historic structures, as well as thousands of miles of roads and bridges. Today the National Park service faces a dwe fehred deferred maintenance backlog of over 12 billion. As a matter of fact, over half of all park Service Assets are currently in desperate need of repairs. As i mentioned virginia alone, the deferred maintenance backlog sits 59 over sits at over 1. 1 billion. That means in virginia we only trail the District Of Columbia and california in terms of jurisdictions of total backlog. To address this growing problem in virginia and across the country, three years ago senator alexander, senator portman, my good friend senator angus king and i introduced the original legislation to restore our parks act that would provide significant funds to the park service to reduce its maintenance backlog utilizing unobligated energy resources. In march our bill was combined with senator gardner and senator manchins legislation to form the Great American outdoors act. This bill on the floor today will provide, as i indicated, up to 6. 65 billion over five years to restore and repair our National Parks. Thats enough to address more than half of the current deferred maintenance backlog and completely fund the highest priority deferred maintenance projects within the agency. This represents one of if not the largest investment in the infrastructure in our National Parks in the over hundred year history of the National Park service. In addition to preserving our National Treasures for future generations to enjoy, this legislation will also create tens of thousands of jobs across the country and provide a positive Economic Impact for those gateway communities the senator mentioned chilhowee in tennessee. We have a chilhowee in southWest Virginia as well. Those gateway communities that depend on our National Parks. As a matter of fact, a recent study by the National Park service indicates that the Great American outdoors act will actually support over a hundred thousand jobs and contribute 17. 5 billion in total economic output through this legislation. In virginia alone, that means over 10,000 jobs could be created by eliminating this maintenance backlog. Let me give you a few examples on a more parochial basis on what that will mean in virginia. Here in the National Capital region, the George WashingtonMemorial Parkway which is managed by the National Park service has over 700 million in deferred maintenance. As a matter of fact, anyone who travels on that road knows north of the t. R. Bridge we actually had a sinkhole appear in the parkway within the last year, enormous safety threat as well as a huge inconvenience to the traveling public. Our legislation would help rebuild this critical transportation route between virginia, washington, and maryland. Again, reducing traffic and creating jobs. I mentioned in virginia were blessed with a number of historic battlefields. The Richmond NationalBattlefield Park has over 5 million in deferred maintenance and the nearby petersburg National Battlefield has nearly nine million in deferred maintenance. Our legislation would help preserve these important pieces of our heritage while also supporting the local economies. At the shenandoah National Park, one of the crown jewels of the National Park service, the maintenance backlog sits at 90 million. Our legislation will put people to work on these overdue repairs including the skyline drive and stretches of the appalachian trail which is at the heart of outdoors tour im. As you head further southwest in virginia, the Blue Ridge Parkway has accumulated over 508 million in deferred maintenance needs. Thats over 1 million per mile of the parkway. The Great American outdoors act will put virginians to work on these repairs so visitors can continue to appreciate the beauty of the Appalachian Highlands and support again the local economy. Ill give you one final example. The colonial National Historic park which is home to historic jamestown and york battlefield. It contains some of our nations most significant sites at the beginning of our nation and birth of our nation in terms of the revolution, their deferred maintenance needs totals over 430 million. With this legislation the weight on these repairs is over. Were going to create jobs and make sure this important part of our history is around for years to come. Now, in addition to securing these funds for the park service and other public lands, the Great American outdoors act also provides the full mandatory funding for the land and Water Conservation fund. Lwcf is the most important tool the federal government and states have to conserve National Natural areas, water resources, and cultural heritage. And to expand recreation opportunities to all communities. Over the past four decades, virginia has received over 360 million in lwcf funding that has been used to prevent to preserve critical places in the commonwealth, like the rapahannock river valley and black bay National Wildlife refuge, and the Appalachian National scenic trail. With the full funding for the lwcf well be able to conserve additional critical lands in the commonwealth and provide more recreational opportunities for virginians from the coal fields to the Chesapeake Bay and everywhere in between. In closing, i urge my colleagues to support this historic legislation that will help restore our National Parks and public lands, create tens of thousands of jobs across the country and expand recreation opportunities for millions of americans. This bipartisan piece of legislation that also has the support of the administration is legislation whose time has arrived. I look forward to successful passage later this week. With that, mr. President , i yield the floor and note the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call the presiding officer the senator from alaska. Mr. Sullivan mr. President , i ask that the quorum call be vitiated. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Sullivan i ask that if my unanimous consent that if my remarks go over the time for the recess at 12 30, that they be allowed to extend beyond that. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Sullivan mr. President , this is going to be a historic day for the u. S. Senate as we come down to the floor after the recess, after lunch here to be voting on the confirmation of general charles q. Brown, jr. , to be the chief of staff of the United States air force. General c. Q. Brown. I will certainly be voting for general brown because hes the right man at the right time for this very important job. Let me explain why. General brown has been an impressive has an impressive academic record and a Sterling Record of service to our great nation and, of course, to the United States air force. He is a distinguished graduate of the air force reserve officer Training Corps with a bachelor of science degree in Civil Engineering from texas tech. The presiding officer might like that. As well as a masters degree in aeronautical science from embry riddle aeronautical university. Currently general brown is the commanding officer, the four star general in charge of our pacific air forces, all pacific air forces. And of course, mr. President , you know that thats really important because he is literally on the front lines in implementing the National Defense strategy which has a focus on great power competition, particularly china as the pacing threat to our nation for the next 50 to a hundred years. General brown is in that battle right now, front lines every day and is thats really important. Prior to being commander of pacific air forces, he was the Deputy Commander of u. S. Central command for two years. So he knows all about the National Security challenges that we have from that region of the world, which are still very significant, particularly violent extremist organizations like al qaeda that continue, and isis, to threaten the United States from 2015 to 2016, he served as the u. S. Air forces central commands combine force Component Air commander where he oversaw the Strategic Bombing campaigns against isis and iraq and syria as well as operations against insurgent groups in afghanistan. So, with a record like that, pretty remarkable. He understands the threats that were currently facing. He understands the big challenges that were seeing over the horizon with regard to china, and he is ready to lead our country i mean lead the air force to take on those threats as a member of the joint chiefs of staff. The secretary of the air force Barbara Barrett said of general brown, quote, he has unmatched Strategic Vision and operational expertise. His leadership will be instrumental as the air force continues to focus on the capabilities and talent we need to implement the National Defense strategy. Thats the secretary of the air force on general c. Q. Brown. And, mr. President , in my conversations with him, i certainly believe these these qualities, these characteristics that the secretary of the air force describes to certainly be true. Ive had many, many good conversations with him on strategy, on strategic basing, including in the asiapacific region and i am very, very confident that again he is the right person for the right job at this moment. Mr. President , i also want to mention that he will be the first African American service chief in our militarys history. Now, ive known general brown for some time, but i was actually surprised when i realized this. Colin powell was chairman of the joint chiefs. Did an amazing job. But we have not had an African American service chief in any other services in the history of the United States. So i think thats very important right now, particularly in many ways this is a historic nomination, particularly as our country is royaling over roiling over the killing of george floyd and the protests that are taking place peacefully now which is great to demand justice for him and his family, and as we look at some of the challenges we have in our nation with regard to countering racism across america. In a very moving video address, general brown recently talked about whats on his mind in terms of some of these challenges. He talks about many of the things that are on his mind, many aspects of his career very powerful. I would recommend people who care about these issues, take a look at that very powerful speech. He said he was thinking about the conversations his wife and his two sons sean and ross have had on these times recently, but also the immense responsibility that comes from his historic nomination, and he was thinking, of course, about how he could make our country better for others, from a National Security standpoint and with regard to other issues. Mr. President , think about that. Thats a very weight for anyone to carry, but i firmly believe that general browns shoulders are broad and Strong Enough to carry this weight. So im going to be voting enthusiastically yes with regard to the vote were going to take here at 2 15 this afternoon. I would to encourage all of my colleagues to vote yes, to have a 1000 vote for this important, impressive nomination to be the chief of staff of the United States air force. I yield the floor. The presiding officer under the previous order, the senate the previous order, the senate the senate recessing for weekly party lunch meetings. When the return senators will vote on the confirmation of general Charles Brown for air force chief of staff. He would be the first africanamerican head of the air force and only black member of the current joint chiefs of staff. Then senators resume work on the Great American outdoors act. Legislation to create a permanent source of funding for maintenance on National Parks and other federal lands. Live coverage when senators return here on cspan2. Will take you live now to capitol hill for a house subCommittee Hearing with