Transcripts For CSPAN2 U.S. Senate U.S. Senate 20240712

Last week working on a public lands package that would permanently fund the land and Water Conservation fund with a vote to move forward on that this afternoon at 5 30 p. M. Eastern, live coverage here of the u. S. Senate on cspan2. The president pro tempore the senate will come to order. Dr. Black, the chaplain of the senate, will open the senate with prayer. The chaplain let us pray. O god, our righteousness. As each new day seems to bring the unexpected, we thank you for your power that keeps us from stumbling on lifes road. Today, give our lawmakers the wisdom to find in you their refuge and strength. Lord, as they face complex challenges, may they plead to you for guidance and fellowship. Remind them that in the multitude of counselors, there is safety. May our senators plant seeds of righteousness in order to reap a harvest of goodness and grace. May they make you the foundation of their hope and joy as you empower them to meet every trial without weariness. And lord, have mercy upon the loved ones of Rayshard Brooks and the many others who are buffeted by the winds of despair. We pray in your sovereign name, amen. The president pro tempore please join me in reciting the pledge of allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of america, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Mr. Grassley mr. President. The presiding officer the senator from iowa. Mr. Grassley one minute for morning business. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Grassley this time of year, for the last roughly 30 years, the world has announced a laureate. The laureate announced this year is dr. Retton lahr. He will receive the prize for his work on oil health at the annual ceremony that has taken place in des moines for the last 30 years in october. Often called the nobel prize for agriculture, the World Food Prize is awarded for Exceptional Achievement that advance Human Development by increasing the quantity, quality, availability or access to food. The award was created by an iowan, dr. Norman borloch, which is credited with saving more lives than any other person who ever lived through his pioneering work in developing new, more productive plant varieties, and particularly plant varieties free of disease. The green revolution sparked by dr. Borloch made it possible for indiana why to feed its people. Now dr. Lahl, also of india, is being recognized for his work which will be of interest to iowans and others around the world. As he says in other words, dr. Lahl says, quote, achieving hungerfree humanity, soil degradation neutrality, negative emission farming and pollutionfree water are among the principal challenges which can never be ignored. Sustainable management of soil and agriculture is also essential to keeping Global Temperatures within the safe range and restoring environment. And if people want to know who dr. Borlaug is, he is one of the two statues that iowa has put in statuary hall. He is one of five people in our country that has received both the nobel peace prize, the congressional gold medal, and president ial medal of freedom. I yield the floor. Mr. Mcconnell mr. President. The presiding officer the majority leader. Mr. Mcconnell three months ago, the first states were implementing stayathome orders as the new Coronavirus Spread throughout our country. Three months ago, george floyd was still alive, and the killing of Breonna Taylor in louisville had just begun to reignite a National Discussion around policing. Our country has confronted what feels like several years worth of upheaval in just three months. Small businesses and Child Care Centers are trying to figure out how to safely reopen. Schools and universities are trying to plan for the fall. Health care professionals and essential workers are continuing to man their posts, help strangers, and keep our country going. Peaceful protesters have continued to express outrage over the killings of black americans and our Nations Police officers. Overwhelmingly, good, decent, and brave people who put everything on the line for their neighbors have continued to faithfully serve under trying circumstances. These are the kinds of challenges our nation should meet with unity, like when the senate wrote and passed a historic cares act unanimously in march. But unfortunately in some corners of the country, our nations Strategic Reserve of anity of sanity appears to have run a little low. We have seen previously protests hijacked by violent riots. Apparently, rioters thought the best way to argue against a Strong Police force was to terrorize innocent people and Small Businesses for nights on end. Then completing the absurd cycle, we have seen the far left hold up these riots as proof we should defund or disband the police in this country, as though the vast majority of americans would not interpret the anarchy in precisely the opposite way. As i noted last week, we have seen some bigcity mayors use Health Restrictions to construct constitutionally dubious double standards where massive protests are blessed and encouraged, but small, careful Church Services are still banned. In seattle, we have seen the local officials cede several square blocks to a ragtag band of it demonstrators that call themselves the capitol hill autonomous zone. Fear of the far left has literally caused local officials to let a chunk of their own city devolve into a nogo zone for their own cops. Leftwing Media Outlets have been quick to shower praise on this lunacy and short to stop arson and other unchecked times. Other courses called it liberated streets. As if spray painted, boarded up businesses were the equivalent of the Normandy Landing . Amidst all of this, mr. President , our democratic counterparts over in the house of representatives have continued to keep their doors locked and lights off, but here in the senate, we came back in session over a month ago. We have taken smart precautions, but we have not let the peoples business come to a halt. Our committees have been overseeing the cares act and working on other essential business like the National Defense authorization act. Our colleagues are considering what else might help the country reopen, like strong Legal Protections for schools, colleges, employers, and health care workers. Under the leadership of senator tim scott, our conference is developing a serious proposal to reform Law Enforcement in smart ways without lashing out needlessly and counterproductively at the First Responders who are a credit to their communities. And just this week on the floor, we will complete a major piece of legislation that will benefit generations to come. Thanks to a number of our colleagues, particularly the junior senators from colorado and montana, the senate is poised to take historic action for the future of the nations public lands. I havent been the only one coming to the floor to highlight how my constituents prize our States National parks, wildlife refuges and other managed areas for recreation and for many livelihoods. We kentuckians are proud that our commonwealth is home to one of the National Park services crowning jewels at mammoth cave. Were proud of our Historic Sites like millsprings battlefield and our wildlife refuges at the clarks and green rivers. And im proud that the senate this week will provide permanent, steady support to maintain these treasures for generations to come. As weve heard, the same is true for colorado where entire regional economies have driven by Outdoor Recreation and alpine wonderlands. And from montana, where federal and state management work hand in hand with local sportsmen and native american tribes to preserve millions of acres of pristine big sky wilderness. And for West Virginia where 54 of 55 counties have benefited from the land and Water Conservation fund investment. And for ohio where the cuyahoga valley puts parkland in the back yards of millions of people. The list goes on and on. Public lands hold a unique place in the life of every state in america, from their Natural Beauty to their use for recreation to therapistal roles in local economies. In the Communities Just outside the gates, public lands drive over 40 billion in Economic Activity every year, and they play a big part in the entire Outdoor Recreation industry that creates hundreds of billions of dollars in National Prosperity every year. So once again, im grateful to our colleagues who have stewarded the Great American outdoors act thus far. As senator gardner and senator daines for their leadership, to senators manchin, portman, warner for their efforts as well to steer this strong bipartisan product toward the finish line. I look forward to continuing to advance this legislation today and passing it this week. 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 h. R. 1957, which the clerk will report. The clerk calendar number 75, h. R. 1957, an act to amend the Internal Revenue code of 1986, and so forth and for other purposes. Mr. Mcconnell i note the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call quorum call mr. Schumer mr. 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 now, mr. President , this morning, the long march for equality for lgqt americans took a step forward. The Supreme Court landed down a landmark decision that federal employment discrimination protections do in fact extend to lgwtq americans. Believe it or not, before today, it was allowed, the federal government did not say you could prevent let me say that in a different way. Believe it or not, before today, it was not a settled legal matter that you could sue your employer for firing you solely on the basis of Sexual Orientation or sexual identity. In 2020 in america it was still okay to discriminate against people because of their Sexual Orientation or identity. Is that unbelievable . 21st century, was still allowed. Well, now it isnt because of the Supreme Court. And they deserve credit for that case. And one of the cases that formed the basis of todays ruling originated in my home state of new york where a skydiving instructor was fired for admitting his Sexual Orientation. So today the Supreme Court did the right thing and ruled that Workplace Discrimination on the basis of Sexual Orientation is just as unlawful as discrimination on the basis of gender, race, or religion. Of course, the ruling in no way diminishes our efforts here in congress to pass the equality act led by my colleague senators merkley, baldwin, and booker. That would be the greatly great leap forward on equality were all looking for. It passed the house over a year ago but its been gathering dust and leader mcconnell in leader mcconnells legislative graveyard. Senate republicans are still not in the 21st century. They must think its okay to discriminate against people because of their orientation or identity. Unbelievable. Unbelievable. But maybe now the fact that even a few justices appointed by republican president s believe that it was again the law, maybe that will prick the hearts of our republican colleagues and leader mcconnell and theyll allow a vote on the equality act here on the floor. But even without the senate and its backward ways, it is clear that the country is moving in the right direction. Now, mr. President , these are not ordinary times in america. For 21 Straight Days hundreds of thousands of americans have taken to the streets to protest Police Violence and racial injustice. The clashes between police and Peaceful Protesters over the past few weeks in which some Police Departments have responded with overly aggressive tactics have only articulated further the need for bold and widereaching reform of police practices. Being killed by police is now the sixth leading cause of death for young black men in america. Let me repeat that. Let me repeat that. Being killed by police is now the sixth leading cause of death for young black men in america. And thats why the house and senate have drafted legislation the justice and policing act that would deliver comprehensive reform to Police Departments, including a ban on choke holds, a ban on noknock warrants in federal drug cases, a ban on racial profiling and limits on the transfer of military equipment to Police Departments. Our bill would make it a lot easier to hold Police Accountable in court for misconduct and institute several reforms to prevent that misconduct in the first place. Only a few months ago the justice and policing act might seem controversial, but in the wake of such obvious injustice recorded on iphones throughout the country, there is now broad and deep support for the policies we democrats are pushing in the justice and policing act. A recent reuters poll reported listen to this 82 of americans including seven in ten on republicans want a ban want to ban police from using choke holds. 83 of americans, including seven in ten republicans want to ban racial profiling. 92 of americans, including nine in ten republicans want police to wear federal police to wear body cameras. 91 of americans, including nine in ten republicans, support allowing independent investigations of Police Departments that show patterns of misconduct. And 75 of americans, including six of ten republicans, support allowing victims of Police Misconduct to sue Police Departments for damages also known as qualified immunity reform. Now is the time to seek bold and broadscale change, not change around the margins. Now is the time for wholesale reform, not piecemeal reform. The justice and policing act takes a comprehensive approach, but at the moment our republican colleagues seem to be on a path towards taking a much, much narrower, less inclusive approach. That is wrong. Some Senate Republicans have endorsed individual proposals in our bill, like qualified immunity reform and bans on choke holds. But it looks like these policies may not be included in a republican bill. While our bill recognizes that a strong federal response is necessary to bring change to every Police Department in america, the republicans, it seems, are going to leave much of the task up to the states. If history has taught us anything, particularly when it comes to civil rights, its that progress on civil rights has been stunted, slowed down and sometimes stymied by letting states take the lead. Let me repeat to my republican colleagues. We need comprehensive and bold reform, and we need a commitment from the republican leader to consider broad, Strong Police reform, the justice and policing act on the floor of the senate before july 4. Again, i ask our republican leader, ive asked before, allow the justice and policing act to be on the floor. We can debate it. We can amend it. Some of you may not vote for it. But the nation is crying out for a debate on a comprehensive and strong approach, not to cherrypick one or two times, say, see, weve done our job and go home. This has been a pervasive and deep problem in america for decades and centuries. To now give it short shrift, to try and get off the hook would be so wrong at the moment when americans are calling for, the vast majority of Republican Voters are calling for it. Do we have any courage here, any strength to face the issue headon at a time and at a moment when we can do it . I hope our republican friends will summon that courage, that strength, and that desire to bring real, strong, and comprehensive reform. The time for waiting is over. Meaningwhile, a Global Pandemic continues to assail our country and economy. The covid19 pandemic did not disappear while the nation rightfully turns its attention to the issues of Racial Justice. In fact, just as the country was preparing for the early staples of reopening, a number of cases began to spike again in a number of states. Hats a has activated arizona has activated emergency plans. Over the weekend, florida reported its highest single day of cases. 22 states are reporting increases in the number of confirmed cases of coronavirus. After those numbers had been declining. The experts tell us it is not simply because there is no testing. There is also more coronavirus in many of these states. A headline in Time Magazine sums it up america is done with covid but covid isnt done with earthquake in. It is our responsibility to deal with this problem. The trends are extremely concerning. Ive asked the white house to have members of the Coronavirus Task force including dr. Fauci and dr. Birx to give Senate Democrats a briefing on these recent spikes. I have yet to hear back. White house continues to muzzle the most knowledgeable people. President trump, havent you learned . , when you dont face the truth, it hurts the country and hurts you. You tried to deny that this coronavirus was real. It was a hoax. Itll go away in a few days. There are very few cases. And of course it ravaged our country. And now theyre doing the same thing. President trump is doing exactly the same thing, withholding the experts, withholding the truth, in hopes that things will disappear. Thats just not how science tells us things work. President trump now seems ready to dismiss these issues entirely. Appalling. He is planning big campaign rallies, asking reporters, amazingly, to sign waivers not to sue if they contract covid from attending. I guess he worries that they might get it, but he doesnt care. He wants to have his rally. Thats the superficialiality of this president. Hes also President Trump has also moved major parts of the Republican Convention out of North Carolina in order to avoid having to respect the most basic precautions against the spread of coronavirus. And today, amazingly enough, the f. D. A. Withdrew the emergency authorization of the use of hydroxychloroquine as a treatment against covid. Remember, the president of the United States only a few weeks ago was promoting the use of hydroxychloroquine like a pharmaceutical salesman going so far as to take the drug himself, despite not having the disease . Now the f. D. A. Says its not reasonable to believe the drug is effective against covid or that its benefits outweigh, quote, the known and potential risks. Thats the president s own department telling him to stop it, to stop telling americans lies about the coronavirus and about whats good and bad to treat it. Its amazing. An agency like this one, which knows that theyre not supposed to buck the president or face his wrath, still felt the obligation to come forward and tell americans the truth about hydroxychloroquine. This should be a warning to all americans. You cant listen to President Trump when it comes to health care. Whether it comes to hydroxychloroquine or anything about the coronavirus itself, because the experts in his own administration so often contradict his advice. It shouldnt need saying that the president is not a doctor, and yet hes been issuing offthecuff medical advice from the white house podium toll have the experts scrambling to backtrack weeks later. This is not how a leader handles a crisis. This is not even how a normal person handles a crisis. Senate republicans, meanwhile, have relegated the covivid issue to the backburner. As the expiration states for several of the programs established under the cares act quickly approach, leader mcconnell has report i hadly told his caucus not to expect another emergency relief bill until the end of july. The emergency Unemployment Insurance we passed in the cares act is soon going to run out. The ban on evictions is soon going to expire. State and local governments are preparing to slash Public Services and are in dire need of federal support. Cliff after cliff after cliff faces us. Economic trouble after economic trouble after economic trouble is looming upon us very soon. Yet all these problems and all these deadlines seem to mean very little to the Republican Senate majority, which is taking its sweet time to respond to an urgent and multifaceted crisis. What are our friends going to tell people whose Unemployment Insurance runs out . Tough luck. What are our republican friends going to tell people evicted interest their homes . Too bad. What are our republican friends going to tell the many Public Servants fired because their states are running out of money and we have refused to step up to the plate . And what are they are going to tell the nations parents when schools will not be able to open because we havent given them the adequate resources to do so . Were going to tell them that the republican majority is asleep at the switch. But that will be of little solace. Wed much rather Work Together and get things done. And even on the bedrock issue of democracy elections the republican majority has once again been absent. The covivid pandemic has made our elections a challenge. In wisconsin, most recently and most glaringly in georgia, voters have had to overcome significant barriers to voting. Senators klobuchar, feinstein and peters have been demanding that republican chairs of their respective committees hold hearings on these election issues. That would be the bare minimum the bare minimum the senate could do in response to widespread election issues. So police reform, racial injustice, Voting Rights, a Global Pandemic, massive levels of unemployment these are huge issues that demand the a. Tension that demand the attention of the United States senate. But leader mcconnell and the republican majority just cant seem to find the time. On issues like covid, Racial Justice, the economy, voting, the republican majority is sadly missing in action. Instead, leader mcconnell is pushing two rightwing judges onto the nations circuit courts, Justin Walker and corey wilson. Mr. Walker is a man of limited judicial experience who has made it very clear he personally opposes our Health Care Law. He called the roberts decision to uphold the Affordable Care act indefensible, catastrophic. Mr. Wilson, by the same token, is calling our Health Care Law illegitimate and perverse. Thats right, folks. You need health care, youre suffering because of covid . Well, our republican friends are nominating judges who think the law is illegitimate and perverse. In the middle of a Public Health crisis, the republican majority is planning to confirm rightwing judges who oppose our Health Care Law and adding insult to injury, mr. Wilson has been one of the leaders in opposing and undoing Voting Rights here at a time when people are protesting for racial equality. The republican majority has the temerity to put on the floor of the Senate Someone who has spent his career trying to limit the rights of people, oftentimes minorities, to vote. Wilson has supported restrictive voter i. D. Laws, expressed strong opposition to parts of the Voting Rights act thats right, thats right. In the middle of a National Movement on issues related to Racial Justice, Senate Republicans are trying to put a judge on the bench with a hostile record on Voting Rights. So we all know that when you have the senate majority, its all about priorities. Were all empowered here in the senate to propose bills and amendments, ask consent, speak for as long as we want. But only the republican leader only leader mcconnell gets to decide which bills reach the floor. And for the past two months, as the economic pain from the coronavirus deepens, as the disease starts to come back, as the economy runs into trouble after trouble after trouble, as longsimmering issues of Racial Justice and Police Brutality propel peaceful protests in our biggest cities and smallest towns, the Republican Senate majority has been out to lunch. This week, as leader mcconnell asks us to consider more rightwing judges for the federal bench, it could not be more apparent. I yield the floor. The presiding officer the senator from texas. Mr. Cornyn mr. President , across america people of all ages, races, and backgrounds have continued to show up on the streets and speak up and speak out against racial injustice. Of course, thats their right under the constitution to do so. Galvanized by the tragic death of george floyd, they are marching in peaceful protests, signing petitions, and having frank discussions with their family. Its a moment characterized by hard break and anger over the injustice by heartbreak and anger over the injustices that many black americans feel are perpetrated on them every day, but its also a time for hope for the future as the issue has come front and center and frankly we have to do something about it. In city halls, state legislatures, and of course here in the United States capitol, there is a newfound sense of energy and urgency behind the effort to pass meaningful reform. We have an opportunity to create profound change in an area that for too long has just been a can kicked down the road, and im optimistic we will succeed. As i told the floyd family when i talked to them before, their son, their brother before their son, their brother was buried, i said my hope for you and my hope for all of us is that something positive will come out of this tragedy. Here in the senate, were working on legislation to respond to these events, and the majority leader has tasked our friend and colleague from south carolina, senator tim scott, to lead the effort in our conference. Im proud to have been working with him closely and several other colleagues to draft legislation that i think will help us begin the first step down that path and support Americas Police forces. As we work through potential policies, its important to hear feedback from my constituents back home, and last friday i had the chance to do just that. I reached out to my friend, dallas mayor eric johnson, who ive gotten to know pretty well during his first year as mayor, whether its dallas tornadoes or the covid19 virus or now discussions about the George Floyd Killing and racial injustice, we found the opportunity to Work Together to support the people of dallas through some incredibly difficult times. I asked him if he would help me convene a group of leaders in dallas to discuss these issues, and by friday, we were all socially distancing around a large table in city hall in dallas, texas. The mayor and i were joined by the police chief, renee hall, Dallas County sheriff marion brown, Dallas County District Attorney john cruzo, as well as union, community, and faith leaders. We had a frank conversation about the challenges were up against as we work to repair the broken trust between Law Enforcement and some of the communities they serve. I was able to spend some time talking about the work were doing here in the senate and the ideas that could be included in any legislation. I talked about two stef proposals that i have recommended, one including the establishment of a National Criminal justice commission. This commission would review the criminal Justice System from top to bottom and provide recommendations to us, something that has not happened since at the National Level since 1965. I also recommended taking steps to ensure more departments and agencies are providing deescalation training for their officers so hopefully officers will know how to use these tactics to prevent similar tragedies from occurring in the first place. But mostly, i was there to be listen and to learn from the men and women with decades of experience of protecting, serving, and advocating for their communities. Chief hall asked about how policing strategies excuse me. Talked about how policing strategies had created a wedge between Law Enforcement and some of the minority communities and the work its going to take in order to repair that trust and eliminate that wedge. She noted that dallas is home to some of the best officers in the country, and the vast majority of them show up for work every day with all of the right intentions and attitudes. But for the small number of officers that dont, we need to be able to identify them quickly and remove them from our police forces. Thinking about the officer that directly was responsible for George Floyds death, according to published reports, he had at least 17 misconduct complaints already lodged against him. Now, that should be a red flag for anybody. In any tragedy, you cant help but go through the whatifs and wonder how things might have played out differently, but what if his supervisors had taken action . What if he had been fired . What if he hadnt been available to respond to the incident involving george floyd because he was assigned to some other duties . Well, these are difficult questions to ask because the outcome likely would have been different, but theyre the type of questions that we need to ask in order to prevent history from repeating itself. The major theme of our conversation was trust. How do we restore Communities Trust in Law Enforcement . Minister sammy barry from Dallas West Church of christ made a great point about ensuring Police Agencies reflect the diversity of the communities in which they serve. Texas is about as diverse a state as they come where cities are a vibrant brand of backgrounds, cultures and skin tones, and our Police Departments should reflect that. Thats one topic of discussion here in the senate, one i hope we can act on in coming weeks. How do we encourage Police Recruitment of the right people who can reflect the communities in which they serve . As Dallas County sheriff marion brown said, we all recognize and acknowledge that we have a long way to go, and unfortunately there is no magic pill to help get us there. Instead, were going to have to roll up our sleeves and do the hard work of trying to build consensus and solve problems. As always, the first step in the process is good communication, honest and frank discussions between community leaders, Law Enforcement, and elected officials is a great start, but were going to have to do a lot more than talk in order to create palpable change. Ill be the first to admit i dont have all the answers, but i dont think anyone else does either, but these conversations are key to helping each of us get closer to finding them. I want to thank mayor johnson and everyone who took time out of their busy schedules to participate in our discussion last friday. These men and women have provided me with valuable insight and ideas about the changes that need to be made in order to restore Public Confidence in all of our Law Enforcement agencies. Ive come back to washington with new ideas based on their feedback, and im eager to continue to work with all of our colleagues to deliver real reforms for the American People and restore that trust which unfortunately has been strained, not broken in some communities. Madam president , i yield the floor. The presiding officer the senator from washington. Ms. Cantwell madam president , before i come to speak about legislation we are going to be voting on shortly, i wanted to mention todays significant Supreme Court decision to protect the Lgbtq Community and americans from discrimination in the workplace. This is a very important step forward. Gay and Transgender Americans should not face discrimination in the workplace or live in fear of losing their jobs simply because of who they are, and its an important step forward, but it is also long overdue. My home state of washington has been a leader on this issue for decades, but just think until today, june 15, 2020, we had no nationwide rules against firing an employee or harassing someone at work for being gay, lesbians, by sellual or bisexual or trans. That is just wrong. And lgbtq plus Americans Still face discrimination in far too many areas of life, public accommodation, housing, education, and some federally funded programs. We have proposed legislation that would be, i believe, comprehensive civil rights and antidiscrimination legislation to pass to help protect this community. The house has passed this legislation, and i believe its time that the senate pass this legislation. Leader mcconnell and the republicans should take the equality act out of the legislative graveyard and get it on to the senate floor. I join my colleagues, senators merkley, baldwin, and others today who are calling on senate calling for Senate Action on this important issue. So again, i want to emphasize how important and fundamental i think this decision was and how challenging and disappointed i am that we have had legislation to protect this community that we could have passed decades ago. So, madam president , i also rise to talk about the several votes were going to to have on public lands coming up, and one of them is about a budget point of order. In my mind, budget points of order are about costs. Were here to talk about what a good investment public land is. We have the grand canyon. We understand that. Good investment. Mount rainier in my home state of washington. A good investment. An iconic mountain maybe to some, but to all of us in the state of washington, we also know that it brings in millions of dollars of revenue and millions of visitors. And that is just what our public lands do. They become icons. The preservation of the Natural World is a good investment, in my mind better than roads and bridges and buildings because they actually last for centuries. And places like the grand tetons or denali in other states are literally icons to all of us and help us from one generation to the next. But besides being icons, they do pay for themselves. That is the economic return of public lands is phenomenal. It does create, but it generates. It generates activity, it generates income to county governments, to state governments, to the federal government, and lots of private entities are involved. So hundreds of billions of dollars are spent. In fact, 877 billion is part of a report that was issued a few years ago. So you might not think of that right off the top of your head because youre thinking about some aspect of the outdoors and you might not think of it as generating dollars, but okay, try a few of the brand names on, whether its r. E. I. Or northface or Columbia Sportswear or just your local fishing guide who does Whitewater Rafting or fishing or some other outdoor activities. These lands basically are generating billions of dollars of revenue. So in my mind, the fact that they are oil and gas offshore leasing revenue and then we get the benefit of public lands and they generate all of that revenue, to me is a very sound fiscal policy and great investment. So to me, the issue isnt the budget point of order as much as it is the question of why this program has been around for so long and the money wasnt used in the program. Probably somewhere around 20 billion has been used for other things instead of the intended purpose of the land and Water Conservation fund. Maybe its because not everybody was on board with spending that amount of money for public lands, but i think were here today to say there is a new coalition of people who are willing to say that, and they do see the economic return, but were specifically passing a law that says that you are going to spend those dollars for that, and that the other purposes that congress may have decided in the past are not the specific purpose but that planned but that public land is. Im very happy that we are making this investment, in my mind that it is one of the smartest fiscal policies we could ever make, that is, to spend money, not from the taxpayer, but from these private entities on offshore drilling that goes into something for the benefit of a taxpayer that generates economic return to all of us. I cant ask for a better tax policy than to use or fiscal policy than to use it to preserve open space and public land and generate revenue and help all of us enjoy the outdoors. So as i said, revenue raising from offshore leasing and investing in public land was exactly what Scoop Jackson had in mind when he authored the land and Water Conservation fund more than 50 years ago, and it is absolutely what we should be doing. So im glad my colleagues have realized this is the right fiscal policy, that it is good for us and it is good for americans future. I know that Scoop Jackson would be very happy and his son peter who just passed recently would also be very happy that this correction is being made. This will be the first time that the money is fully used for the intended purposes of what the money and revenue was put into the fund to do. So im glad were making this milestone happen, and i encourage my colleagues to think about this fiscal policy, the fiscal policy that benefits the u. S. By having open space and public lands generates 877 billion. And yes, if you want another reminder, this is a view of downtown seattle but from a very famous park, gasworks park in the north end of lake union. So that park probably wouldnt be there if we didnt have the land and Water Conservation fund. The idea was, as scoop said, as america urbanized, that we needed to preserve open space for the public to use it. And some of the most iconic open spaces across the United States have been created for the public to enjoy. So lets reaffirm our commitment that was always there. Lets turn down the budget point of order, make sure were making the right investments and finish moving this legislation to its final passage. I thank the president. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call mr. Gardner madam president . The presiding officer the senator from colorado. Mr. Gardner madam president , i ask the quorum call be vitiated. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Gardner thank you, madam president. Last week we had some great conversations on the floor of the senate about the Great American outdoors act, the combination of to important pieces of legislation, the land and Water Conservation fund, First Authorized 55 years ago and the restore our parks act, both of which would be combined in the Great American outdoors act and the most significant piece of conservation Legislation Congress has passed in nearly 50 years or more. The land and Water Conservation fund of course is sphundzed by take funded by taking offshore oil and gas revenues and thats how the restore our parks act would be funded as well. Both of them would take dollars generated from offshore oil and Gas Production. Theres a few other ways that its funded like boat fuel excise tax revenues and others. Primarily thats the source of funding. After a series of formula distributions out of the treasury, land and Water Conservation fund is appropriated about a billion and then eventually the restore our parks act under this legislation would be appropriated dollars as well. The land and Water Conservation fund 99 of the dollars used by land and Water Conservation fund is used to purchase inholdings, to complete National Park National Parks to work on wildlife refuges and other types of important public land designations across the country. And we all know that our National Parks are suffering from the amount of visitors that they receive. Were grateful for the visitors but that is a tremendous strain on roads and trails and the Visitors Centers across the country. For instance, in Rocky Mountain National Park, the third most heavily visited park in the nation, theres about 85 million backlog including trail maintenance, visitor centers, the sewage systems, campgrounds and other challenges they can help fix with the use of these dollars. Last week i also talked about some important lergs that we had letters that we had received, letters of support for the Great American outdoors act, including a letter from the Outdoor Recreation industry. I ask unanimous consent, madam president , that this letter from the Outdoor Recreation industry be submitted for the record. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Gardner this letter is written by a number of number of some of the most notable names in the outdoors, people around the country would recognize. Palaris, patagonia and colorados own v. F. Headquartered now in colorado. We know in a state like colorado, the Outdoor Economy is a huge driver of our states economy creating hundreds of thousands of jobs, billions of dollars in Economic Activity. This letter from the Outdoor Recreation industry says that they are extremely encouraged by the Great American outdoors act and they note that this is an Incredible Opportunity to invest in recreation access and infrastructure, both of which are vital to the Outdoor Recreation industry and economies around the country. But today, earlier today we received another very important letter, a letter that i think a lot of people will find very important. This letter dated june 15, 2020 begins with this paragraph, from east to west, america is home to incredible lands, water, and cultural treasures. Now more than ever we are relying on our public lands to get outdoors, to connect with the world, to support jobs, and to strengthen our communities. And this time of uncertainty we have been given a onceinalifetime opportunity to protect our public lands and waters for all generations to come. This letter was written by Theodore Roosevelt iv. This letter of support for the Great American outdoors act comes from the great grandson of president teddy roosevelt. Passing the Great American outdoors act would be taking a page from president Theodore Roosevelts book, protecting the quinn tess sense of who we are as americans in the stewardship of our natural place, great and small. President roosevelt set conservation as a priority, a duty for a great and farsighted nation in recognition that our natural bounty is the foundation for all else. Without it we cannot sponsor we cannot prosper. I am glad to see strong bipartisan support for the Great American outdoors act in the house, the senate, and from the president. We are counting on you to protect and preserve our public lands and we need your continued leadership to secure this monumental legislation. Sincerely, Theodore Roosevelt iv. Ive talked often about the legacy that president roosevelt has left our country and when it comes to our lands and conservation. In fact, the genesis of the Great American outdoors act comes from a meeting that senator daines and i had along with the majority leader, senator mcconnell, talking to the president in the roosevelt room at the white house about these two programs that people like mark warner and richard burr and angus king and joe manchin and martin heinrich, maria cantwell, rob portman, Lamar Alexander have worked so diligently on. We talked about the legacy that Theodore Roosevelt has and now this letter from his great grandson securing that legacy for this country. Madam president , i ask unanimous consent that this letter from Theodore Roosevelt iv be submitted for the record. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Gardner, thank you, mr. President. I know tonight well have continued legislation about conversations about the legislation and the cost of the legislation. There are some who will say this bill isnt paid for or perhaps the revenues arent accounted for properly but i would speak to the contrary. Again, ill be speaking about this later this evening. If you look at how this bill, Great American outdoors act is funded, it doesnt cost the taxpayer money. It comes from that offshore oil and gas revenues. Its revenue generated from oil and Gas Production on federal land in fiscal year 2019 which totaled 11. 6 billion which is an example. One of the years of funding. In 2019 the revenues generated from oil and gas is about 11. 6 billion. Right off the top of the funding, it came into treasury, the 11. 6 billion came into treasury. Right off the top, 2. 4 billion went to the states. We dont change that. This bill does not change that. Another 1 billion of that 11. 6 billion back in 2019 but the same formula would apply every year, another 1 billion went to tribal entities right off the top. After that of this money, of this amount of money, 1. 7 billion went to the reclamation fund. So to get this straight, theres funding that goes out to the states. Funding that goes to tribal entities and funding to the reclamation fund. And then, fourth in line for this, 1 billion went to the land and Water Conservation fund but a curious thing happened on the way to the forum as they say because only 495 million got appropriated to the land and Water Conservation fund. So a billion dollars gets taken out of the money in 2019. 11. 6 billion. A billion dollars for the land and Water Conservation fund but only 495 million gets appropriated. Thats because even though it was authorized to get more, that money has been siphoned off and spent on other things. And 150 million then went to the Historic Preservation fund. Thats a total of 5. 25 billion from 2019. Thats what weve accounted for so far out of that revenue. So money to the state, money to tribal entities, money to the reclamation fund, 1 billion to lwcf fund even though only 450 million got appropriated. 150 million to the Historic Preservation fund. That left 5. 35 billion that went directly into treasurery. Thats treasury. Thats a money that would be used, at least a portion of it, for restore our parks act. Congress has bad habits that need to be corrected around here. Well have additional time to have that conversation this evening and obviously others about the merits of this legislation and what it means. Theres been more and more talk around the country about how this isnt just about National Parks, though. Its not just about national forests. Its also about our urban parks and urban centers. Some of our colleagues have made very passionate and eloquent statements about the need for access in all of our communities to make sure we have more access for communities across the country, our urban settings, rural settings, whether its a ballpark or some other kind of a recreation activity at a park. This is the opportunity for us to get to work. No cost to the taxpayer to do something we can all be proud of and im grateful that mr. Roosevelt would send a letter highlighting the work that this congress is doing that can stand generations later the test of Teddy Roosevelts leadership and the opportunity for us to build on the leadership of president roosevelt. Madam president , i yield the floor and note the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call quorum call mr. Portman madam president , are we in a quorum call . The presiding officer we are. Mr. Portman i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be dispensed with. The presiding officer without objection. The senator from ohio. Mr. Portman i am here to talk about the legislation before the senate, which is a great opportunity to help our National Parks. The bill does a number of things, as people have heard about to help with regard to our public lands, with regard to fiduciariing access, with regard to were fishing access, with regard to community parks. But one thing it does that is essential is it includes the restore our parks act. That is legislation that is necessary right now to fix our National Parks. Now, i say fix our National Parks you know, theyre a treasure. When people are asked about the National Parks, usually they use that word. Its at treasure. Its a great set aof the United States its a great asset of the United States. Ken burn i think said its americas best idea. He did a great documentary, by the way. The National Parks telled history of our country. There are so many good things about them. But the problem is that our parks right now are under a huge backlog of maintenance projects. 12. 5 billion. Now, thats way more than the parks budget. And they just cant get out of from under it. Its been happening for years and years and years. So think about people going back to our parks this summer after the coronavirus hopefully gets better and people are able to go to these reopened parks. Well probably have huge attendance. When they get there theyre going to find out that the trail is closed because of erosion, or the bathroom doesnt work because the bathroom has, you know, deteriorated, or they cant go to the Visitors Center because the ceiling has been leaking, which has caused mold on the walls, which has caused the floors to couple. The highways and the bridges are crumbling. And this is whats happening in our National Parks. We have asked them, as members of congress, to give us a full list over the last few years of this because we keep leering about this and hearing about this and we have. They have about . 5 billion of lowpriority projects and about 6 billion of priority projects. The list continues to grow and the costs continue to compound. They get worse and worse every year,. Think about your own home. If you dont fix the leaking roof i talked about, you have all of these other problems. If you can get at it and fix it when it happens, you have much lower costs. So for taxpayers, all of us as taxpayers, we should want to fix this maintenance backlog. And be able once again to say, not only are these parks a treasure but these parks are open and everything is open and we can do a better job in stewardship. This legislation does that. Not a penny of the funding, by the way, can go toward expansion of the parks, because ive heard that from some of my colleagues. Well, you all keep putting money into expanding thats parks. Thats not what this is about. This is about stewardship. This is about ensuring that we take better care of what we have. I cant think of a more fiscal lit conservative fiscally conservative idea than that. I think this is important to realize that this legislation is not about expanding anything. It is about taking better care of what we have. The annual appropriations from congress to the parks funds the range he rangers, it funds the natures program, it funds the basics to continue to operate the parkswhataburger it does not what it does not fund is these big projects, these maintenance projects. Weve been ignoring them for decades. This is not new. But its built up and its getting worse and worse as the costs compound. Let me give you an example. Cuyahoga National Park is in ohio. It is 139th most visited National Park in un it is the 13th most visited National Park in the country. I hope youll go. It is spectacular. But guess what is this they have the maintenance backlog of just over 50 million. Their annual budget from the park service is 11 million. And that covers everything. That operates the entire park, that 13th most visited park in america. It is a beautiful park, basically from cleveland to akron, beautiful a because of the cuyahoga river, it has a tourism train that goes through this. A narrowgauge train. Its just a great place. But guess what . The train tracks are falling apart. Thats a huge expense. That cant come out of this annual budget because you have to replace the ties and so on. There is a bridge that i saw that is crumbling. It is not going to be used for bicyclists or hikers because it is falling apart. That bridge is a capital expense. It takes a lot of funding to do that and to do it right. So the legislation before us says, lets take this on. Lets get started on getting this backlog behind us so that we can focus on having the most majestic and the most beautiful parks in the world here, that we can continue to be proud of. The way we do it is really interesting. We say, okay, were going to continue to have the annual appropriations. And were going to properly fund the parks that way. But for these backlog problems, we are going to take funding from offshore and onshore oil and gas and other Energy Projects that are currently going directly into the government, and were going to take no more than half of that funding thats unobligated in other words, not obligated to any other purpose and were going to say, lets use that funding up to a cap every year to reduce about half of the backlog over the next five years. Its the priority projects i talked about the 6. 5 billion. To me, this makes all the sense in the world. Again, its going to save us money over time assuming we want our parks to be working, we want the trails to be open. We want the Visitors Centers to be open. Our parks are more visited than ever. Its important that we have parks that are ready, particularly when people start to go back to the parks this summer. Some of my colleagues have come to the floor and said, well, isnt there a another way to do this . I mean, i wish there were. But this is a pretty good Funding Source, and for those who say, its not paid for, im telling you what the Funding Source it. It is the royalties that come off of these Energy Projects. By the way, this is for a good conservation cause. And a good, again, fiscally conservative cause to get these longterm maintenance problems under control so that they dont continue to grow and grow and grow. I first started on this project over 13 years ago, which is why this is finally exciting to me that this is coming to fruition in the senate. I was the o. M. B. Director p for president george w. Bush, the office of management and budget. In our budget in 2007 we put in place a centennial project for the parks. The park celebrated an anniversary in 2016 and building up to that we wanted to deal with this longterm maintenance backlog and provide some more funding for the parks. I worked with the secretary of the interior at the time. This is again the george w. Bush administration, republican administration. I worked with democrats here on the hill. We worked with all the outside groups concerned about the parks and came up with a creative way to give publicprivate maintenance money. We were not successful inest going congress to take it up and to appropriate those funds at the time. But i continued working on this a couple years later when i was asked to serve on the Centennial Commission on the parks. I had left politics, thinking forever. But now im back here in the senate. But on the Centennial Commission, again, we analyzed what was going on in the parks in connection with the centennial coming up in 2016, and what was the numberone issue . Of course it was this longterm maintenance backlog and how do you deal with it and the great frustration that people felt that we just couldnt get on top of it. Ive been on there for some time. I see my colleagues saying, there must be some other way to fund this. Some are suggesting lets raise some fees. I am ape the author of the centennial act, which was passed some three years ago, on the last day practically of session in 2016, and that legislation actually takes the senior fee, which is the lifetime senior pass, and increased it, actually quadrupled it to provide more funding for this very purpose and other purposes at the parks. That was not without controversy. I can show you some of the letters and emails that i got and some of the phone calls that we received with regard to increasing the senior parse. The senior pass. But we did it for the right reasons, because we thought the senior pass was a relatively good deal, it is a tremendous deal. But we decided we were going to take some heat on this in order to provide more revenue for the parks. We couldnt find other sources. I am also the author of the centennial challenge, which is part of that legislation, which allows for the private sector to provide funding to our parks. We were interested in finding more funding and the Centennial Challenge Fund is a Publicprivate Partnership that requires that every federal dollar that goes into the parks be matched at least onetoone with a private dollar. Ive been involved in encourage the private sector to do more. Since we passed that in 2008, fiscal year 2008, congress has provided 129 million in appropriations, which has been leveraged by additional 1 167 million in funding. So that has worked. But, folks, it has its limits. Were talking about 12. 5 billion in the backlog, and the numbers i gave you we were able to raise 167 million in nonfederal funding. So, you know, i would just say to my colleagues, gosh, why cant you raise fees and so on, thats been done. I will say also with regard to fees in some of our parks, its not very practical. The cuyahoga National Park is an example. There are literally dozens of entrances to the park. The park is in a suburban area through akron and cleveland. You can get to the park through all sorts of different roads and avenues. There is no grand entrance to the park. There is a Visitors Center which people are encouraged to go to. There are bike trails to it, railroads to it and lots of roads that come into it. Its not like youre driving in to Yellowstone Park going to a designated r entrance. Is there more we can do . Im sure there are and ill continue to work on that and ill continue to look at ways to do it. But 12. 5 billion, its not going to happen without a lot of controversy. This is about being sure we are doing whats right for our parks. Its also, though, helpful in terms of jobs, as you can imagine, because these projects are infrastructure. We talk a lot about that around here. Typically we dont even think about paying for it. We say were going to do an infrastructure stimulus project as an example as was done in 2008 and 2009. In this case these are shovelready and vetted projects. We are required as congress to give you what the projects are. I can give you a list of my state, ive done that with congress, what the Top Priorities are for their state, how much money it is, what the project is, how you do it. You dont have to go and get the permits that you might have to get on nonfederal land p because these are on National Park property. They just keep building up higher and higher, but theyre ready. Theyre ready to go. They are also vetted. They also know not to go through this same process that some would if they were on nonpublic land. And they create a lot of jobs. We just have a report thats been approved by the office of management and budget that came out of the park service showing that the number of jobs that are direct jobs related to believing National Park related to this National Park restoration act were talking about, were voting on today, is over 40,000 jobs. When you do direct and indirect including suppliers to these probltion, projects, so youve got the person fixing the bridge i talked about, or the railroad, but who provides to put the Railroad Ties in, its over 100,000 jobs. Over 100,000 jobs are created just from this legislation. Its the right thing to do no matter what but it also happens to be an opportune time to put in place some funding that goes directly into goodpaying, highquality jobs, average pay 65,000 to 70,000 a year to be able to help with regard to the post coronavirus economic downturn that weve seen and will see for some time. So, this is good legislation for all these reasons. Theres also been an analysis done recently about what happens if you dont fix these parks and the parks arent able to open. There is a 41 billion economic benefit for communities around the parks. Thats 41 billion a year. Think about that. It supports more than 340,000 jobs. These are not jobs in the park itself but surrounding. This is the restaurants, hotel, the outfitters and so on. Our National Parks are not only a great way for us to help create more jobs with regard to the infrastructure needs that are overwhelming with good stewardship, not expanding again one acre, but just taking better care of what we have, but its also an opportunity for us to help our economy, to help ensure that we are putting people back to work in goodpaying jobs, and help ensure that taxpayers arent going to foot an even higher bill by not taking care of that leaky roof that causes the mold on the wall that causes the floor to couple. Were going to get this started. Will there be a need for more funding . Absolutely. Some of the ideas i talked to my colleagues about how to find additional funding, im all ears. Ive done it. Ive raised the fees in the legislation. I have looked it the private sector, and we brought in over 150 million of private sector money. But this 6. 5 billion, which is the amount in this legislation to deal with the highest priority Infrastructure Projects at our parks is absolutely essential. Lets not wait any longer. Lets get this done now and ensure we can continue to enjoy not just the beauty and history of our National Parks but also those economic benefits i talked about and do so for generations to come. I yield back. The presiding officer the senator from louisiana. Scas. Mr. Cassidy it seems clear this body is poised to pass the Great Outdoors act, sending a final message to the American People that the senate cares more about parks than it does about people. Madam president , let me just say a couple things first. My colleague just said this is paid for. I almost burst out laughing. Its paid for by taking dollars currently obligated to go to the United States treasury and shuffling them over. Thats paid for like im going to take money thats going for groceries and instead im going to pay for the movie theater. Were going to take money spent on essentials and spend it on something which is wonderful. But no one says its essential. And i say that one only must need to follow the money, to follow the money to see that the senate cares more about parks than it does about people. The Great American outdoors act will spend billions on deferred maintenance, broken toilets, leaky roofs, et cetera, in National Parks, but in fact 60 of this money is going to seven states. The land and Water Conservation spend shows 7. 53 on coastal states and is spoken of as an economic tool raising 40 billionsomething for the communities in which the investment is made which tells you why the senators from these seven states are the cosponsors of the bill. Who wouldnt want 40 billion in Economic Activity at the expense of be everybody else . But who is it at the expense of . Madam president , 42 of americans live in parishes or counties in coastal United States. 85 of americans live in those coastal states. And zero percent of this money is going to address coastal resiliency. Areas increasingly threatened by rising sea levels and flooding. Lives being lost, communities being upended by catastrophic flood events such as hurricanes can cause. Ive seen it in my state of louisiana. Weve seen it on the news. We should be painfully aware at this point about the devastation hurricanes and other flooding disasters can have in our society. So the Great American outdoors act spends billions on where people vacation but absolutely nothing on where people live. Now, madam president , ive been vocal in my opposition to the bill in its current form, and the reasons for that opposition have been misconstrued. So let me please now clarify. I heard one senator say that i wanted money for gulf states. Yes i do want money for gulf states. Louisiana has been the hardest hit by coastal erosion. By the way, 90 of the funding for the Great American outdoors act comes from Energy Production off the gulf coast. But i want funding for all coastal states. Louisianas wetlands are eroding into the gulf at the rate of one football field per hour. But were not alone. Go to Barrier Islands on the eastern coast. Go to alaska and see the communities that are dissolving into the ocean. Miami Property Values are falling as the Atlantic Ocean rises, threatening with greater flooding, causing rising insurance rates and causing lower Property Values. Thats miami beach. Sea island, georgia, cape fear, North Carolina, rhode island, maine, you name it, each has water coming higher than it ever has. Wouldnt it have been great that as these bills passed out of the committee together a coastal resiliency piece of legislation would have been added to the Great American outdoors act. But the people, 42 of americans who live on the beach, live in a coastal or parish or county and 85 who live in a coastal state, they are waiting for some help to come later. Now that said, some have said im against giving any money to the National Parks. Nothing further from the truth. Ive stated before from this very desk from speeches on this issue that i believe that National Parks are a vital part of the american experience. Just as one of my colleagues said, they provide opportunities for americans to experience the natural environment, learn about our nations history. I would vote happily for the Great Americans outdoors act, giving it billions if only we would spend at least a little bit, maybe a dime on coastal resiliency for where people live. Im not against parks. Im just against parks over people. Now as people misstated my opposition, they correctly stated the reason they do not wish to include my language to provide protection coastal resiliency for the parishes and counties where people live. This is the one true thing, folks are afraid that if the coastal resiliency legislation is included, that the bill would not pass. For some it would be perceived as encouraging offshore drilling. That would raise issues of climate change. And again, that it would not pass. Well, there are several responses. First, if you dont try, you fail. Henry ford said whether you say that you can or you say you cannot, youre correct. Such is the case with this bill. If people say we cannot include legislation for coastal resiliency to protect parishes and counties where 42 of americans live, we cant do so because it would not be included in the first place. Secondly, it was said that the Great American outdoors act is based on revenue from offshore drilling, and, therefore, folks would not vote for it. And again, one of those things that you have to almost laugh at because if people really think that, its either the epitome of hypocrisy or it just shows gross ignorance. The Great American outdoors act is funded with revenue from offshore oil and Gas Production. So for someone to say that no, folks wont vote for a coastal resiliency bill because it relies upon offshore oil and gas revenue, but theyre going to support the Great American outdoors act which relies on offshore oil and gas revenue to pay for it, again, you just have to laugh. Its either hypocrisy or its gross ignorance. I actually think its just not true. That the real reason that this bill is not included, that the coastal, the resiliency bill is not included is that folks are afraid if its included it would not pass. Now one of my colleagues who agrees with me on this issue said that, its kind of like being in a lifeboat and you say were in, pull up the ladder. Once weve got this legislation in a form, madam president , once it was in a form that it would pass, the folks who wanted it to pass, who disproportionately their states benefit from this, that they will recognize and realize the economic development, they said lets pull up the ladder. We dont care about coastal resiliency enough that we are going to actually include, were going to actually include legislation that would support it financially. So they had their money, they achieved their objective. The heck with those at risk for rising sea levels. The heck with those 85 of people who live in coastal states. The 42 who live in a coastal parish or county. We will get our bathrooms fixed, the potholes done. Come visit us. Youll absolutely need to because in the meantime you will be flooding. So the idea of getting your funding and your bill in place, youre on the life raft and then pulling up the ladder, brought to mind this middle this ima. Here you see folks being pulled up a ladder. Hurricane katrina, the wetlands south of new orleans had eroded into the ocean when katrina hit, it was almost a straight shot to those levees. And such a straight shot eventually they collapsed. Mr. President , because they collapsed, we had flooding in new orleans. There you see a truck almost completely submerged. There you see somebody who broke through their roof so that they could get on top of their roof so that they could be rescued. And they are being pulled up. Because the people who wrote this bill said no, if we include the coastal resiliency, our bill wont pass, so, therefore, were not going to try. Because they said, by golly, were in the life raft, pull up the ladder, there will be many more americans pulled up a ladder. But they but they will be pulled up a ladder by the coast guard to rescue them from a rooftop because of rising sea levels induce flooding and hurricanes in their hometown. And i would like to say that that would be a rare event. Weve seen it in increasingly, though, and again since more and more americans live in coastal parishes and counties, this will become a bigger and bigger issue. So this photo seems appropriate. Folks didnt want to try fearing that caring for americans helping to prevent an incident such as this would imperil fixing potholes in National Parks located in disproportionately seven states and again because of that we will have more scenes like this. More deaths, more devastations, more lives in turmoil, and billions upon billions spent in Disaster Relief because this body refused to invest in coastal resiliency. If there was ever a case of a stitch in time could save nine, it is this. Again, folks, what could you do for coastal resiliency . Im speak of terrebonne pair yirk, south of louisiana, borders new mexico. They put in a flood wall, 10,000 homes that would have been flooded, maybe a billion or two in Disaster Relief. No flooding occurred because of an investment in coastal resiliency. Now, we can do it if we try. But if we say were not going to, were in the life raft. Pull up the ladder. We have our money. Potholes will be fixed in our home state. In the meantime if youre in a coastal state or county, well be there afterwards to give you money through fema but we wont be there beforehand to keep you from flooding in the first place. And this is what happens when you put parks over people. Perhaps the senate should reverse this and put people over parks. Now, i said at the outset Great American outdoors act is going to pass. I see it. Theyve done their work. Its going to pass. And i will just go home tonight frustrated thinking of this picture and how many more we have. But if the sponsors of this bill who have been all about well be with you next time are truly, truly, truly wanting to prevent another incident like this, then maybe theyll join my Bipartisan Coalition arve indicating for advocting for either a coastal amendment in the future and show that they are as willing to fight as hard to save lives of those who live on our coastline as they are to secure funding to fix broken toilets and potholes and leaky roofs. Mr. President , i yield the floor. A senator mr. President . The presiding officer the senator from West Virginia. Mr. Manchin mr. President , today well have a series of votes on the Great American outdoors act including adopting including to adopt the substitute. 60 of my Senate Colleagues have cosponsored this bill and 20 more joined us last week resulting in strong bipartisan votes to begin consideration of the bill. These votes today will put us within one vote of passing the important bipartisan legislation. Over the last week many of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle have taken to the floor to talk about how the Great American outdoors act will benefit the entire country and to share examples of how their home states have been positively impacted already by the land and Water Conservation fund. It is a testament to the importance of this historic conservation legislation that it has brought so many of us together in such a toxic atmosphere. But thats the beauty of our nations Great Outdoors. It brings us all together of all walk, shapes, political preferences. Makes no difference, we all love the outdoors and it is available for everyone to enjoy in any number of ways, whether that be hunting, hiking, fishing, biking, and just simply soaking in nature. The land and Water Conservation fund has been responsible for helping to acquire many of our nations most iconic scenic lands and to provide wonderful Outdoor Recreation opportunities, but its important to remember that its always used in many ways that provide an economic boost to our states and counties, whether that be through the lwcf grant allowing Community Spaces to be built like the 47 community pools, the lwcf supported across my beautiful state of West Virginia or a baseball field in clrd. A recent analysis from Boston University shows full funding of 900 million annually, the lwcf could support approximately 15 to 28,000 jobs at a time when our country needs it most. The land and Water Conservation fund is a major contributor to the rapidly growing Outdoor Recreation economy. According to the most recent information provided by and by the bureau of economic analysis, the u. S. Outdoor recreation economy accounts for 2. 2 of the 427 billion of our nations gross domestic product. Likewise the Outdoor Industry association has calculated that the Outdoor Recreation economy generates almost 890 million in annual Consumer Spending and supports over 7. 6 7. 6 million jobs. The land and Water Conservation fund has been able to do wonderful things with the funds that have been appropriated to date. Even though those appropriations in recent years have only averaged about half of the authorized funding level. And in previous years were even less than that. Just imagine what we can achieve for our country with full lwcf funding of 900 million per year as the Great American outdoors act local provide. We need to secure this funding because since the land and Water Conservation fund was established, 55 years ago and despite the fact that every state, every territory, and almost every county in this country has benefited from the lwcf, it has only been fully funded twice. I say only fully funded twice in 55 years. Passing permanent lwcf authorization last year was an important step but securing a permanent dedicated Funding Source for the conservation programs funded by the lwcf is the ultimate goal. I would be remiles an hour not to acknowledge that many Democratic Senators and maybes members of the house both retired and here today who have been champions for lwcf helping to pave the way to where we are today. Within striking distance of realizing the goal of permanent mandatory funding. And im incredibly proud as Ranking Member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources committee as a sponsor of the lwcf permanent funding act and the lead democrat on this bill to be in good coal of 43 of my company of 43 of my democratic colleagues who signed on to this legislation. As a member of the Appropriations Committee as well, i have heard the concernses that this bill side steps the ability of the committee to oversee lwcf expenditures. I want to take a moment to clarify that this isnt the case. The Great American outdoors act remains and retains congressional oversight and involvement in determining how the mandatory funding is allocated. To quote from the bill, appropriations act may provide for alternative allocations of amounts made available including allocations by account, program, and project. There is a similar language for deferred maintenance spending. The Great American outdoors act is necessary, however, to ensure that the full 900 million each year authorized for the land and Water Conservation fund must be spent so we dont end up with whats happened in the past 50 years where over 21 billion has been deposited into the land and Water Conservation fund but not used for lwcf purposes. And never will be. Well never see that. Its into the treasury. Similarly, the Great American outdoors act takes the necessary step of putting 9. 5 billion towards deferred maifnts nantz project maintenance project on federal lands with 70 of that amount dedicated for our National Parks. This legislation will be the most significant reduction ever in eliminating a major portion of deferred maintenance backlog on our National Parks and public lands. The impact of failing to Fund Maintenance for so long is clear to see for the hundreds of millions of visitors to our public lands each year. Including deteriorating historic buildings, failing Water Treatment facilities at yosemite and grand canyon, Public Access roads in our National Parks and Forest Industry in disrepair, unsafe employee housing. We need to do better taking care of these very, very special places. The Infrastructure Projects that will be funded through this bill are critical to protecting many of our National Treasures and like the lwcf funding, will provide a significant benefit to the Outdoor Recreation economy. The Great American outdoors act will help us to be good stewards of our public lands while at the same time creating thousands of new jobs. Its a bipartisan winwin. At the end of the day, this is an opportunity for us to pass down a legacy to our kids, to our grandkids, and generations to come. I believe this will be the most impactful nationwide conservation legislation since the land and Water Conservation fund was first created over 50 years ago. And 50 years from now i know that this body will be remembered for getting this bill across the finish line. We have broad bipartisan support with 60 senators signing on which is representative of how important these bills are to every state. We have support from the administration and unwavering support from over 900 conservation and sportsmen groups throughout the nation. And i know that all my that not all my colleagues can support this bill and others would have liked to have seen their priorities added. I would also like to mention as its been portrayed by some that were doing one instead of the other. Were taking care of recreation and outdoors while there might be coastal deterioration and were concerned about that but i want you to know since theres been offshore drilling, a tremendous amount of those resources have gone to the four coastal states of mississippi, alabama, louisiana, and texas. Louisiana is the only state that has used all of their funds for coastal restoration. I applaud them for that. I know how costly that is and how costly it will be. We will help in any way we possibly can. But its not either or. Its not that were getting this and theyre being punished for something else. Thats not the case whatsoever. Were finally getting the funds that were basically dedicated 55 years ago that never did go to lwcf, land and Water Conservation fund. We have over 900 billion in our park system that needs to be repaired. And were using these funds in the most prudent possible way we can. And we would hope that everyone would look at it in the most positive way, pass something that we can all look back on, and be very, very proud. I know that my commitment to you as the Ranking Member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources committee is to work with senators on their priorities. It always has been and always will be. No matter what party affiliation, the democrats and republicans, when youre in a position of being a Ranking Member or being chairman of that committee, you work with all of the committee members. And its helping to ensure consideration of those bills in committee on the senate floor. What we saw last week and i anticipate well see again today is a shining example of democrats and republicans coming together to put politics aside, to do what is best for conserving the Natural Resources of this great nation. So i urge all of my colleagues to join me in voting yes on each of the three votes tonight. Theyre all very, very important. Getting us closer to final passage of the Great American outdoors act. With that i yield the floor, mr. President. A senator mr. President . The presiding officer the senator from wyoming. Mr. Enzi mr. President , i rise to speak on the Great American outdoors act and the fact that this legislation will add over 17 billion to our deficit over the next ten years. When i first rose to speak on this bill and my amendment to it, i closed by saying that if we could not pay for even a portion of this bill, then we were in worse trouble than i thought. Sadly i rise today knowing that we apparently want such trouble. During this fiscal year, we have already run up a deficit of one and ninetenths trillion dollars, more than twice the size of the deficit we ran the same time last year. We also added two and four tenths trillion to our debt as the nation necessarily responded to the coronavirus pandemic. For the past two years, ive been working on and consistently suggesting a way to responsibly pay for deferred maintenance at our National Parks. I love our National Parks and have fawn memories of visiting our first National Park yellowstone and many other parks when i was younger and still today. Thats why i offered my amendment that would have created a paidfor Legacy Restoration fund that would ensure permanently dedicated revenue no our parks, for their maintenance needs. For the longest time i was told that my spending concerns would be addressed when the bill moved out of committee. When the bill moved to the floor, i asked to get my amendment included in the substitute or receive a vote. It was not included nor did we receive a vote. So here we are today asking future generations to pay for what we are not even willing to consider paying for when we could have responsibly funded the maintenance provisions. We wont even consider my amendment that would add a modest charge to foreign visitors as part of their visa fee to help address this issue, and thats revenue that will be lost forever from the tourists because we can only collect the fee when they buy a visa. The revenues cant be collected retroactively. If we wont pay for a part of the bill, what will we pay for . Congress must stop with gimmick spending where we attempt to spend the same money twice. Thats what this bill does. If we keep adding new mandatory spending without adding new revenue, congress will be forced at some point to eliminate mandatory spending or get new funding streams that survive well into the future. Mandatory spending is the portion of our bill that will be covered by this that we will not vote on, we will not take a look at again. They say yes, there will be oversight. Not on whether we spend it or not, not on where the money comes from. There is not another opportunity on that therefore, i oppose this legislation and oppose adding to the already massive debt burden being placed on future generations and increase in mandatory spending. When a solution charging foreigners is available. Mr. President , the pending amendment number 1617 would violate the senate paygo rule by increasing the onbudget deficit. Therefore, i raise a point of order against this measure. Pursuant to section 4106a of h. Con. Res. 71, the concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 28. I yield the floor. The presiding officer the senator from colorado. Mr. Gardner thank you, mr. President. Pursuant to section 904 of the Congressional Budget Office congressional budget act of 1974 and the waiver provisions of alickable budget resolutions, i move to waive all applicable sections of the act for purposes of amendment 1617, and i ask for the yeas and nays. The presiding officer is there a sufficient second . There appears to be so. The yeas and nays are ordered. The senator from colorado. Mr. Gardner thank you, mr. President. Just to talk a little bit about how this bill is funded. Again, legislation relying on the use of the oil and gas revenues from both onshore and offshore for other parts of the bill, thats the tradition of the legislation since its passage in 1965, 55 years ago, since we have had the land and Water Conservation fund, and of course the new restore our parks act provisions that relies on these revenues as well. And just to give you kind of a runthrough and thanks to my colleague, senator alexander, for really pointing this out and highlighting how this funding works. Just to give you an example of how this would have proceeded in 2019, the total revenues generated from the revenues that the federal government receives from that, this gives i think a good example of how this works. The revenue generated from oil and Gas Production on federal land in fiscal year 2019 totaled about 11. 6 billion. Of that, 2. 4 billion went to the states. So first out the gate was the 2. 4 billion. Now, this may change from year to year, but the formula distribution is the same. 2. 4 billion of that went to the states. Another 1 billion went to tribal entities. Another 1. 7 billion went to the reclamation fund. First the money comes to the treasury, then it goes out to the tribal, then to the are reclamation fund, then a billion dollars goes to the land and Water Conservation fund. What happens to the land and Water Conservation fund, though, is Congress Appropriates in this last year 495 million, and the rest of the money gets siphoned off and it goes somewhere else. Then 150 million to the Historic Preservation fund. Thats a total of 5. 25 billion in 2019 for this distribution. That leaves about 5. 35 billion that goes directly to the treasury. And so these dollars then that were using help fund the restore our parks act to catch up with deferred maintenance. And i think our colleague, senator portman, has done an outstanding job in explaining that that deferred maintenance is also considered debt. So we are actually using these dollars that go to treasury, then distributed out that were collecting from oil and gas revenues into the debt and the deferred maintenance projects at National Park across the country. In colorado, gosh, its 8 5 million for Rocky Mountain National Park, 75 mld for mesa verde, 7 million for the gunnison National Park, dinosaur. The list goes on and on. Thats not even including the forest service, the b. L. M. Lands and other efforts. Thats how this revenue would work. I also wanted to point out again to my colleagues some of which may have heard this before and some may not have. On june today, june 15, 2020, we received a letter, a letter that was written to senator mcconnell, senator schumer, speaker pelosi, and leader mccarthy, a letter written from teddy roosevelt, iv. This is the great grandson of president teddy roosevelt. He begins his letter, and ill read it here. From east to west, americas home to incredible lands, water, and cultural resources. Now more than ever we are relying on our public lands to get outdoors, to connect with the world, to support jobs and strengthen our communities. In this time of uncertainty, we have been given a once in a lifetime opportunity to protect our public lands and waters for all generations to come. I write to you today to urge swift passage and enactment of the Great American outdoors act, legislation that will provide muchneeded support to the outdoor places we all depend on. This bill will fully and permanently fund the land and Water Conservation fund, our nations most important conservation program, to ensure protection and increased access to our public lands in every state and county in america. Additionally, the Great American outdoors act will fund priority repairs in our National Parks and other public lands to address an evergrowing backlog of maintenance needs. The letter goes on and talks about the principles of president roosevelt and the public lands protections that this Congress Continues to build upon, standing on the shoulders of those generations past so that we can preserve and protect our environment for generations to come. I know its been said by some of the opposition to the legislation that things like there is no people that live in the areas where the land and Water Conservation fund or the restore our parks help acts, that this goes to protect states that apparently dont have enough people to merit it. Look, every state in the union has benefited from legislation covered by the Great American outdoors act. Every county, nearly every county across the country has benefited from programs within the Great American outdoors act. Its not just National Parks. My town in colorado, Eastern Plains, is about 40 miles away from the kansasnebraska border. We dont have a National Park in our county. Its several hours away to get to Rocky Mountain National Park, but even that little town that i live in, in that little tiny county in the Eastern Plains of colorado has benefited from the land and Water Conservation fund. Whether it is decades ago the purchase of water rights that went along with a reservoir called Bonnie Reservoir on the Eastern Plains to help protect those water rights or recreation opportunity for youth. This is a farming community. We live in the high plains. There is no mountains around us, there is no ski areas around us. And yet, this has helped us, too, because it helps all america. It helps corner to corner across this great nation. So tonight were going to be given a choice and a chance to vote on three different efforts. I hope my colleagues will join me in waiving the budget point of order, as i have laid out in my objection and in my request for a waiver. I hope my colleagues will join me in the next votes following that, one of which will require a simple majority, one of which will require yet again a 60vote threshold. This is an opportunity for us to Work Together on a bipartisan basis. The house, senate, republicans and democrats, coming together with the white house that has announced their support. The president announced his support for this legislation several months ago, to come together to do something that we can build upon for this country, the greatest ideas this country has ever put forward. Our public lands, our public places, the most special spaces in america. In colorado and wyoming and louisiana, california, new mexico, in every state, we see dollars coming in and jobs being created because of this legislation, the land that this legislation represents and the policies that this legislation will cover. Its estimated that this legislation will create nearly 100,000 jobs, over 100,000 jobs quite frankly just in the National Park section alone. And the way the economy is right now, every one of those jobs matters greatly. For every 1 million that is spent in the land and Water Conservation fund, it supports nearly 16 to 30 jobs for every million dollars, it supports nearly 16 to 30 jobs. I think one of the most important factors in sort of the jobs analysis is where were at as a country with the economic crisis we face. When the coronavirus came into colorado, that first wave, that initial step hit our western slope communities the hardest. We had a lot of International Visitors coming to ski in the best skiing areas in the country. You had a lot of travelers from the front range coming up to enjoy the weekend. And it created some big challenges from covid19 in those communities as a result. Some of those counties have some of those towns have 20 , 22 , 23 unemployment in the immediate aftermath of the pandemic and the consequent shutdowns of restaurants and hotels. Ski areas were shut down a couple of months earlier than they ordinarily would. Of course it didnt just impact the winter ski season and the winter recreation season. It impacted the Summer Recreation season. Outfitters who had their trips canceled, who had reservations yanked because you couldnt travel, couldnt go out, decided it wouldnt be right to stay at a hotel or maybe the hotel was closed they were planning to stay in. They were out camping, the parks were closed as well. I think that became one of the reasons why this legislation is so important, too, is its not just about the resource itself, its not just about protecting the public lands. Its about the jobs that can be created in these planned communities that were hit hardest and first by that initial wave of coronavirus. And so all the more reason i think that i hope my colleagues will join me in voting to waive the budget point of order as well as the motions that the procedural votes that we will have this evening and eventual passage of the legislation itself, the Great American outdoors act, which most likely will occur sometime wednesday morning, maybe around noon or so. So im grateful for the support of people like teddy roosevelt, great grandson of president roosevelt. Im grateful for the support of my colleagues, the work that senator heinrich and manchin and cantwell and king and warner have been so diligent in across these past several months as this legislation moves its way to passage. Of richard burr who has just been an incredible stalwart and champion of land and Water Conservation fund. To thank senator alexander for his work. But it goes to show you this didnt happen alone, it didnt happen in a vacuum, it didnt happen because one person or one party decided to get behind it. It happened because of a group effort and people in both chambers at the white house to support it. Today the chamber of commerce reiterated their support. The United States chamber of commerce reiterated their support for this legislation. The American Petroleum institute supports this legislation. Countless environmental and conservation organizations support this legislation. 850plus groups support this legislation. So we have an opportunity to do something good for our country, to do something good for future generations. And with that, mr. President , i would yield the floor. The presiding officer under the previous order, all postcloture time has expired. The question is on the motion to waive the budget act. The yeas and nays are previously ordered. The clerk will call the roll. Vote vote vote the presiding officer has any senator not voted . Does any senator wish to change their vote . On this vote, the yeas are 68, the nays are 30. Threefifths of the senators duly chosen and sworn having voted in the affirmative, the motion is agreed to, and the point of order fails. Mr. Mcconnell mr. President . The presiding officer majority is recognized. Mr. Mcconnell i move to table amendment 1628. The presiding officer question is on the motion. All those in favor, say aye. Those opposed, say no. The ayes appear to have it. They do have it. The motion is agreed to. Mr. Mcconnell i notify table amendment number 1626. The presiding officer question is on the motion. All those in favor, say aye. Those opposed, say no. The ayes appear to have it. The ayes do have it. The motion is agreed to. The question occurs on the substitute amendment 1617. The yeas and nays are previous ordered. The clerk will call the roll. Vote vote vote the presiding officer are there any senators wishing to change their vote . Are there any senators wishing to vote or change their vote . If not, the yeas are 73, the nays are 24, and the amendment is agreed to. The clerk will report the motion to invoke cloture. The clerk cloture motion. We, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, do hereby move to bring to a close debate on calendar number 75, h. R. 1957, an act to amend the Internal Revenue code of 1986, and so forth and for other purposes, signed by 17 senators. The presiding officer by unanimous consent, the mandatory quorum call has been waived. The question is, is it the sense of the senate that the debate on 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, shall be brought to a close. The yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule. The clerk will call the roll. Vote vote vote the presiding officer on this vote the yeas are 75, the nays are 23. Threefifths of the senators duly chosen and sworn not having voted in the affirmative, having voted in the affirmative, the motion is agreed to. Mr. Gardner mr. President. The presiding officer the senator from colorado. Mr. Gardner mr. President , i ask unanimous consent that the senate be in ad period of morning business with senators permitted to speak therein for up to ten minutes each. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Gardner i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of calendar number 462, s. 712. The presiding officer the clerk will report. The clerk calendar number 462, s. 712, a bill to provide assistance for United States citizens and nationals taken hostage unlawfully or wrongfully detained abroad or for other purposes. The presiding officer is there objection to proceeding to the measure . Without objection. Mr. Gardner i ask unanimous consent that the committeereported substitute amendment be agreed to, the bill as amended be considered read a third time and passed, the committeereported title amendment be agreed to, and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Gardner i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to the consideration of s. Res. 619 submitted earlier today. The presiding officer the clerk will report. The clerk Senate Resolution 619, to provide for the printing of the Senate Manual for the 116th congress. The presiding officer is there objection to proceeding to the measure . Without objection. Mr. Gardner i ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Gardner i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the consideration of Senate Resolution 620 submitted earlier today. The presiding officer the clerk will report. The clerk Senate Resolution 620 designating june 19, 2020, as juneteenth Independence Day in recognition of june 19, 1865 the date on which the news of the end of slavery reached the slaves in southwestern states. The presiding officer is there objection to proceeding to the measure . Without objection. Mr. Gardner i ask unanimous consent thing resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to and the motions to reconsider be considered and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Gardner i ask unanimous consent that when the Senate Adjourn it resume again on tuesday, 10 a. M. The journal of proceedings be deemed expired, the morning hour deemed expired, the time for the leaders be reserved and morning business be closed. Following leader remarks the senate resume consideration of calendar number 75, h. R. 1957. Further, the Senate Recess from 12 30 until 2 15 p. M. For the Weekly Conference meetings. Finally that all time during adjournment, leader remarks and recess count postcloture on h. R. 1957. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Gardner if there is no further business to come before the senate i ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order. The presiding officer the the presiding officer the senators today working on a public lands package that would permanently fund the land and Water Conservation funds. While establishing a fund for maintenance of National Parks and other public lands. A final vote is expected this week. Follow live Senate Coverage here on cspan2. Tonight, it is a hearing on the Pandemic Response and Education Funding and whether cuts may be necessary. The House Education Committee looked into that earlier today. Watch the hearing tonight at 8 30 p. M. Eastern here on cspan2. Tonight, on the communicators, federal Communications Commission or, michael o reilly. I think everyone is faced with difficult circumstances from the covid19 pandemic. The Communications Network as a whole seems to be Holding Quite well. I dont like to promise anything or congratulate anybody too early, we will have to see if things hold. Im pretty impressed with where things are now. In terms of some iconic connect to video issues and more of the work from home issues, certainly in conference is being done through this medium is more likely to increase over time. I would not say its the new normal but its more this way more than returning fully. Tonight on the communicators on cspan2. With the federal government at work in d. C. And throughout the country, use the congressional directive for Contact Information for members of congress, governors, and federal agencies. Order your copy online today and cspan store. Org. Now, we take you back to the start of todays senate session. Both the republican and Democratic Leaders spoke about the pandemic and police reform. Senator schumer also talked about todays Supreme Court decision regarding employment discrimination against lgbtq citizens. Heres what they had to say. The majority leader stomach three months ago the first states were implementing stayathome orders as the new Coronavirus Spread throughout our country. Three months ago, george floyd was still alive in the killing of Breonna Taylor in louisville had just begun to reignite the National Discussion around policing. Our country has confronted but feels like several years worth of a people interest three months. Small businesses and Childcare Centers are trying to figure out how to safely reopen. Schools and universities are trying to plan for the fall. Healthcare professionals and essential workers are continuing to me in their post, help strangers, keep our country going. Peaceful protesters have continued to express outrage over the killings of black americans and our Nations Police officers. Overwhelmingly good, decent, and brave people who put everything on their outline for their neighbors have continued to faithfully serve under trying circumstances. These are the kinds of challenges our nation should meet with unity, like when the senate roads and the cares act unanimously in march. But unfortunately, in some corners of the country our nation Strategic Reserve of sanity appears to have run a little low. We have seen peaceful protest hijacked by violent riots. Apparently rioters. The best way to argue against a Strong Police force was to terrorize innocent people and Small Businesses for nights on end. Then, completing the absurd cycle we have seen the far left hold up the rights as proof we should defund or disband the police in this country as though the met bass majority of americans would not interpret the anarchy in precisely the opposite way. As i noted last week, we have seen some big city mayors use Health Restrictions to construct constitutionally dubious double standards where master protests are blessed and encourage but strong, careful, Church Services are still bands. In seattle, we have seen the local officials siege several square blocks to a ragtag band of demonstrators that called themselves the capitol hill autonomous zone. Three of the far left have you literally called the local officials to let a chunk of their own city dip would solve into a no go zone for their own cops. Naturally, no left Media Outlets have been click to show praise on this ludicrously. And slow to amplify reports of arson and other and unchecked crime spirit one story from New York Times praise to quote liberated streets. Liberated as an spray painting . Aborted a business where the equivalents of the Normandy Landings . Now i missed all of this mr. President , are democratic counterparts over the house of representatives i mostly continue to keep their doors locked on their lights on. But here in the senate we came back in session over a month ago. We have taken smart precautions but we have not let the peoples business come to a halt. Our committees have been overseen the cares act and working on other essential business like the National Defense authorization act. Our colleagues are considering what else might help the country reopen like strong Legal Protections for schools, colleges and employers and healthcare workers. Under the leadership of senator tim scott come our confidences a serious proposal to inform Law Enforcement instead smart ways without lashing out needlessly and counterproductively at the First Responders who are credit to their communities. And just this week on the floor we will complete said major piece of legislation that will benefit generations to come. Thanks to a number of our colleagues particularly junior senators from colorado and montana, the senate is poised to take a strike action for the future of the nations public lands. I havent been the only one coming for to the florida about mike National Parks. Wildlife refuge and others for recreation. And for many livelihoods. We kentuckians are proud that our commonwealth is home to one of the National Park Service County jewels, at mammoth cave. We are proud of our historic lake mills springs battlefield and are wildlife refugees at the clarks and green rivers. And i am proud that the senate this week will provide permanent study support to maintain his treasures for generations to come. As we have heard, the same is true for colorado where entire regional economies are driven by Outdoor Recreation and alpine wonderland spirit and for montana where federal and state management work handinhand with local sportsmen and native american tribes to preserve millions of acres of pristine big sky wilderness. And for West Virginia where 54 of 55 counties have benefited from the land and Water Conservation fund investment. For ohio read the valley put parkland in the backyards of millions of people. The list goes on and on. Publicly until the unique place in the life of every state in america. From their Natural Beauty to their use of recreation to their pivotal roles in local economies. In the Communities Just outside the gates, public lands will thrive in 40 lien dollars of Economic Activity every year and they play a big part in the entire Outdoor Recreation industry that creates hundreds of billions of dollars in National Prosperity. Every year. So, once again im grateful for our colleagues who stewarded the Great American outdoors act thus far. Senator gardner and senator daines. For their leadership, to senators alexander, and worn for their efforts as well, to