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

The u. S. Senate is about to gavel in. They are going to work on a judicial nomination with a confirmation vote scheduled for 5 30 for 5 30 p. M. Eastern. Republicans leader Mitch Mcconnell may introduce the republican covid19 recovery plan. Live now to the senate floor. The president pro tempore the senate will come to order. The chaplain, dr. Black, will open the senate in prayer. The chaplain let us pray. Eternal lord god, we again thank you for the life and legacy of representative john robert lewis. Lord, accept our gratitude for his ethical congruence that motivated him to find a moral way to get in the way. Were grateful that his passion for freedom summoned our nation to embrace our best hopes and not our worst fears. Inspired by his exemplary pilgrimage, may our lawmakers strive to live with such integrity that they will stand on the right side of history. Lord, help our senators to strive to see you more clearly, to love you more dearly, and to follow you more nearly day by day. We pray in your sovereign name. Amen. The president pro tempore will you please join in the pledge of allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of america, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. The presiding officer the senator from iowa. Mr. Grassley one minute for morning business, please. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Grassley former Vice President biden and nowminority leader schumer have indicated a willingness to end the socalled filibuster if Democrats Gain a majority in the United States senate after this years election. Meanwhile, Democrats Use the same rule to prevent even taking up senator scotts very thoughtful Police Reform legislation. The rule in question is the cloture rule which brings debate and amendments to a close so we can finally get to finality of a bill. What democrats blocked was ending debate on proceeding to Police Reform and start considering of any amendments that wanted to be offered. But it would have taken yet another cloture vote to get to final passage. The cloture rule ensures that no Police Reform bill could be passed by the United States Senate Unless at least 60 senators were satisfied with the outcome of the amendment process. In other words, it guarantees that concerns of the minority party, whether that be republican or democrat, would have to be addressed. So there was no excuse for preventing the senate from even beginning legislating process on this extremely important and timely issue of Police Reform. There is also no excuse for democrats who have claimed to oppose the 60vote requirement to cut off debate on principle when they were last in the majority. Who then immediately began using cloture to block bills that had majority support when they lost the majority and who still continue to use cloture to block progress on important issues today. But who now fully admit that they will change the senate institution, the protection for the minority, if it suits their partisan purpose in the future. I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call the presiding officer the majority leader. Mr. Mcconnell today as we speak the presiding officer were in a quorum call. Mr. Mcconnell i ask that further proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed with. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Mcconnell today as we speak, the United States congress confers a rare and high honor on a National Hero who richly deserves it. Our distinguished late colleague, congressman john lewis, is lying in state in the rotunda. I had the honor to speak at this afternoons ceremony. How amazing to reflect on johns incredible american life. It began deep in the segregated south, ran through lunch counters in nashville, jail cells in mississippi, across the Edmund Pettus bridge, up the steps of the lincoln memorial, and brought him to the halls of congress. He made heroic contributions to our nations march toward racial justice. He also brought an unforgettable example of moral urgency, respect, and love to washington that left an impact on everyone he met. His example will be missed here in the capitol. He will be remembered forever by a grateful nation. Because as far as im concerned, it is not really the rest of us in congress who are conveying an honor upon john lewis today, not this time. Rather, it is john who is bringing greater honor to us, to this capitol, with his presence one final time. Now, on a totally different matter, covid19 has killed nearly 150,000 americans. It has caused mass layoffs on a historic scale. And left 17 Million People out of work. It has thrown the lives and the trajectories of our nations children and young adults into uncertainty. Our nation stands now at an important crossroads in this battle. American families historic sacrifices brought our medical system through the springtime intact. The very early stages of our economic recovery have been promising, and our nation needs to continue to proceed with a smart and safe reopening. At the same time, the virus is stay with us. It is still the virus is still with us, it is still spreading, and it does not care about our fragile economic progress or our frustration with prescriptions or anything else besides infecting as many people as possible. So we have one foot in the pandemic and one foot in the recovery. The American People need more help. They need it to be comprehensive, and they need it to be carefully tailored to this crossroads. That is what this Senate Majority has assembled, and that is what chairman alexander, blunt, collins, graham, grassley, rubio, and shelby and senators cornyn and romney are introducing today. They will be coming to the floor shotly shortly to introduce their components. Together their bills make up the heals act thats health, economic assistance, liability protection, and schools. Thats health, economic assistance, liability protection, and schools. Just like in march with the cares act, Senate Republicans have authored another bold framework to help our nation. So now we need our democratic colleagues to reprise their part as well. They need to put aside the partisan stonewalling we saw in Police Reform, rediscover the spirit of urgency that got the cares act across the finish line, and quickly join us around the negotiating table. It will take bipartisan cooperation to make the heals act into law for the American People. The senate will not waste time with pointless partisanship. There is a reason why even Speaker Pelosi and leader schumer themselves have publicly dunnplayed the multi downplayed the multitrilliondollar socialist manifesto they published some weeks back and have suggested the real serious discussion would begin when republicans released our outline. We have produced a tailored and targeted draft that will cut right to the heart of three distinct crises facing our country getting kids back in school, getting workers back to work, and winning the health care fight against the virus. Kids, jobs, and health care. Kids, jobs, and health care. First, our nations kids. Chairman alexander, blunt, and shelby will be introducing a sweeping package to help schools and universities reopen safely. Were talking about more than 100 billion, more for an Education Fund than House Democrats put aside in a bill that spent multiple trillions. And there are policies to help child care providers and schools have the flexibility they need to function. Second, jobs. Since our nation has one foot in the pandemic and one foot in the recovery, our economic policies have to acknowledge both sides of that coin. Chairman grassley will introduce another round of direct checks for households at the same amount as before, with even more support for families who care for vulnerable adult dependents. Chairman collins and rubio have designed a sequel to their historic p. P. P. To help prevent more layoffs of American Workers. And republicans want to continue a federal supplement to state Unemployment Insurance. In fact, we will propose a weekly dollar amount that is eight times what democrats put in place when they controlled the white house and congress during the great recession. But we intr to do is in a way that does not slow down reopening. Were also going to help this country pivot into recovery. The American People dont just want relief. They want opportunity so long as the reopenings can be safe. So chairman grassley will walk through a strong economic incentives to boost worker retention, get americans rehired, and help Small Businesses buy the p. P. P. , testing, and supplies that will protect employees and customers alike. Senator romney has legislation to help a future congress ensure our Critical National trust funds remain strong. And looking to our longterm jobs future, theres no question this pandemic has america and our allies reexamining our degree of dependence on china. Chairman graham is introducing a package of legislation that will incentivize p. P. P. Manufacturing right here at home. It will ensure that our efforts to rebuild our National Stockpile of protective gear actually benefit American Workers instead of just stimulating china. And it will bring a heightened focus to other key concerns such as the hightech Semi Conductor manufacturing, Critical Minerals, and intellectual property theft so the lessons of this pandemic do not go unlearned. And finally health care. Chairman alexander, grassley, and others have already have already named have legislation to keep america on offense against this virus. Diagnostics, treatments, vaccines. Hospitals and Health Care Workers, protecting seniors who rely on medicare for premium spikes. Our legislation supports all of it at continued historic levels. And tying kids, jobs, and health care all together, senator cornyn has authored strong Legal Liability Protections so that nurses, doctors, charities, school districts, colleges, and employers can spend the next months actually reopening rather than fighting for their lives against frivolous lawsuits. Well preserve accountability in the event of gross negligence or intentional misconduct but were not going to let trial lawyers throw a party on the backs of the frontline workers and institutions who brought who fought this new enemy on the front lines. Health, economic assistance, liability, and schools. Another historic package for the next phase of this Historic National fight. To make a law, bipartisan talks need to come next so theres one big question facing the country right now. Which version of our distinguished democratic colleagues are the American People about to get . Are they going to get the Democratic Party we got in march when our colleagues met in good faith negotiations and worked with us to turn our framework into a bipartisan product . The democrats who helped us pass the largest rescue package in American History without one dissenting vote . Or will the country get the Democratic Party we saw in june when our colleagues refused to suggest amendments or improvements to senator tim scotts Police Reform bill and chose to block the issue altogether. Their actions last month left some observers wondering whether the democrats had made this cynical choice to give up on Bipartisan Legislation altogether right through november. Whrf democrats had determined that strengthen our nation with bipartisan action might hurt their political odds and therefore it might suit their fortunes better if pain and chaos simply continued. I hope thats completely off base, madam president. I know our democratic colleagues know this crisis is still urgent. I know they know American Families need more help. So i hope this strong proposal will occasion a real response, not partisan cheap shots, not the predictable tired, old rhetoric as though these were ordinary times and the nation could afford ordinary politics. We cannot have a Senate Minority decide in june it is done legislating until november. The pandemic is not finished. The economic pain is not finished. So congress cannot be finished either. The presiding officer under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved. Morning business is closed. Under the previous order, the senate will proceed to executive session to resume consideration of the following nomination which the clerk will report. The clerk nomination, the judiciary, William Scott hardy of pennsylvania to be United States district judge for the Western District of pennsylvania. Mr. Mcconnell i suggest the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call quorum call mr. Schumer madam president . The presiding officer the democratic leader. Mr. Schumer a short time ago the presiding officer were in a quorum call. Mr. Schumer i ask unanimous consent the quorum be dispensed with. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Schumer now, a short time ago, a ceremony honoring the life of the great representative john lewis was held in the Capitol Rotunda. The first time in our nations history that an African American lawmaker had laid in state. Last week i shared my reflections on the life and legacy of john lewis here on the floor. In the story of america, john was one of those special whos rose whose moral clarity shone out like a beacon for others to follow. Today, as we honor his extraordinary life here in the capitol, many of us his friends, his colleagues are filled with a deep sense of loss. But i want to share a short message of hope. It seems easy to forget that john was just a teenager when he started the work of redeeming it seems easy to forget that john lewis was just a teenager when he started the work of redeeming the soul of america, as he put it. He was 18 years old when he first met dr. King. 21 when he was aarrested as a freedom fighter. 25 when he was beaten blood did i on a sun someday in selma. On a sunday in selma. The civil the fight for civil rights has always been driven by the righteous indignation of our young people, and our time is no different. Once again young people across the country are rising in a Mighty Movement for justice and equality, supported by the vast majority of americans. The memory and legacy of john lewis life lives on in each and every one of them, and that fills me with hope. Now, on a very different subject, over the past several months, Senate Democrats have been appalled that our republican colleagues have refused to work with us in any significant way to help defeat covid19 or provide relief to americans during these unprecedented times. We do not understand how faced with the greatest economic threat in 75 years and the greatest Public Healthphlet in a Century Public Health threat in a century you the Senate Republican majority has content to do almost nothing for three long months. As more people died, more were thrown out of work, more Small Businesses went under. Last week finally our republican colleagues said they were coming out with a plan. But even after all the delay, even after leader mcconnell put the senate on pause for three months, Senate Republicans in the white house were so unprepared and so divided they couldnt even agree on a proposal among themselves. Ten weeks, ten weeks after democrats passed a comprehensive bill through the house, Senate Republicans couldnt even agree on what to throw on the wall. Last week was a slowmotion train wreck on the republican side. It couldnt have come at a worse time, and it will cause immense and potentially irrevocable damage to our country. Protections against evictions expired last week at a time when over 12 million americans lived in households that missed the rent payment last month. Enhanced Unemployment Benefits for 20 million to 30 million americans out of work expire this week without a proper solution. No matter what we do, states will not be able to quickly restart any enhanced Unemployment Benefits because Senate Republicans dirged for what dithered for what seems like an eternity. We are on the precipice of several cliffs, destructive cliffs, for one reason and one reason only the white house and Senate Republicans couldnt get their act together and wasted precious time. These issues could have been solved months ago, but the lack of any urgency and understanding and empathy for people who need help from Senate Republicans has led us to a very precarious moment. Today it seems we may finally see the republican proposal on the next phase of covid relief. Who knows if well see legislative text or just an outline. It also appears the republican proposal will not be an actual coherent bill but, rather, a series of small, piecemeal ideas. Thats a metaphor for their first 100 days. Lack of unity. They cant even put one bill together they are so divided. So a few senators put in this way one, a few senators put in another one. Not sole do we not know if the president supported any of these proposals, we dont even know if Senate Republicans even support them. Yesterday the republican chairman of the Judiciary Committee said half of the Republican Caucus will vote no on any additional stimulus. The greatest crisis america has faced in close to a century on health, 75 years on the economy, and our republican colleagues cant even agree among themselves about what to do and have put out a few piecemeal pieces that dont even come close to doing the job. Weve waited months, months for the republican covid relief bill, and it turns out we wont even get a bill, and republicans probably wont support it. Worse still, based on reports and leader mcconnells speech us would now, the republican legislative response to covid19 is totally inadequate. It wont include Food Assistance for hungry kids, kids whose parents cant feed them. They say, no relief. How hardhearted, how cruel. Isnt that those wealthy, rightwing people that dont want to pay any taxes should say kids shouldnt eat . Because the private sector aint doing t you need the government. Hazard pay for essential workers,risk being their lives for us risking their live for us. What about funding for state, local, tribal governments . Their budgets are in the tank. Were approaching a new month. Many, many, many essential workers will be laid off bus drivers, sanitation workers, firefighters. The republican proposal will ignore not one or two or three but scores of major crises in america right now. In addition, based on what the leader has said, the republican proposal wont go nearly far enough, even if the pieces they try to do something with, the small number, the disparate number, the unaggregated number, since each piece seems to be separate because they cant seem to get agreement among themselves. When it comes to our schools, the republican proposal does not provide enough resources for them to reopen safely. Major league baseball, an organization with vastly more resource than the average school district, has taken great pains to restart its season safely, and yet we learned today that 13 players and staff on one team alone have contracted the coronavirus. How can republicans ask our schools to protect the safety of our children without the necessary resources or guidance when multibilliondollar Industries Like baseball are having trouble doing it . And are they just afraid of President Trump who wants the schools to open without any help for his own whatever is in his own head, which isnt about the safety of america . But the plan is totally inadequate. It appears that Senate Republicans have finally come around to the fact that the democratic position on extending the moratorium on evictions or maybe just the moratorium on foreclosures; well see whats in the proposal theyve come around to that, but they dont support helping americans actually afford the rent or their next mortgage payment. That makes no sense. We can prevent landlords or banks from i can canning americans out of their from kicking americans out of their homes for another six months. But what then . Those same americans may be six months behind on their rent or mortgage. They will have no hope of making up the difference p. And what will the landlord dozen . Not all landlords are Big Companies . Some of them, just like in my neighborhood, are land lords of a two or threefamily house. If no one can pay if no one can pay the rent, that hurts them, too. How are they going to pay for heat or electricity . It is essential that we do whats in the democratic heroes act and provide money to pay the rent or the mortgages for those thrown out of work through no fault of their own, with no income. The heroes act provides 100 billion to help renters, 75 billion to help homeowners pay the mortgage. The heroes act would prevent another homeowners crisis in earthquake in. The republican proposal, assuming they even address housing issues, would even delay a catastrophe a few months. And the greatest deficiency in the republican proposal may be their plan for Unemployment Insurance. According to reports, the white house and senate want to extend the enhanced Unemployment Benefits the democrats secured in the cares act but only provide a percentage of a workers former wage. There are four reasons this is a terrible policy. First, it would hurt the unemployed. If youve lost your job through no fault of your own, republicans say, take a 30 tax cut. Sorry, if youve lost your job through no cost of your own, take a 30 pay cut. The administration has bungled this crisis and now they want to take 1,600 out of your pocket every single month. Blaming the victim. Maybe again to some of those republican hardright money people, dont want to pay taxes to help anybody. Dont want the federal government to help anybody. Let me tell you, my republican friends, you cant do this without the federal government and the federal governments resources. The private sector cant take care of this on their own. Thats one reason. Second, it would exacerbate poverty. A recent study showed the enhanced benefits had prevented 12 million americans from slipping into poverty. Its probably been the greatest Antipoverty Program that weve had in a very, very long time. Why on earth would we slash and burn benefits keeping American Families out of poverty . Third, it will devastate our economy. One of the few things that has this economy not getting worse is that people have money in their pockets to buy goods. Consumer spending is going occupy. You know why, my republican friends . In large part because of generous benefit in the pandemic Unemployment Insurance. Mark zandi, the other great economists have said just that, just that. Consumer purchases are helping the economy from getting worse. Theres money in the pockets of consumers to help them pay the bills and shop in stores and more. What do our republican friends want to do . Cut the benefits to americans who are spending the money as soon as they get it, taking one of the fute policies stimulating the the few policies stimulating the economy off the table. Thats why an analysis from a respected Economic Forecast at moodys hardly a Political Organization say that rue ducing these reducing thats benefits or letting them expire could cost over a million more jobs this year. And, fourths, and finally, the i had wrongdoinglog get together and come up with a plan and it doesnt work. Its going to be impossible to implement. Republicans at the last minute while they waited and waited and waited three weeks ago Speaker Pelosi and i wrote to senator mcconnell and said, sit down with us. They wait until theyre off the cliff and now they come up with an entirely new system where states would have to calculate a different benefit for each individual worker. Well, the implementation will be a night merit. Met me read you my office called some state unemployment offices about this republican proposal. Mediumsize the state on the west coast. It would take months. We dont even have a way of calculating the wages of individuals. Were not equipped to do anything but flat amount. Need a serious transition period. Even change the dollar amount would take two 0 four weeks. Two to four weeks where people have no money. Another southeastern state, mediumsized again. Very difficult. This state said, we need public statements from the feds that people wont be able to get benefits for many weeks or months. Need to be realistic so our offices arent overwhelmed. Even if you do a clean 600, you have to reapply p in our state. A small state in the northeast workers, these are people in the goffers governors offices or unemployment office. Even puec will take weeks to implement. We will not have to reapply for a clean 600 but it will take weeks to do retroactive payments. Three states, a very big state in the west, a big state in the midwest, and a smaller state in the west. It would take many months. This would cause chaos with our constituents. A great plains state, two months minimum to implement. Big state in the northeast, smaller state in the west, eight weeks or more to implement. Small state in the west, we have turned off the 600 fpuc effective benefit this benefit week ending july 25 per law. Any claims not decided prior to that date will still have the benefit of the fpuc if found eligible. Any claims filed yesterday forward would not. If options, another flat amount is best. Large state in the east,ing extension of 600 could be seamless. Lower flat will take time. Percentage of wages impossible. Chaos. Chaos. You change the unemployment benefit, its going to take weeks if not months for most people to get it. The economy crashes, people are hurt, they get kicked out of their homes, they cant feed their kids. What are you doing . The republican proposal on Unemployment Benefits, simply put, is unworkable. It will delay benefits for weeks if not months as we slide into a greater degree of recession. And, by the way, the idea that we need to drastically reduce these benefits because workers will stay home otherwise is greatly exaggerated. Most americans are not going to quit their jobs, forego benefits and a steady salary in order to receive temporary Unemployment Benefits. Thats what leading economists say. These benefits are a lifeline to tens of millions who want to work, are ready to work but cant find work because there arent jobs for them. The vast majority of these people dont have a job to go to. Lets face it, folks. Our country is in the middle of multiple crises. Tens of millions of americans are jobless. American families are struggling to keep food on the table and a roof over their heads. Nearly 150,000 americans have died, a stunning and heartbreaking loss of life. And in response, Senate Republicans have presented us with a halfhearted, halfbaked legislative proposal. In short, the republican plan is too little too late. The republican plan is weak tea when our problems need a much stronger brew. And incidentally, i heard leader mcconnells alice in wonderland interpretation of what happened in the last three months. The first bill he said was the way to go. Lets remember what happened. Republicans put their own bill on the floor, democrats said no, and then finally you folks came to the table, negotiated with us, and the bill is far more a democratic bill than a republican bill. You know that and we know that. On the other hand, the other alternative, which the leader referred to as the justice in policing act, was totally partisan. Sometimes im amazed at the words the republican leader can use. He says he wants to be nonpartisan, and our bill is a socialist manifesto. Which one is it . Which one is it . Heres what we should do. Republicans should scrap their approach. And we dont know how many are for or what pieces. They should use the heroes act, comprehensive, strong and bold, for negotiations, and Start Talking with democrats in a serious way about the real problems our country is facing. Again, this is a serious, serious crisis, Biggest Health crisis in 100 years, biggest economic crisis in 75. The republican mantra, let the private sector do it, is just not going to work. Youve got to understand the times are different. The crisis is real. We need an active, bold series of government programs, not keep cutting and cutting and eliminating and eliminating to solve our Health Problem and to get the economy out of the morass. We democrats vk waiting to negotiate with our republican colleagues for more than two months. Im bitterly disappointed and frustrated by their delay, and now by the inadequacy of their product. We need to immediately enter bipartisan, bicameral negotiations to develop a bill that actually matches the zale of the crisis the scale of the crisis and the needs of the American People. Speaker pelosi this morning called on leader mcconnell, leader mccarthy, the representatives of the president to join me and her in the Speakers Office half an hour after the republican plan is released. Republicans in the house and senate must join us. Were running out of time. But Senate Republicans just ran down the clock and tossed an air ball. I yield the floor. A senator madam president. The presiding officer the senator from iowa. Mr. Grassley about a half halfhour ago leader mcconnell gave an outline of the bill that will be before the senate in regard to carrying on where the cares act left off. Those of us who are chairman of various committees or have input into this process would like to go into some detail, but not indepth detail, of our parts of the bill. So im chairman of the Senate Finance committee, and within our jurisdiction, our proposals take on several issues facing americans during the crisis. For Unemployment Insurance, we boost the federal governments reimbursement to local governments and nonprofits to 75 , up from 50 in the first cares act. We do that to prevent further local government and nonprofit organizations layoffs. In the same legislation, we maintain some of the current boosted benefits, but we must also responsibly hone those programs to target help where its really needed. Our bill transitions from the flat rate to a replacement of 70 of lost wages because people become unemployed. This is a much more responsible approach that we didnt have time to work out in the first cares act. Regardless, the boosted unemployment benefit is significantly more than Democratic Senate and democratic president approved in the 2009 economic crisis, which, by the way, was only 25 a month addition when we had the worst recession in this country since the Great Depression of the 1930s. So im hearing people cry just a few minutes ago about our not doing enough, and it doesnt make sense to do what we knew we were doing wrong, but we had to do it to get help out to the people who were unemployed when for the last four months we were paying out of the federal treasury 600 a month in addition to what each state would pay for those unemployed. In other words, we have learned what we knew at the time, that when you pay people more not to work than they would get working, what do you expect . People will not work. And what this country needs is more workers. If were going to get this country turned around, its not going to come from money from unemployment to individuals, because government doesnt create wealth. It only consumes wealth. And if you want to create a bigger economic pie for everybody, more workers are going to be a bigger economic pie. Going to our tax provisions in this same bill, our tax provisions aim to help americans get back to work and help businesses safely open. We expand access to the cares act employment tax credit for small and mediumsized businesses. We expand the work opportunity tax credit for larger employers hiring people currently receiving unemployment compensation. We also provide a new credit for expenses like personal protective equipment and cleaning needed to maintain a safe and healthy workplace for employees and for customers. The republican plan provides for another round of 1,200 economic c impact payments for most american adults, but we also include in the additional 500 for each dependent some people that we didnt intend to leave out last time but we did. So regardless of age, some of these dependents will now be helped. For health care providers, we relax the terms of loans received from medicare. We ensure that medicare Telehealth Options dont expire before congress can determine what should be made permanent. We extend for five years the cares act provision that pays clinics and Health Centers for telehealth to provide a down payment on Meeting Health care needs in rural america. And we help, we help by freezing medicare premiums at 2020 levels to head off a predicted spike next year that would otherwise happen to senior citizens. And we also assist nursing home patients and workers. State and local governments have also asked for federal help. Our proposal extends the time frame in which governments can utilize the 150 billion in funding provided under the first cares act while also providing more flexibility and allowing some funds to be used to cover revenue shortfall. This proposal then sets out a responsible, holistic approach to address the problems our country faces. I hope my democratic colleagues are interested in compromise and solutions to the benefit of all the American People. I yield. Mr. Cornyn madam president. The presiding officer the senator from texas. Mr. Cornyn madam president , as we continue to work on supporting our countrys recovery from the covid19 crisis, one critical piece of the cares 2 legislation is liability reform. Across the country were seeing lawsuits rolling in targeting the very Health Care Workers that are on the front lines performing essential work for patients suffering from the covid19 virus. Were seeing lawsuits focusing on nursing homes, universities, nonprofit businesses, you name it. And without action from congress, the litigation epidemic will potentially sink the very businesses and enterprises that we hope we can sustain through this crisis. Today leader mcconnell and i introduced the safe to work act which will ensure that those operating in good faith and following all of the relevant guidelines cannot be sued out of existence. To be clear, this is not blanket liability shield, not a blanket liability shield. It will not prevent bad actors from facing the consequences of their action when its intentional or reckless. It will not ban coronavirus lawsuits and it wont give anyone a get out of jail free card. What it will do, though, is put safeguards in place that will prevent opportunistic lawsuits from harming the workers and institutions we are depending on to see us through this crisis. First and foremost are protections for our Incredible Health care heroes who have made the tremendous physical and mental sacrifices over the last few months. This legislation sets a willful misconduct to gross negligence standard for coronavirus medicalrelated liability suits to ensure that only meritorious cases are brought against our Health Care Workers. I would add, mr. President , that the costs of litigation itself can be enough to put somebody out of business, even though you in the end, quote, win the lawsuit. That the costs of defending a case that you ultimately win, it can be so big that it will put you out of business by itself. In addition to protecting our health care heroes, we need to ensure the fear of lawsuits does not prevent our schools, nonprofits, Small Businesses, and a range of other organizations and institutions that are vital to our communities from opening their doors. This will spell out in black and white that these entities will be protected from covid19 exposure claims as long as they have made a goodfaith effort to comply with mandatory Public Health guidelines. By the way, mr. President , a number of states have already provided similar protections, including the minority leaders state of new york, and its time we extend these liability limitations to the rest of the country. This is not a red state or blue state issue. We are all in this together, and thats why red state and blue state legislatures and governors have already acted in a similar fashion to what i am describing here. But in order for our country to recover, the workers and institutions we depend on now need to know with confidence that if they are operating in good faith and obeying health guidelines, they are not going to become victims of a feeding frenzy. This legislation will provide that confidence, and i hope my colleagues on both sides of the aisle will join me in supporting these commonsense reforms. Mr. President , i yield the floor. The presiding officer the senator from South Carolina. Mr. Scott as we continue our efforts to tackle the effects of covid, both in terms of health care and the economic fallout, cares 2 could be a critical piece to the puzzle. Americans continue to mask up, social distance, and do what we can do as individuals to slow the spread of the virus. Here in the senate, we know that we must find additional ways to keep our people as healthy as possible while we reopen our economy as safely as we can. We also know that lowwage and Service Industry workers have taken the hardest economic hit from the virus. This stems in part from restaurants either being closed or operating at a limited capacity. In april, one out of four individuals to lose their jobs lost their jobs in the restaurant industry. Thats 5. 5 million americans who lost their jobs in the restaurant business. While those losses have certainly begun to recover and even as our restaurants adjust and innovate to find new ways to serve customers, there is no doubt they need some additional help. Thats why i have worked on a provision in this legislation that would provide 100 deduction for business meals, up from 50 . We know that through outdoor dining, carryout, delivery, and in some places around the country, limited indoor dining, we can keep folks safe. This incentive will lead to more orders that will translate into more takehome pay and more hours for wait staff and kitchen staff and more revenues for millions of Small Businesses. Thats a great thing. And an easy thing to accomplish with this simple provision. Thank you. Ms. Collins mr. President. The presiding officer the senator from maine is recognized. Ms. Collins thank you, mr. President. Mr. President , the Paycheck Protection Program of forgivable loans has been a lifeline to millions of our Small Businesses and their employees. According to a recent census survey, more than 76 of maines Small Businesses reported receiving a p. P. P. Loan. An estimated 240,000 maine jobs have been supported by this critically important program, which has brought more than 2. 2 billion to our state. Nationwide, more than five million small employers have received p. P. P. Loans. When senators rubio, cardin, shaheen, and i developed this program back in march, we had no idea how long economic closures could mitigate the spread of covid19 would last. Many Small Businesses have made considerable investments in personal protective equipment and facility modifications to operate safely during the pandemic, and yet are still only able to operate at a fraction of their previous capacity. In fact, mr. President , i talked to an innkeeper in maine just this morning who told me that in normal times at this point in the summer, his inn would be nearly full every single night, but this july, his business is down by 93 . The bill that senator rubio and i are introducing would allow the hardest hit small employers, those whose revenue has declined by 50 or even more, to receive a second p. P. P. Forgivable loan. And to ensure that we are targeting assistance to the employers that need help the most, we limit those second loans to Small Businesses with 300 or fewer employees. Our bill would also extend forgivable p. P. P. Expenses to include investments needed to protect both employees and customers such as masks, plexiglass shields, and improved hvac systems. This could include, for example, the expanse the expense of expanding outdoor seating that is especially important to restaurants that are still under dining restrictions. We include a number of other important provisions such as allowing seasonal businesses more flexibility in calculating their loan amounts and simplifying the loan forgiveness process for smaller borrowers. Mr. President , i hope that our proposal will help advance bipartisan negotiations to extend this Vital Program before august 8 when applications will no longer be accepted. There are so many small employers and their employees who have been kept afloat by the first p. P. P. Loans they received but need a second one to survive this persistent pandemic. Thank you, mr. President. Mr. Rubio mr. President. The presiding officer the senator from florida. Mr. Rubio to follow up on senator collins outline of the second round of p. P. P. , i think its important first to remind everybody how we got to this place. The goal when we did it the first time around was to not only allow Small Businesses to survive what was then uncertain as to how long it would take, but also to keep their workers attached to employment. We know how devastating it is to a family, to an individual when they get disconnected from employment. And by and large, we believe the program has been incredibly successful, but it has room for improvement, and we have learned from those things and along the way with some of the different changes that were made in providing more flexibility and the like. This new Program Comes at a timely moment because we are now beginning to see that as the p. P. P. Funds are being exhausted, some companies are having to face once again the potential of having to lay off some of their workers. And so thats why it is time for a second round of p. P. P. Assistance. A lot of the provisions will be very familiar. You have heard them already. The 2. 5 payroll and so forth but some are new because we really wanted this to be more targeted. Thats why its the 300 employee or less standard, and you have to have 50 or more of revenue reduction. We also understand that some communities have been harder hit for a variety of different reasons. Especially the sort of microbusinesses, smaller ones. Some of these funds will be set aside for employers that have ten employees or less to make sure that the money doesnt run out without that group of Small Businesses getting the assistance they need. In addition, we know that minority and underserved Small Businesses have been disproportionately impacted by the lockdowns that we have seen. Many of them obviously often lack significant cash reserve. They have historically faced challenges being able to get traditional means of capital. So as part of this proposal, separate from p. P. P. , in addition to it, there is we are proposing an additional type of loan which would be longer term, more targeted, and low interest. Designated for Small Businesses that are either seasonal employers or are located in lowincome communities and have 500 or fewer employees. It provides them flexible longterm working capital to help ensure that these most vulnerable and underserved Small Businesses dont go out of business because of the pandemic, but allow them to borrow up to two times their annual revenues on a 20year loan term at 1 interest. Again, dont confuse that with p. P. P. This is a separate target product to try to help those who are in lowincome neighborhoods, as defined either by their census track. So consider, for example, a Small Business with 400,000, a fiveyear loan at 7. 5 interest rate. That today would be equal to 8,000 Monthly Payments. But if they are able to refinance that existing loan at 1 , the payments fall to 1,840. So its an additional amount of assistance. The bottom line is i think we all recognize the importance of Small Business. We should all recognize this is not a bailout. These are viable businesses. The only reason they are struggling is because the government has stepped in, like it does, for example, in eminent domain, and said for public for the public good, it is important for us to innot infringe on your right to make money and conduct a business. The government has an obligation to step forward and help these companies from going out of business. Otherwise, we will lose not just the backbone of our economy but the millions of jobs that come with it and the impact would be catastrophic. Mr. President , i yield the floor. A senator mr. President. The presiding officer the senator from utah. Mr. Romney mr. President , i rise today to propose the trust act of 2020. This is Bipartisan Legislation. Its sponsored by 14 other senators, both democrats and republicans, and supported by 30 members from each party in the house. Its purpose is to preserve the Social Security and Medicare Trust funds, among others, both of which have been pushed closer to bankruptcy due to the pandemic. The committee for responsible federal budget projects that Medicare Part a will now become insolvent in only four years, and the Social Security Retirement Trust fund by 2031. Under the law, insolvency would trigger drastic benefit cuts, or if approved by a future congress, draconian tax hikes. Our trust act is designed to save these trust funds in addition to other vital federal trust funds. The trust act also addresses our balooning National Debt, a burden which has become even greater due to the covid19 crisis. The c. B. O. Projects the federal budget deficit will be 3. 7 trillion this year. Our National Debt will exceed 27 trillion. That could eventually mean backbreaking interest payments, runaway inflation, or National Financial calamity. Modeled loosely after the simpsonbowles fiscal commission, the trust act would create a process to rescue these funds. Under the bill, an individual rescue committee would be created for each of the trust funds. Each committee would be tasked with drafting Bipartisan Legislation that would provide for its solvency. Members of the rescue committees would come equally from the house and the senate and equally from each party. If the majority of a committee supported a solvency plan and if at least two members from each party endorsed that plan, it would be brought on an expedited basis to the floor. The trust act has strong bipartisan consensus among senators and members of the house, as well as policy advocates across the political spectrum from Freedom Works to the brookings institution, as well as from alan simpson and erskine bowles. This is the right time to act. Our trust funds are approaching insolvency even more rapidly due to the pandemic. More importantly, if we dont act now, it will never happen before we face an overwhelming crisis. One of the lessons that covid19 crisis has taught us is that it is far better to prepare and hopefully prevent a crisis than to wait for a crisis to fall upon us. The trust act is the only bipartisan, bicameral solution that has been proposed to save our trust funds and to restore fiscal stability. I urge this body to work in good faith to advance this proposal as part of additional pandemic relief. Mr. President , i yield the floor. The presiding officer the senator from alabama. A senator mr. President , today i introduce legislation that provides 306 billion in Additional Resources to fight the coronavirus and to mitigate its impact on American Families, schools, and businesses. Mr. Shelby i want to briefly highlight some of the main provisions and theyve been talked about probably this afternoon already. First, 16 billion goes for states to ramp up testing with a particular emphasis on schools, employers, child care facilities and nursing homes. Secondly, 26 billion goes for the development and distribution of vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics. Weve made meaningful progress on each of these fronts but we havent gotten there yet, as we all know. Third, theres 105 billion for the Education Stabilization Fund to help schools adapt to the circumstances they face which is extraordinary. The c. D. C. Emphasizes the importance of getting kids back in school and has issued guidelines on how to do so safely. That is why this legislation provides additional funding for k12 schools that get kids back into the classroom at least 50 of the time, which would be a big start. We recognize they will incur additional expenses if they reopen safely, and we have to try to provide for that. The fourth point i want to highlight briefly here is 20 billion in additional assistance for our nations farmers and our ranchers. And the fifth and final point, nearly 30 billion to bolster the u. S. Defense Industrial Base which is important to all of us. We must never take our eyes off the ball there. These resources will prevent furloughs of thousands of employees from across the country who help america stay safe. I could go on and on, but time is moving on here this afternoon. We realize this is just the first step. Weve got to Work Together. Weve got to work in a bipartisan fashion here and put america first. We know the house has got some high numbers. Weve got good numbers, i believe, but i look forward to some bipartisan help on this and moving these bills along. I yield the floor. The presiding officer the senator from tennessee. Mr. Alexander mr. President , i want to thank senator wyden for his courtesy in allowing me to go next. Ill be succinct. The way to get back to work and back to school is to put politics aside and Work Together as we have been doing on the covid19 response and see if we can get a result for the American People the next couple of weeks. The part of the safely back to work and backtoschool act that im introducing today does four things. First, if you want 43 million americans with a student debt student loan, it helps you manage your debt. This is the way it does it. If you have no income, you have no Monthly Payment. If you remember in march, we said that the 43 million americans with student debt, you could defer your payment until october 1. Well, thats just around the corner. What we would propose is you dont have to pay it after october 1 if you have no income and if you do have income, your Monthly Payment will never be more than 10 of your income after deducting the necessities of life such as rent, mortgage, or food. Number two, if youre a parent this bill gives your child more choices of schools, provides scholarships so that your child can return to the private school he or she attended before the pandemic, gives other students a new opportunity to attend private school. Senator tim scott has introduced that legislation earlier. Im a cosponsor. Number three, if you are a working mom or dad, it helps you find child care so you can go back to work. A lot of our Child Care Centers operate on a very thin margin. They have reduced revenue because they dont have as many clients these days. Senator blunts bill and senator shelbys appropriations bill will provide money so that they can stay open and provide Safe Environments to twothirds of the children in the United States under the age six who have parents in the workforce. And finally, our bill, the part im introducing improves the strategic National Stockpile so that we can remain adequate supplies of masks, supplies as well as onshore capacity testing for tests, vaccines that were building now. We have to make sure it doesnt go away and we have to rely on other parts of the country in the rest of the word. This is about children, jobs, and health care. As far as schools go, there are a hundred thousand public schools, 35,000 private schools in our country. There are about five Million Students in the private schools and 50 million in the public schools. Every one of those children is a treasure. Ive worked with senator blunt a treasure. Ive worked with senator blunt to help the countrys 135,000 schools and 6,000 colleges have the money they need to open with as many students physically present as is consistent with safety. The safely backtowork school act proposes making 70 billion available for schools, another 30 billion for colleges. That means roughly 1,200 per student for public and private schools across the country. Onethird of the money would be distributed automatically to all 135,000 schools. Thats probably about 400 a student, a significant amount of money. Twothirds of the money would go to schools that are opening with students physically present to help pay for the extra costs providing that instruction in a safe environment. If youre trying to open with students physically present, it makes logical sense to say if you have to have more buses, if you have to hire more teachers, have to have more protective equipment, those schools need help paying for that. There will be more funding that senator shelby mentioned to help contain this sneaky, dangerous virus and give americans more opportunity to access for health care. Theres more funding in this overall legislation for testing, for the National Institutes of health, Community Health center, distribution of vaccines, to extend the expansion of teleservice activities that has happened during the pandemic. This legislation, mr. President , reflects our nations priorities which are safely back to school, safely back to child care, and safely back to work. I yield the floor. Mr. Wyden mr. President . The presiding officer the senator from oregon. Mr. Wyden mr. President , i ask unanimous consent that following the remarks of my republican colleagues, senators brown, murphy, and i be permitted to speak for up to seven minutes each and the previously scheduled vote occur following the remarks of those listed. The presiding officer is there objection . Without objection. The presiding officer the senator from south carolin sout. A senator thank you. Its my pleasure to present this act. China looms large about the coronavirus. This is where it originated. The lying and Deceptive Behavior the Chinese Communist party has brought this pandemic to the world. Its the third pandemic to come out of china. I think its now time for us to get serious about our dependency on china. So what does this legislation do . It has four components. Mr. Graham the protective equipment that our nurses and doctors and Health Care Workers use to protect themselves on the front line, 90 of it is made in china. Were going to try to bring it back home. We have a buy america requirement in this bill, a 7. 5 billion tax credit to reenergize american production of p. P. E. Equipment. Were trying to get p. P. E. Under the amendment of the defense bill. We require our uniforms for our military to be made in america to the extent possible. Were going to try to create p. P. E. In the same categories as the National Security item and 7. 5 billion tax credit to jumpstart this industry. A lot of good jobs will come from this and well be less dependent upon china when it comes to protective equipment. Senator portmans legislation, safeguarding American Innovation is included. Senator cornyns chips for america act, and senator murkowskis american mineral security act. Very quickly senator cornyns chips act for america creates tax incentives to return and grow a domestic Semi Conductor industry. Taiwanese firm made a big decision to come to america, i think in texas. Taiwan Semi Conductors company. Were trying to incentivize their relocation into the United States and jumpstart a Semi Conductor industry thats left the country. Its very important for the future of our economy. Senator portmans safeguarding innovation act creates a federal research council, institutes penalties for bad actors who come to the u. S. Or are here to steal important intellectual property. I think we all know who were talking about here. China leads the pack there. You saw what happened in houston. Senator murkowskis american mineral security act promotes secure and robust domestic supply chains of Critical Minerals by streamlining the permitting process for extraction and emphasizing r d into critical mineral recycling and development. These four things together will protect our supply chain. It will bring it back to the country at a time when we need to have more stay about our destiny. The pandemic has been a wakeup call all over the board. Nothing more important to me than relocating the medical supply chain and protecting the innovation that were known for as a country. With that i yield. Mr. Wyden mr. President . The presiding officer the senator from oregon. Mr. Wyden mr. President , Senate Republicans and the white house have finally come forward with an Unemployment Insurance proposal. The republican proposal is not just misguided. The republican proposal is a punch in the gut and a slap in the face for the 30 million americans relying on lifeline Unemployment Insurance benefits. It adds insult to infection. Unemployment benefits, the ones we develop that ensure that people could pay the rent and buy groceries are already expiring. The last payments went out saturday. Senate republicans and donald trump sat a their hands for months sat on their hands for months instead of working with democrats. So now it appears that a lapse in benefits is inevitable. Republicans have apparently a proposal that is just unworkable. And you dont have to take my word for it. The nonpartisan experts who run the state workforce agencies, theyve told the finance committee that any changes, even simple ones, can take months to implement. Now republicans are talking about cutting those lifeline benefits, the ones that actually made it possible for folks to make rent and buy groceries and cover the cost of medicine and car insurance. Theyre talking about cuts those benefits by twothirds. They want states to make complicated changes to the Unemployment Insurance program that could hold up benefits until 2021. Some states are indicating that its almost impossible to manage this altogether. The republican proposal is cru cruel. In my view its legislative malpractice. And for the life of me, i dont know how anyone could possibly look at the state of our economy and decide whats needed is even more economic pain for 30 million americans. Its especially insulting to americas unemployed workers that republicans want to cut their economic lifeline in the same bill thats going to give a taxpayer subsidy to power lunches for lobbyists. My colleagues have been warned that state unemployment systems are already struggling to keep up. Some people who are laid off months ago are still waiting to receive benefits. I read about one today that following all this from their hospital bed where theyre suffering from covid19. There are news reports about people sleeping in their cars just to have a shot at being at the head of the line at the workforce agency. And now Senate Republicans come forward with a proposal that throws even more sand in the gears. Theyve been warned that this kind of proposal will be a disaster to implement. I know because i was in the Senate Finance room when they were told about it. My colleagues on the other side also are arguing that the biggest problem in america now is that there are all these lazy workers sitting at home collecting unemployment checks instead of going back to their jobs. There is no evidence not a shred that this is happening in large numbers around the country. Come to me with one single story about somebody turning down work, and ill tell you about a dozen outofwork oregonians ive spoken to, folks who cannot wait cannot wait to get about a being to work. Oregonians and americans who believe in the dignity of work. There was a nationwide town hall meeting on thursday last, appeared people who were unemployed and people who were unemployed volunteered when asked if they could work the next morning, theyd be there at the crack of dawn. It is insulting to suggest that they are a bunch of freeloaders looking for a handout. But weve been hearing that time and time again from those on the other side of the aisle who were simply unwilling to write any proposal at all. I believe the republican proposal is also a prescription for disaster for our economy. Supercharged Unemployment Benefits may be the single most Impactful Program that Congress Passed in response to the pandemic. What does it mean to cut it . The republican plan cuts Unemployment Benefits by more than 10 billion per week. That opens up a terrible economic wound. Itll be a huge setback right when the recovery seems to be stalling, even going in reverse. One new analysis says, cutting benefits down to 200 per week is going to lead to a loss of 3. 4 million jobs. And Senate Republicans want americans to believe that it is unemployed workers holding back the economy. Mr. President , ill close by saying its long past time for my republican colleagues to get serious about working with democrats on a proposal that is a pathway to actually becoming law and to helping people. This republican plan doesnt do that. And just as i did on thursday, weve been ready for months. The other body, the house of representatives, passed a bill two months ago ensuring that americans had those funds to make rent, pay groceries, pay for essentials. Leader schumer and i introduced our plan, the American Workforce rescue act. So we were all set over here to go to work with republicans before the majority leader sent everybody home on a twoweek recess, when we thought it was important to be here and to work on these crucial Economic Issues ive mentioned. Benefited have lapsed. Tens of millions of americans now walk an economic tightrope every single week balancing the rent bill against the food bill, the food bill against health care costs. There is to time to waste. Senate republicans need to work with us now on a proposal that ensures that americans do not face yet another economic hit, as i mentioned, with some of them actually sitting in hospitals, suffering from covid19 and wondering how theyre going to pay the bills. Mr. President , i yield the floor. Mr. Brown mr. President . The presiding officer the senator from ohio. Mr. Brown senator wyden is so right here. I meanen, he fought back i mean, he fought back in march for 600 week for unemployed workers, which kept our economy going, which kept us from going into a worse recession, which made all the difference in the world for all these workers. How do you think about this. We are about if we were to adopt their proposal, i think they have a proposal, we havent really seen very much yet. Weve asked as senator wyden said, the house passed a bill back in may. Its been may, june, almost all of july. Weve waited, waited, waited. Unemployed workers know that their unemployment expires at the end of july, yet senator mcconnell ssents us home, as sent us home, as senator wyden said, we wait, we wait, we wait. Then they come up with this halfbaked proposal. We do know that workers who are laid off through no fault of their own, they want to work. Most americans want to work. Those workers are their unemployment is cut from 600 to 2 200 to 200 a week. So were taking dollars from workersness connecticut and arkansas and utah, were taking 4 a week from those workers 400 a week from those workers. And at the same time the moratorium on evictions expires, at the same time that eviction courts in the states open up. In columbus, ohio, my states largest city, they are holding eviction courts in an arena because there are so many people that will be evicted if their unemployment expires, were going to in the middle of the pandemic going to evict people and theyre going to go to overcrowded homeless shelters. Theyre going to go to sleeping in their cousins basement, in the middle of a pandemic. I know the president doesnt think much about the pandemic. Hes moved on to accusing who knows what and calling names and dividing and all that and isnt paying much attention to this pandemic. But in the middle of the pandemic to cut unemployment is just unbelievable. Mr. President , we know we know that in their plan theres no theres a major cut in Unemployment Benefits. There is no rental assistance that will help people pay their rent. Theres no expansion of the eviction moratorium. Theres nothing. Senator mcconnell has had months to work on expanded Unemployment Benefits. Hes had month to look at what were going to do on evictions. And yet nothing. When i look down that hall, i dont really know i see lobbyists going in and out of there asking you know, asking senator mcconnell to get what they get. And they do very well every time apparently. Americans want to go back to work. People want to go back to work but they want to go back to work when it is safe. I want our schools to open, but i want our schools to open safely. President trump still months into this pandemic still has no plans to protect workers. And theres one reason people are still out of work. President trumps failure to get this pandemic under control. And now as we as they suggest, we drop unemployment from 600 to 200, people its not just its not alarmists. Its not alarmist. People can lose their homes. It will set back millions of families. I know it is not something that senators do very often, but try to put yourselves in the shoes of someone who is laid off in akron, ohio or in eugene, oregon, orhartford, connecticut. Someone is laid off. They get that 600, they can stay in their apartments. They do know that theiren unemployment expires tend of the july. Then they hear no plan. Democrats say, lets do protections, emergency rental assistance, lets help our schools, lets help our local governments, lets make sure people have enough food on their tables. And they hear nothing from the Majority Party and people are now beginning to understand that maybe the senate is not going to do its job, maybe the president really doesnt care about these Unemployment Benefits. Think about the anxiety a family faces . Is my unemployment going to be in . Am i going to be able to stay in my apartment . What am i going to to do . We dont know if were going to be protected, if my kids are going to be safe at school. The republican plan tells people youre on your own. Its time that we as a body, its time that the republicans work with Speaker Pelosi, work with us, that the president pays attention for a moment and that we actually take care of people in their homes, we take care of workers, we take care of people in our schools instead of turning our backs. Its time to help people stay in their homes, its time to get people the help they need through this pandemic. It is time that this body lead when the president has failed. This plan their plans dont come close to being enough. I yield the floor. The presiding officer the senator from connecticut. Mr. Murphy thank you, mr. President. When people talk about this body being fundamentally broken under republican leadership, this is exhibit a. This is exhibit a. This body has had two months to consider legislation that would stand up a National Effort to squash this pandemic for all and make sure that people dont die, dont go hungry you dont get pushed out onto the street at a moment when unemployment is higher at any time since the Great Depression. We didnt consider any legislation all of the last work period. We went on recess for two weeks. Now were three days before Unemployment Benefits expire, the additional Unemployment Benefits, and were now getting the introduction of what appeared to be a dozen different pieces of legislation from Senate Republicans tonight. We still dont have the details, but it looks as if theres not one bill being introduced, but theres about 13 bills being introduced. We dont have enough time before the expiration of Unemployment Benefits to negotiate one bill, one bill, never mind seven or ten. We wasted months of time when democrats and republicans should have been talking together and instead Senate Republicans were talking amongst themselves and have now waited until the zero hour to come out with a piece of legislation which calls for a 400perweek cut in Unemployment Benefits for people that are out of work. Thats the economic stimulus plan p. A 400perweek cut for families in this country who have been relying on Unemployment Benefits because the economy is is not coming back. But i come to this floor tonight to tell you why the economy is not coming back. It is not because we havent appropriated enough money. Its because were losing the fight against the virus. In 15 days in country has gone from three million cases to four million cases of the and there is not enough funding in these proposals that were just outlined in order to help states beat the virus. We are once again experiencing a p. P. E. Shortage. Doctors in houston are using singleuse n95 respirator masks for 15 days before throwing them out. Schools are planning to use 25 million to buy masks and cleaning supplies. There is nowhere near theres nothing in this bill that requires the operationallization of the defense production act to make sure we are producing enough p. P. E. In this country. There are still states in this nation n. R. A. Refusing to open up in this nation that are refusing to open up the Health Insurance systems so more people can get access to Health Insurance. There is nothing in these proposals to require open enrollment periods in states, to make sure that everyone who is contracting this virus has the chance to get Health Insurance. The reality is that the states are the ones on the front lines standing up these responses. My state has done pretty well, but were going bankrupt in the process. And from what i can tell, listening to these speeches tonight, there is nothing significant in this package of bills to help states like mine stand up responses. And so i grieve for families that are going to listen to the news tonight and hear that Senate Republicans stimulus plan is to cut their Unemployment Benefits by 4 a week. But by 400 a beak. Nothing in these proposals is significant enough to allow states and hospitals and Health Care Systems to turn around this damaging trajectory on the virus, produce enough p. P. E. To do the job and fix the broken system in this country w i plead my republican colleagues to come to the table the with democrats so we can craft something that does the job for families and fix this very, very broken Health Care System amidst an advancing pandemic. Thank you, mr. President. The presiding officer the question occurs on the nomination. Is there a sufficient second . There appears to be. The clerk will call the roll. 89 vote vote vote vote the presiding officer does any senator wish to change their vote . Seeing any senator not voted . On this vote the yeas are 65. The nays are 30. The nomination is confirmed. Mr. Jones mr. President . The presiding officer the senator from alabama. Mr. Jones mr. President , i ask unanimous consent that the the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, and that the president be immediately notified of the senates action. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Jones mr. President . The presiding officer the senator from alabama. Mr. Jones thank you, mr. President. Mr. President , today marks the third of a pretty emotional weekend for the folks of alabama, for the folks of america. Earlier this afternoon at a ceremony in the Capitol Rotunda to pay our respects to the latejohn robert lewis, a true American Hero, a native of alabama. John grew up in the cotton fields of pike county, alabama, in troy to become one of the most influential members of congress and perhaps one of the most influential americans that this country has ever seen. He was a remarkable human being whose life and work is an example to us all. Its now up to us to carry on, to make good trouble and fulfill the dream and promise of a more equal and just nation. As a son of troy, alabama, john lewis loved our country with all his heart, and he set out to make it a stronger, more democratic, more equal, more just nation for every person. To persevere toward that end in the face of hate and violence he so often faced is a testament to the strength of both the character and the heart of john lewis. John was a dear friend to my wife louise and me, and we are both profoundly grateful to have had him in our lives. Johns long life represented an unbroken thread from a very painful past to a more hopeful future. He gave us all reason to hope. More importantly, he gave us the courage to pursue the Bright Future we all want for us and for our children and for our grandchildren. You know, it struck me earlier today as we had such an emotional one of the most emotional things that i have ever been a part of with john in the Capitol Rotunda. I was in selma, alabama, on saturday evening. My last trip with john ive had many at brown a. M. E. Chapel, an Historic Chapel for his service. Martin luther king jr. Iii was there, the daughter of selma, congresswoman sewell, was there. And i was struck by his passion, by his courage. I thought to myself, what can i say thats not already been said about john lewis, and i words just escaped me. The following day we were in montgomery. John was took one last journey across the Edmund Pettus bridge in selma, alabama. This time on the other side of the that bridge he was met again by state troopers from the state of alabama, but instead of tear gas and billy clubs, he was met with salutes, as people lined the streets, shouting, weve got this, john. Well carry on. And then he went to montgomery along the same path that they marched in 1965 to make sure that americans could vote and vote easily, without paying a poll tax, without having to count jellybeans or guess at the number of jellybeans in a jar or take another kind of test. John marched and he walked all i way from wall the way from selma to font all the way from selma to montgomery. His body was placed in the capital of the state of alabama, montgomery, which was the birthplace of the confederacy, the capital of the confederacy. He had to ride past all of those monuments that are along the way and the names. But on that sunny afternoon, john lewis was brought into the Capitol Rotunda for the state of alabama, the first African American to lie in state in the state of alabama at the capitol. Ironically, the last person to lie in state at the alabama capitol was john wallace. What an interesting bookend for johns life, that is unbroken thread from a governor who declared segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever, who instilled lawlessness all the way to john lewis, who instilled hope and love. John lewis was 25 years old when he led a peaceful march across the Edmund Pettus bridge in selma, alabama. It was 1965. As he got to the other side and was met by Alabama State troopers, he had his skull fractured. He was called lawless. They all were. That day is forever known now as bloody sunday. You know, change doesnt wait for us to become settled and comfortable. And even if were both of those things, it just doesnt allow us to look the other way when justice is on the line. If theres one lesson from john lewis exemplary life, one from so many, that we should heed today, its that we should look to the youngest americans to make good on americas promise and show the rest of us how to fight to eradicate injustice. You know, when george floyd took his last breath, it was young men and women white, black, brown who rose up and said, enough is enough. Just like 1965, following the death of jimmy lee jackson, when john lewis and others rose up and said, enough is enough, just like john did as a 21yearold freedom rider riskingries life, traveling by bus risking his life, traveling by bus throughout the south. That journey for freedom never ended for him. And it cant end for any of us until we make it right. Although john truly believed that the moral ark of the universe bended towards justice, he use in that it does not bend on its own. John certainly did his part to bend that moral arks but as significant as his efforts were, it was his enlistment of others to join him that is going to leave his lasting legacy. We are all here today in some measure, in some way because we joined his fight for justice. No matter what side of the political aisle youre on, no matter where you come from, no matter what your background, we are all here today in part because of john lewis to join a fight for justice. We join because its the right thing to do, because also also because john showed us the way. He showed us the way by his courage, by his determination, and, more importantly, by his love. John lewis lived to see the generation that i believe will lead this nation to our ideals and to fulfill a promise to all. Like him, this Younger Generation is protesting peacefully, nonviolently. They love this nation. They love this nation as much as john, and they want this nation to fulfill its obligation of equality and justice. Some have painted them as lawless thugs. They would be wrong. They, too, like john, are patriots who want america to move forward to a nation of equals, that long dream of a nation of equals. And move Forward Together as a nation, together as one. You know, in alabama we saw firsthand the divisions that john sought to heal and the violence that rose up in opposition to his peaceful efforts to make right so many wrongs. He loved this country so, so much. And may his love and his moral courage ripple from this place in washington, d. C. , the floor of the senate, the floor of the house of representatives, from selma and birmingham and montgomery, portland and seattle, minneapolis, washington, everywhere. Let the love and moral courage rip through the hearts of young americans, white, black, and brown to reach beyond the current chaos and division, just as john did, and lead us to come together as a community, to end injustice and inequality. It is the young among us in alabama and across this nation that can heal what we have failed to heal in our lifetimes, no matter how hard john lewis tried. I truly believe that with the events of the last few weeks, as john saw the thousands of new recruits for his quest to bend the moral arc of the universe towards justice, he confidently looked around and said, all is well. It is time for the torch to be passed. It is time for me to go. But as members of congress, it is not just the young in this country as members of congress, we also have an obligation to act, to bend that moral arc toward justice, just as john did his entire life. As we begin to grapple with a World Without him, we must face the challenges of the moment with the same grit and perseverance he embodied. We are charged we in this body are charged with continuing the fight for justice and inequality that his for justice and equality that his life meant so much. John was called the conscience of congress. May the conscience of all in congress, all of us, each of us, the senate, the house, be awakened by his passing to finish johns efforts, to restore integrity to the Voting Rights act. Later after the reception today in the memorial service, the house of representatives voted unanimously by unanimous consent to change the name of p. R. 4 to the h. R. 4, to the john r. Lewis Voting Rights act of 2020. We can talk about naming roads. And we can talk about renaming bridges. But if there is one thing that john lewis would ask us to do it is to pass the Voting Rights act of 2020. Restore the Voting Rights act to where its supposed to have been. It is a good bill that passed the house of representatives. But it has languished over here in the bowels of the office somewhere. This it as we approach the election in 2020 this, as we approach the election in 2020, we need to send the message that every vote in this country should count. Every person who is eligible to be able to vote and cast and not only cast a ballot but cast it with ease. Cast it by mail or in the privacy of their home if possible. But cast a ballot to raise the level of a participation. Thats what john lewis stood for. Thats what john lewis meant. Thats what we need to do for john lewis. You know, john in the program here and i was so pleased that this program reprinted a photograph, i mean a painting of john at his house in the birmingham civil rights institute. Below it is the quote when john says, when you see something that is not right, not fair, not just, you have to stand up, speak up, speak out and find a way to get into trouble. Good trouble. Necessary trouble. Ive got to tell you, folks, ive been in here for two and a half years now, and there are just not enough people who will stand up and speak out when they see things that they know are unfair and unjust. And it is our job, it is our duty, we owe it not just to our constituents, but to the people of america to stand up, to speak out, to get in the way, to make good trouble. It is time that we do that with regard to the Voting Rights act. It is time that we do that with regard to the Police Reforms and Law Enforcement reforms that are out there as well that we know need to exist. So lets do it, folks. Lets remember john for who he was, and no more because he was that kind of icon, he was that kind of American Hero. His legacy will last for generations. So id like to leave, to let us remember the charge that john gave us in the final passage of his auto biography where he quoted the old african proverb, when you pray, move your feet. John gave us the charge. As a nation, he said if we care for the beloved community, we must move our hands, we must move our feet, our hands, our resources to build and not tear down, to reconcile and not to divide, to love and not to hate, to heal and not to kill. In the final analysis, we are one people, one family, one house, the american house, the american family. We must carry john with us every step of the way and every day and finish his lifes work. Patriots for equality and an america that is lives a reality closer to its ideals. Rest in peace, my old friend, john robert lewis. We have many bridges to cross, but we got this. Mr. President , i yield. A senator mr. President. The presiding officer the senator from delaware. Mr. Coons mr. President , i rise to pay tribute to my colleague, my friend, to our American Hero who lies in state just know in the rotunda of this capitol, congressman john lewis of atlanta, georgia, born in troy, alabama, the arc of his life is known to us all. He gave himself completely to the fight for the dignity of every american and every human being. And i wanted to just take a few minutes today if i could and just reflect a little bit on what made john so special and so different. There are many in this house, in this chamber, in this senate and in the house of representatives who have fought for equality and justice. There are many who have marched or who have sacrificed, who have fought or who have led in many causes over many years. But john was both fierce in his passion for equality and humble in his spirit and gentle and kind. One of the great blessings of my decade here has been to get to travel with a group called the faith in Politics Institute on an annual congressional civil rights pilgrimage. Many members of the house and senate have done so. But through five different trips i got to travel with john to selma and birmingham, to memphis and montgomery, to charleston and cape town, to South Carolina and south africa, to alabama and to delaware. I most treasure of memory of hosting john in delaware in 2015 when he came and spoke to a whole school full of eager Elementary School kids. Spoke to a whole auditorium full of Young Community leaders, and then held a town hall for a discussion about equality and equity and civil rights. John dedicated his life to fighting for others, and principally fighting for Voting Rights. But john in his childhood was confronted with the ugly reality of jim crow and of legal segregation, of apartheid here in the United States. And he couldnt follow the advice he was given by family and friends stay out of trouble, dont get in the way. He lived his life by the credo, if you see something wrong, act like it. And so he was dedicated to getting in good trouble, into necessary trouble, and to doing the hard work of redeeming the soul of america. Long before america came to believe in john lewis, he believed in the promise of america and that he today lay in state on the catafalque that also held the remains of the slain president abraham lincoln, that he this week lay in state in the State Capitol of alabama and that he will be honored by millions nationwide and worldwide is just a reminder that he was on the right side of history all along. He was arrested more than 40 times in the course of his activism for civil rights, and he proved that courage as has been often said is not the absence of fear but the triumph over it. With many others, i had the blessing of being at the Edmund Pettus bridge with john on several reenactments of that memorable bloody sunday march. I was with him at brown chapel a. M. E. Church for a service of inspiration and gathering before that reenactment of the march, and he stopped halfway across the bridge and asked each of us to just take a moment and pause. Its a brej that has a crest to it. And he recounted that as they cleared this crest, this line two by two of peaceful protesters, marchers seeking to go from selma to the State Capitol to make their plea for access to that most fundamental of american rights in our democracy, the ballot box. That he could see that line of state troopers, of deputies and a rag tag crowd of those who had gathered to do violence to those protesters, those marchers. And he was not gripped with fear. He was determined to go ahead, even though he said he was certain that might be his last day. You see, john is someone who understood the redemocrat alternative power of suffering the redemptive power of suffering, someone i describe as a living saint, someone willing to take upon himself the violence committed upon millions of others sustaining the brutality and oppression of racial segregation in our country and by taking on and believing in and living a philosophy, a theology, an activist stance of nonviolence. John brought alive the conscience of a nation. Ill just say that in my own life, john was someone who made meebl in the possibility of forgiveness, of redemption, and of healing. If a man who has suffered as he did at the hands of so many bigot, so many acts of violence and disrespect from the you lunch counter sitins to the freedom rides to that march on bloody sunday, if that man could be as hopeful, as kind, as generous in spirit and as forgiving as he was to all who met him, holding on with fierceness to his commitment to justice and equality, yet open hearted and open handed to all he met, if that man could have walked among us, then i am one step closer to believing in the possibility of forgiveness for us all. I want to share my dependent condolences to his son john miles lewis and his family, to all who knew and loved and served with him and its my hope that his legacy will be a blessing, a challenge, and an inspiration for every american. There is now on the floor of this senate the Voting Rights advancement act renamed for john lewis. On the 50th anniversary of the march across the Edmund Pettus bridge, i carried a copy of that exact bill in in that congs named the john lewis Voting Rights restoration act, and with john asked a number of my colleagues if they would join in cosponsoring it. One republican did, a senator from alaska, and many democrats. What matters is not the party but the purpose. And ill close by saying that we should never give up on johns pursuit of a more fair and more equal america. The presiding officer the senator from delaware. Mr. Coons i was going to proceed to make remarks in the memory of another individual but i will gladly yield to the minority. Mr. Mcconnell mr. President. The presiding officer the majority leader. Mr. Mcconnell i thank my friend from delaware. I ask unanimous consent that notwithstanding the provisions of l rule 22 the senate vote on the motions to invoke cloture on the josephs and wade nominations at 11 30 tomorrow in the order listed. If cloture is invoked on the nominations, the postcloture time expire at 2 30 p. M. Tomorrow and the senate vote on confirmation of the nominations in that order. I further ask that if confirmed, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table and the president be immediately notified of the senates action. Finally, that cloture motions with respect to the kaplan and mcferran nominations ripen following disposition of the wade nomination. The presiding officer is there objection . Without objection,so ordered. Mr. Mcconnell i move to proceed to legislative session. The presiding officer the question is on the motion. All those in favor say aye. All those opposed no. The ayes appear to have it. The ayes do have it. The motion is agreed to. Mr. Mcconnell i move to proceed to executive session to consider calendar 770. The presiding officer the question is on the motion. All those in favor say aye. Those opposed no. The ayes appear to have it. The ayes do have it. The motion is agreed to. The clerk will report the nomination. The clerk nomination, executive office of the president. Derek kan of california to be deputy direct of the office of management and budget. Mr. Mcconnell i send a cloture motion to the desk. The presiding officer the clerk will report the cloture motion. The clerk cloture motion, we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination of derek kan of california to be Deputy Director of the office of management and budget, signed by 17 senators as follows. Mr. Mcconnell i ask consent the reading of the names be waived. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Mcconnell i ask consent the mandatory quorum call be waived. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Mcconnell i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to legislative session for a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak therein for up to ten minutes each. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Mcconnell i ask unanimous consent that s. 4187 be discharged from the committee on environment and public works and be be referred to the committee on commerce,science and transportation. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Mcconnell i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of calendar number 322, s. 881. The presiding officer the clerk will report. The clerk calendar number 322, s. 881, a bill to improve understanding and forecasting of space weather events and for other purposes. The presiding officer is there objection to proceeding to the measure . Without objection, the senate will proceed. Mr. Mcconnell i ask unanimous consent that the peters substitute amendment at the desk be agreed to, the bill as amended be considered read a third time and passed and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Mcconnell i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of h. Con. Res. 105 which was received from the house. The presiding officer the clerk will report. The clerk house concurrent resolution 105 permitting the remains of the honorable john lewis, a representative from the state of georgia to lie in state in the rotunda of the capitol. The presiding officer is there objection to proceeding to the madam chair . Proceeding to the measure . Without objection the senate will proceed. Mr. Mcconnell i ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Mcconnell i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of h. Con. Res. 106 which was received from the house. The presiding officer the clerk will report. The clerk house concurrent resolution 106, directing the architect of the capitol to transfer the catafalque in the exhibition hall of the Capitol Visitors Center to the rotunda of the capitol for use in connection with services conducted for the honorable john lewis, late a representative from the state of georgia. The presiding officer is there objection to proceeding to the measure . Without objection, the senate will proceed. Mr. Mcconnell i ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to, and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Mcconnell now, mr. President , i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 10 00 a. M. Tuesday, july 28. Further, that following the prayer and pledge, the morning business be deemed expired, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and morning business be closed. Further, following leader remarks, the senate proceed to executive session to resume consideration of the joseph nomination under the previous order. Finally, that following a cloture vote on the wade nomination, the Senate Recess until 2 15 to allow for the Weekly Conference meetings. The presiding officer is there objection . Without objection, so ordered. Mr. Mcconnell so if there is no further business to come before the senate, i ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order following the remarks of senators coons and whitehouse. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Coons mr. President. The presiding officer the senator from delaware. Mr. Coons mr. President , on the day that we are remembering our dear friend and colleague, john lewis, someone who got in good trouble, someone who got in the way, i rise to join with my colleague from the state of rhode island to offer tribute to a dear friend who also knew how to get in good trouble and get in the way. Our friend Steve Sussman of houston, texas, at age 79 passed away on july 14 after sustaining serious injuries from a cycling accident and suffering from covid19. Steve will be remembered by all he inspired as one of the greatest trial attorneys ever in the United States. Steve is someone who with incredible skill prepared painstakingly, mastering the facts, so that he could back up every single thing he said in front of a jury. When it came to courtrooms, it is said that steve was the smartest guy in the room, but he also believed deeply in teaching Young Lawyers trial skills, and unlike many famous and leading trial attorneys, he was happy to share the spotlight with younger lawyers, in fact, insisted on it. Two of those younger lawyers happened to be friends of mine from law school, Jonathan Ross and andrew gallah who first introduced me to steve and gave me the joy of getting to know him and all who practiced with him. Steve was passionate about law and justice. He spent his entire life thinking and talking about and working for ways to improve the system of Civil Justice in america. Motivated by a deep passion for the law, he fought to improve our system and was a crusader. Respected broadly for his leadership, his ability to achieve justice for his clients, steve is someone who left a Lasting Impact on his community and our country. His incredible generosity to yale university, to the university of texas law school, to n. Y. U. Law school, civil jury project, and to the antidefamation league, among many others, will be remembered for years and years to come. Steve had boundless energy, deep affection for his family, and a passionate commitment to the law. This is a difficult time for his family, his friends, his colleagues, and his loved ones. I want to give my special condolences to his wife ellen, his children harry and stacy, whitney and amanda, his brother tommy and his eight grandchildren. I share with them my deepest and sincere condolences in the passing of this lion of the law. We will not see his like again. Mr. President , i yield the floor to my colleague from rhode island. Mr. Whitehouse mr. President. The presiding officer the senator from rhode island. Mr. Whitehouse mr. President , im pleased to join my colleague from delaware here to offer a senate floor farewell to our friend Steve Sussman. He was a very big personality. But unlike a lot of very big personalities, he was never all about him. He wasnt pushing people away with the size of his personality. He was enveloping them with the size of his personality. And i was one who was fortunate to be so enveloped, we game friends, and i will miss him. To ellen, and to their children, to his brother tom who gave such beautiful remarks at the Electronic Service for steve the other day, i want to say thank you. I just want to tell one story. But the story wont make sense if you dont understand what a big deal steve susman was, if you dont understand that he was the named partner of susman goddfrey, which by many lights is the best and biggest Litigation Firm in america. His name is on that firm. His name is on thousands of pleadings filed by that firm in cases all around the country. He is a person who had gravitas as a lawyer and who lived before judges and needed to make sure he kept their goodwill and respect. Now, for a lot of people, that would have meant taking no chances. Not for steve. I have a practice from time to time in the senate of writing Supreme Court amicus briefs as an amicus curai, a friend of the court. Not as a party, but to express their view on the cases. Those are called friends of the court. I have filed those briefs over and over again. They are not the usual friend of the court brief. Lets just say that. I believe that as a United States senator, i best show my respect for the court and the justices by being candid with them about where i think they have made grievous mistakes or where they have been led astray. So these are not your ordinary briefs. This one was about the Consumer Financial protection board. And i focus on the saverseek interesting that caused the underlying 2008 meltdown and how those same favorseeking interests were interested in undoing the Consumer Financial protection board so they could get back to the same mischief again. I talked about the dangers of corruption from those interests. Well, those are powerful interests. To talk about them in that way in an amicus brief is not nothing. The brief talks about the fake notion of freedom that some espouse, which is, for instance, the freedom to pollute as opposed to the freedom to have a clean river free of the pollution. That freedom, the freedom to harm consumers, that freedom is a fake and wrong freedom. And we said so quite clearly in this brief. We talked about the value of regulation, that we have clean air and water, that we have safe pharmaceuticals, that we have an ordinarily economy that people are not cheated in stock swindles because we have a regulatory system that has knowledgeable people in it who devote their careers to looking out for the public. Against very clever and often wylie special interests. We pushed back hard on the notion that deregulation is a great asset. In fact, we pointed out that the failures of regulation have almost always occurred when the regulated interests got too much control over the regulator and got into the mischief business through the regulator. But honest regulation has been almost always a virtue for our country. We went after this thing called the unitary executive theory and showed how it had been cooked up in corporate rightwing hothouses. This thing had come through like an Assembly Line of billionairefunded, rightwing phony front groups to propagate itself out into the world and try to get them legitimacy as a legal theory. And we went through the whole history of that. Thats pretty rough stuff because people put a lot of money into trying to cook up this unitary executive theory. Lastly, we pointed out that the judicial Selection Process that is going on around here right now is directly related to the deregulation process. The judges are being picked by special interests so that they will rule against regulation and give special interests a break, and they can pollute and cheat and harm people to a greater degree than they would with strong regulators. That was a point that we made in this brief. And by the way, i quoted trumps legal counsel, don mcgahn, who actually said this, so its not like we were making it up. He called them two sides of the same coin. Fill the court with judges who hit regulation and let the Big Industries deregulate and have more freedom to harm. And finally, we did something that i have not done before in a brief, but because there is so much special interest money floating around the Supreme Court and because there is so much mischief swirling around it, we actually put an appendix into the brief at the end that looked at some of the other amicae that had showed up to show how often they were funded by the same secretive groups. How many of them were basically tentacles of the same creature. We backed that up with Research Showing one by one how they have been funded, sourced thoroughly. This was not your usual Supreme Court brief. Why do i dwell on this brief . Because here is the name on it brief of amicus curiae, sheldon house, mazie hirono, blumenthal, in support of amicus curiae, steven b. Susman, counsel of record. Like the thousands of pleadings that bear steve susmans name, so did this brief. But he took a chance to sign on a brief that was written the way we wrote this one. He did not mind. He knew that what we were saying was right. He was willing to put his name behind that even though it might have caused blowback because thats the kind of man that he was. And i will miss that. We have too little of that in this country these days, and, steve, godspeed. I yield the floor. And i mr. Coons our respects to steve susman, a man of rare distinction. Distinction. The senate is spending the week working on nominations will cope in 19 economic aid packages prepared. Republicans are working out several ideas, including unemployment benefit pension. Another round of checks moderate to low income taxpayers and aid to state. Live coverage when we return on cspan2. During the summer months reach out to your elected officials with cspans congressional directory. It contains all the Contact Information you need to stay in touch with members of congress, federal agencies and state governors. Order your copy online today at cspan store. Org. It is my personal privilege right me to yield to our beloved colleague, the distinguished gentleman from georgia, congressman john lewis. By gurob 50 miles from montgomery. Little place called joy. My father was a sharecropper. But back in 1944 when i was only four years old, my father made 300. Did with that 300 he bought 1110 acres of land. My family is so on that land today. How many of you remember when you are or . What happened to the rest of us . It was many, many years ago when we visited the little town of troy, visit birmingham , i saw signs white men black men. My mother, my father, my grandpa turns my greatgrandparents why. I said thats the way it is. Dont get in the way, dont get in trouble. But one day in 1965, 15 years old. I heard about rosa parks. I heard the words from Martin Luther king on the radio. 1957 i met rosa parks at the age of 17. 1968 at the age of 18 i met Martin Luther king jr. And these two individuals inspired me to it get in the way, to get in trouble. So i come here to say to you this morning on this beautiful campus with a great education, you must find a way to get in the way. He must find a way to get in trouble, good trouble. [applause] use your education you have wonderful teachers, wonderful professors. Researchers, use what you have. Use your tools. Help make our country and make our world a better place where no one would be left out or left behind. You can do it and you mustnt do it, it is your time. [applause] in a few short days this will be called the mississippi summer project more than a thousand students from all over america made a trip to mississippi to encourage people to register to vote. In the summer night on june 21, 19643 young men that i know two whites and one africanamerican went out to investigate burning of an africanamerican church that was used for Voter Registration workshop. These three young men, there rested taking to jail taken out of jail, turned over to the clan were beaten shot and killed. Outside today these three young men did not die in vietnam. They did not die in the middle east, or eastern europe, they did not die and africa or central or south america or the date died in our own country to become participants in the democratic process. As young people you must understand there are forces that want to take us back to another. Weve made too much progress and we are going forward. There may be some setbacks, some delays, some disappointments but you must never ever give up or give in. You must keep the faith and keep your eyes on the prize. That is your calling, that is your mission, that is your moral obligation, that is your mandate. Get out there and do it. Get in the way. [applause] we all must learn to give live together as brothers and sister sisters. We all live in the same house and it does not matter whether we are black or white. From native american whether your straight or yea. We are one people, one family, we all live in the same house. Be bold. Be courageous. Stand up, speak up, speak out, and find a way to create the beloved world. The world of peace. The world they would recognize the dignity of all humankind. Never become bitter. Never become hostile. Never hate. Live in peace. The one people and one love, thank you very much. [applause] [applause] [applause] [applause] [applause] Memorial Services are congressman john lewis continue as his casket now resides at the nations capital. The civil rights leader will lie in state outside the capitals east front due to social distancing guidelines. A live continuous stream of our coverage on cspan. Org. Tonight, on the communicators, Oregon Republican congressman greg walden. Theres great admiration for the innovation and brilliance that just pulses in silicon valley. Ive been out there and toured a lot of the companies, met with a lot of the leaders. My gosh its so exciting to see what is being developed and what the future holds. I will be careful how i say this and i will probably offend somebody prayed theres also an air against that comes with that incredible productivity and innovation that tends to downplay the affect that they have on Public Policy and people are engaged in Public Policy. I will just say that when youre that good, youre that big, youre that strong, youre that innovative. Sometimes you think you can discard sort of public reaction or political reaction. Subic tonight at 8 00 p. M. Eastern on the communicators on cspan2. Carlos and menaces the mayor and shamir Miamidade County in florida he spoke of the washington riposte about the countys response to the pandemic