Tillis and ron johnson tested positive for covid19 in recent days. They approved all legislative business would be pushed to the week of october 19 with only pro forma sessions scheduled between now and then you live now to the senate floor. The site will come to order. The chaplain will lead the senate in prayer. Let us pray. Mighty god, you are our dwelling place and underneath are your everlasting arms. May our president and first lady feel your healing touch. My our senators who are dealing with the personal Health Challenge of covid19 also experience your divine healing and comfort. Lord, we trust in your support. For you continue to be the source of our hope and peace. To the senate under the provisions of rule 1, paragraph 3, of the standing rules of the senate, i hereby appoint the honorable roger f. Wicker, a senator from the state of mississippi, to perform the duties of the chair. Signed chuck grassley, president pro tempore. Comoimed. Mr. Mcconnell mr. President. The presiding officer the majority leader. Mr. Mcconnell the senate spent the last few days, like all americans have, praying for quick healing and smooth recovery for President Trump and the first lady following their positive covid19 tests. I spoke to the president by phone twice this past weekend. Both times, his spirits were high. Both times, we talked about the peoples business, our nations fight against this pandemic, his exceptional nominee to the Supreme Court, judge barrett, as well as our efforts to continue rebuilding the economy for working families. Were also thinking of our friends and colleague, the senior senator for utah, the senior senator for wisconsin, and the junior senator from North Carolina who are currently working from home. The standard cliche would say that these past few days have provided a stark reminder of the dangers of this terrible virus. But the truth is that our nation did not need any such reminder. More than 209,000 of our fellow citizens have lost their lives. Millions have battled illness or had their lives disrupted by positive tests. This past weekend, my home state of kentucky just recorded its highest ever, highest ever oneday total for new cases. We all need to remain vigilant. We all need to remain careful. If the speaker of the house and the democratic leader had not spent months blocking another bipartisan relief package over unrelated farleft poison pills, we could have put hundreds of billions of more dollars for kids, jobs, and health care in the pipeline many weeks ago. For the sake of our nation, lets hope they finally lay down their partisan demands and let our country get back on offense against this disease. Now, in just a moment, i will move to withdraw the pending cloture petitions and recess the senate with pro forma meetings until two weeks from today. Members will receive at least 24 hours notice if any votes on urgent matters are scheduled before october 19. That would take bipartisan consent. Otherwise, the full senate will next meet on october 19. Obviously, the peoples business has not come to a halt in the absence of votes on the floor. The important work of our committees will go forward as each Committee Sees fit. Chairman graham has already northbound the Judiciary Committee will already announced the Judiciary Committee will meet as planned on october 12 to begin considering jurnlg barretts nomination to the Supreme Court. We are going ahead with the full, thorough, and timely confirmation process that judge barrett and the court deserve. The chairman has indicated the committee will use the same hybrid format with some participants appearing in person, others appearing over video that it has successfully used for more than 20 prior hearings this year. So let me say that again. The Judiciary Committee alone, just that committee, has held more than 20 hybrid hearings since the start of the pandemic. Many of these saw multiple senators participating via videoconference. Some of them saw nominees participating via videoconference. At times, the democratic members of the committee have gone literally out of their way to praise this technology and the chairmans flexibility with this format. Across all of our committees, weve had 150 hybrid hearings since the pandemic began. The senate has used this format no fewer than 150 times. We have continued performing our constitutional duties while protecting health and safety during the pandemic. Our democratic colleagues have largely welcomed this approach, and they have frequently taken advantage of it. So whatever mix proves to be the right decision at this time next week, it will be completely consistent with the committees own precedent and with the ways committees all across the senate have adapted and done their work throughout the pandemic. Our whole society is using these tools. Earlier today, the Supreme Court itself resumed conducting oral arguments via teleconference. As it has done since last spring. The senate has been using these process east processes for months. Just yesterday, the Ranking Member of the rules committee reminded the country that she helped set them up. Its nonsense for Senate Democrats to turn on a dime and now pretend these procedures are somehow no longer workable. Its nonsense to suggest that the tools that Senate Democrats have been happily using across all of our committees for months have suddenly gone bad overnight. Nobody is taking these disingenuous tactics at face value because the democrats have told everyone out loud about their real intentions. For weeks now, numerous Senate Democrats have publicly promised they would try every trick in the book, every trick in the book, every maneuver available to obstruct and delay a fair confirmation process. Weeks ago, the junior senator from hawaii pledged i will look for every procedural tool that i can to make sure this does not happen. Weeks ago, the senior senator from massachusetts we will need to use every tool. We need to think seriously about everything we can do to try to slow this down. The number two democratic senator, our friend from illinois, has said we will use whatever tools we have available to slow things down. Just yesterday, in the very same press conference where the democratic leader claimed that his latest calls to delay the hearings were rooted in health and safety concerns, he gave the game away just moments later. In that same press conference, he admitted, quote, we will use every tool in the toolbox to delay. So so much about health and safety concerns. Our democratic colleagues have admitted out loud what all these stalling tactics are about. Senate democrats have openly admitted they are grasping at straws to block this exceedingly wellqualified nominee from receiving a fair and prompt process. Look, we have months, months of experience. Governing this way while protecting health and safety here in the senate. This body will not cease to function just because democrats are afraid they may lose a vote. Chairman graham has all the options and procedures he needs to supervise a fair, thorough, and hopefully dignified confirmation hearing next week. And thats just what is going to happen. I look forward to seeing judge barretts brilliance and qualifications on full display starting one week from today. The presiding officer the senator from virginia. Mr. Kaine i would like to add on behalf of my democratic colleagues the concerns expressed for the president and first lady, that they recover quickly and fully. Having had coronavirus, likely contracted it here while we were working on the cares act in march, i understand how tricky this can be, and knowing four people who have died of coronavirus, how serious it can be. And so our prayers that this is a mild case and it passes quickly. I also extend the same concern on behalf of my democratic colleagues for the members of the senate who have recently tested positive and hope that they either have no symptoms or the symptoms pass quickly. I couldnt help but notice as i came into the senate today on the subway from the russell building that there is an advisory thats been posted for months down at the entrance to the senate that says that we are trying to follow c. D. C. Guidelines, but the advisory placard says nothing about masks, nothing. I have wondered about that as he passed before it in the past, but in light of the experience of the last few days, i think in order to fairly follow sciencebased guidelines and give people warnings about what they should do to protect their health, we might want to consider a different placard. Briefly, with respect to the majority leaders comments, i would love to be working on a covid bill. The house passed the democratic preferred covid bill, the heroes act in may. I understand the majority leader and his colleagues find things about it they dont like. There is no expectation that they would just take up the House Democratic bill and pass it, but we waited through may and in june and in july and then august until finally in mid to late september, the majority put a bill on the floor that we viewed frankly as insufficient. To take no funds for state and local government aid, no funds for rental or mortgage assistance, no funds for snap benefits or food aid, and it would have stricken state laws such as those that have been passed in virginia to try to provide a Workplace Safety standard for people returning to work in the days of covid. We voted the bill down, as the majority leader knows, but we did so with the expectation that that no vote would function much like the no vote in march functioned when we came in on a sunday and we voted down a partisan proposal, and a few days later, we had a bipartisan proposal, the cares act that has helped millions and millions of americans, small businesses, hospitals, families. We hoped that no vote would lead to the same negotiation that could potentially find a solution for americans who are still looking for relief. But the majority wants to now move to a different topic. They want to now speed through a Supreme Court nomination with an unprecedented speed, and indeed an unprecedented process. I understand that the majority leader might categorize the democrats concerns about proceeding at a time of great sickness as a procedural trick, but i dont think there is any unreasonableness to a Judiciary Committee members request that a hearing on the single most important appointment that the senate might make should be done in person, and that if its done in person, it should be done in person in a way thats safe, and that is the request that democrats would have and that we continue to believe would be in accord with the institutions norms but also the best thing for the safety of all members. And with that, mr. President , i yield the floor back. Mr. Mcconnell mr. President. The presiding officer the majority leader. Mr. Mcconnell i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to legislative session and be in 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 the cloture motions filed on wednesday, september 30, be withdrawn. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Mcconnell i ask unanimous consent that notwithstanding the provisions of the congressional review act, h. J. Res. 90 remain in status quo through october 19, 2020. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Mcconnell i ask unanimous consent that notwithstanding the upcoming adjournment of the senate, the president of the senate, the president pro tempore, and the majority and minority leaders be authorized to make appointments to commissions, committees, and boards, conferences, or interparliamentary conferences authorized by law by concurrent action of the two houses, or by order of the senate. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Mr. Mcconnell i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today, it adjourn to then convene for pro forma sessions only with no business being conducted on the following dates and times. And that following each pro forma session, the Senate Adjourn until the next pro forma session. Tuesday, october 6 at 11 30 a. M. Friday, october 9 at 10 00 a. M. Tuesday, october 13 at 8 45 a. M. Friday, october 16 at 4 30 p. M. I further ask when the Senate Adjourns on friday, october 16 it next convene at 4 30 p. M. Monday, october 19 and that following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour 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. Finally, following leader remarks the senate proceed to executive session to resume the newman nomination. The presiding officer is there objection . Mr. Kaine mr. President , reserving the right to object. The presiding officer the senator from virginia. Mr. Kaine reserving the right to object. Would the senator modify his request so that in lieu of reconvening on monday, october 19, there be additional pro forma sessions with no business conducted at 12 00 noon on the following dates, october 20, october 23, october 27, october 30, and november 3. Further, that when the Senate Adjourn on november 3, the senate next convene at 12 00 noon on wednesday, november 4 with the remaining provisions of the original request in effect. The presiding officer does the leader so modify his request . Mr. Mcconnell i object. The presiding officer the objection is heard. Is there objection to the original request . Without objection, so ordered. Mr. Mcconnell so, mr. President , if theres on further business to come before the senate, i ask that is stand adjourned under the previous order. The presiding officer the Senate Stands adjourned until 11 30 a. M. 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