The presiding officer the senator from virginia. Mr. Warner mr. President , are we in a quorum call . The presiding officer we are. Mr. Warner i ask that the proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed with. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Warner mr. President , i rise today to celebrate the passage of the Great American outdoors act. The passage of this historic legislation marks a once in a generation step by this body to restore and conserve our National Parks as well as our countrys national heritage. It builds on an american tradition of conserving our natural wonders and shared public spaces. It reaffirms our commitment to preserve if for future generations. Its also important to note that this is a jobs bill. According to a recent study, the Great American outdoors act will help create or support 100,000 jobs all over the country, including 10,000 in my home state of virginia at a time when millions of americans are out of work. Currently the National Park servic
Starts right now. Today was the deadline for Donald Trumps legal team to file their brief with the senate for trumps upcoming Impeachment Trial. And it looks like trumps lawyers will be arguing that the trial is unconstitutional because trump is no longer president. Im going to use this. Im going to use this next time a cop pulls me over. Im going to be like, well, im no longer speeding. I was. I was. Im not now. Therefore this ticket is unconstitutional. Good morning. And welcome to morning joe. It is wednesday, february 3rd, along with joe, will li and me, we have White House Reporter for the Associated Press, jonathan lemire, former u. S. Senator now an nbc news and msnbc political analyst Claire Mccaskill and politics and Journalism Professor at Morgan State University and msnbc political contributor Jason Johnson is with us. So Donald Trumps second Impeachment Trial kicks off next week. And according to the case against him, the former president s role in the capitol hill riot is,
Spaces and respond to emergencies in cramped trucks. Police officers continue to respond to 911. These calls interact with the public in close quarters. While most of us are of waiting covid at all costs, state and county emt crews are transporting t the infected and others to hospitals for emergency care. Will i am inspired by the bravery of the First Responders, not at all surprised by the actions they take to protect the people they serve. First responders always answer the call to action. Selflessly placing others before themselves. In recognition of the sacrifices they made, congress established the peace Officers Program a long time ago in 1876. This provides First Responders with a one time payment if they die or are totally disabled. Let me be very clear. Nothing can ever put back together a family who has lost a loved one. But the Public Safety officers benefit program provide some Economic Relief to grieving families to give peace of mind to the First Responders themselves to
Opportunistic litigation. Madam, president , i yield the floor and note the absence of a quorum. I come to the floor to discuss a piece of legislation that senator booker and i worked on to help Public Safety officers. Since the covid19 pandemic beg began, over 100 First Responders have lost their lives to that virus. Unlike the rest of us, these brave men and women couldnt by the very nature of their work, stay home or social distance. In firehouses across the country, firefighters had to continue sharing confined spaces and respond to emergencies in cramped trucks. Police officers continued to respond to 911. These calls and also to interact with the public in very close quarters. And while most of us are avoiding covid at all costs, state and county emt crews are transporting the infected and the others to hospitals for emergency care. While im inspired by the bravery of these First Responders, im not at all surprised by the actions they take to protect the people they serve. First
Out there are literally tens of billions of dollars being spent now on vaccine research, on antiviral therapeutics, on testing, and we believe that in order for us to get our economy fully back, we have got to deal with the Health Emergency in front of us. So dollars have been made available. Hundreds of billions of dollars to health care providers, hospitals, doctors, nursing homes, providers on the n front lines on the front lines of this crisis and dealing to deal trying to deal with this challenge every day. We have focused on the economic crisis, the impact this has had on our Small Businesses, on our workers, and everything that was included in the bills that have already been passed, number four here in the United States senate, which have been signed into law by the president , have been singularly focused on trying to assist and get people through this time as a bridge to hopefully get the worst of us behind us and get it to a time when the economy begins to open up again. So