Into the darkness, the sound of your footsteps causes tribulations to hide. Almighty god, permit our lawmakers to be aware of your providential guidance. May they depend on you to lead them according to your will. Give them the wisdom to trust you when they cant see the road before them. Believing that you will be their light in the darkness. Would he we pray in your great name, amen. Would you please join me in the pledge of allegiance to the flag. I pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States of america and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Mr. President. Senator from iowa. Permission to address the nate for one minute. Without objection. Americans from coast to coast hunkered down to stop the spread of the virus. Office workers, including my staff here in washington, adapted to work from home, but not all americans can do their job from home. Many must work away from home to provide essential services for our communities. Im talking about workers who harvest, process and deliver our food. The crews who provide Sanitation Services and keep our communications, transportation and energy grids running around the clock. Americas postal workers and Truck Drivers who deliver mail and transfer goods across the country. The Grocery Store clerks and factory workers who make toilet paper, diapers and Consumer Products we cant live without. On behalf of iowans and the rest of america, i thank the frontline workers who are on the job, working away from home in the line of duty. Thank you all for your service and sacrifice. I yield the floor. The leader. Senate is back in session in this unusual period for our nation, its been more than five weeks since this full senate last convened. Now, as i explained on march the 25th, right before we passed the cares act, 960, the senate has kept right on working this whole time. We monitor the implementation of that bill, the largest rescue package in american history, and strengthened it where necessary. We passed further legislation to provide even more economic assistance, even more support for testing, even more relief for hospitals, and health care workers. This deadly coronavirus does not take days off and so the United States senate has not either. For more than a month we were among the Many Americans who have found creativity ways to telework and continue doing our jobs remotely, but now the time has come for us to continue conducting our nations business in ways that are only possible with senators here in the capital. And so, for this work period, the senate will shift out of the ranks of those americans who are working remotely, and into the ranks of americans working in essential sectors, who are listening to expert guidance and modifying their routines and ultimately continue to man their posts to keep their country running. If its essential, theyre brave health care workers, Grocery Store workers, Truck Drivers and many other americans carefully show up to work, then its essential that their u. S. Senators carefully show up ourselves and support them. I want to thing thank the dedicated men and women working for solutions so the senate can take these careful steps back toward inperson operations. Dr. Brian monahan and the entire office of the attending physician, well done. Everyone in the office of management and budget of the architects of the capital, sergeant at arms, secretary of the senate and our colleagues on the rules committee and their staff, of course, the team that support our networks and telecommunications, were working hard day and night during these weeks of remote work, even more broadly, mr. President , i want to recognize and thank all, all the essential senate staff who are here with us today in person so the senate can function. Whether they be Staff Members in our own offices and committee offices, all the nonpartisan professionals who serve the institution itself. In particular, our facilities employees, custodians, food service staff, and of course the men and women of the capitol police. Were grateful for your service and more importantly, your country is grateful for your service. You are literally helping our government function in the midst of this crisis. The senates back in session because we have important work to do for the nation, critical posts throughout the federal government, from public health, to National Security and beyond, remain vacant. Qualified nominees who have been held up too long already have become even more necessary in these uncertain times. On the floor, and in committee, the senate will be acting on key nominations that relate directly to the safety of the American People, oversight of our coronavirus legislation, and more. We need to continue to maintain and safeguard our Domestic Nuclear resources, that is ours first nominee, mr. Fiedle. We need to keep protecting our nation against foreign intelligence services, that as another nominee will be moving soon, mr. Ivanoff. Those around the world who are working hard against america are not going to wait until the senate is taking over. Mr. President , i dont think that anyone could argue that filling National Security posts is not essential senate business, but to any of my colleagues who may wish that we did not have to devote floor time and roll call votes to these nominations, id simply say, i agree with you. I agree with you. Unfortunately, for more than three years now, my colleagues in democratic leadership has used across the board obstruction to force floor time and even cloture vote for the subcabinet nominations that used to travel easily by voice vote. So if any of my colleagues on the other side wished that we could recover the senates tradition, and spend less floor time on these sorts of nominations, i would invite them to share that view with the distinguished Democratic Senate leadership and advise them to change, but as long as floor votes and cloture votes remain the only way to fill Important Senate posts, thats what we will do. We cannot let Nuclear Watch dogs or Counter Intelligence leaders stay on the sidelines. So, mr. President , the senate is going to be as smart and safe as we possibly can and we are going to show up for work like the essential workers that we are. Our bosses are the American People and theyre counting on us to keep on serving. Its good to see the chair and all of our colleagues again. Im grateful that all 100 of us have come through the last several weeks safely and in good health. Now, lets Work Together across the aisle, and get some more work done for twith the america people. Mr. President , the senate convened a session this evening during a trying time for our nation. As we speak, millions of our citizens are respecting stayathome orders and doing their part to stop the spread of this pernicious disease. Millions are newly unemployed, depending on the actions we take here in congress to stave off financial disaster. More than one million americans have been tested positive for covid19. More than 67,000 lives have been lost. My home staf