Most graduations have a different look this year due to the pandemic. But the occasion hasnt lost its significance. Graduations are a time to celebrates the hard work and dedication students put into their education. I want to congratulate all iowans graduating this spring as you begin a new chapter in your life. Barbara and i wish you all continuous success. The pandemic continues to nation on high alert. More than 1. 4 million americans have been infected and more than 80,000 lives have been tragically lost. The livelihoods of tens of millions of working families have been turned upside down in what seems like the blink of an eye. The nations Healthcare System hasnt been stretched by contagion on this scale in over a century. Unemployment hasnt been this high since the second world war. A newth generation from the medical professionals and web researchers and Grocery Store workers to custodians and Community Volunteers have been called to the front lines to serve. For several weeks now, mr. President , the senate has counted or so among the ranks. Showing up for the country, so we are showing up for them with respect to the pandemic itself we are conducting oversight of the historic act rescue package helping to plan towards the reopening. They engage with that model and other top experts to discuss the path for schools and businesses to reopen and a number of colleagues are joining me and senator cornyn about the liability that could crush the recovery on the runway. We need strong Legal Protections to ensure the efforts are not drained away from healthcare workers, schools and universities or Small Businesses in order to line the pockets of trial lawyers and at the same time weve kept our eye on the ball last week the senate authorized surveillance for the National Security professionals and we also made sure to include important new reforms to begin eo address the abuses in the 2016 election the disturbing details of which continue to come to light every day. Our action on that subject is not finished. The leadership from senator rubio is passed legislation to continue ratcheting up the pressure on the Chinese Communist party and in this case it would shed new light and impose new consequences for the egregious abuses against the people and other muslim minorities. And the important roles of the National Counterintelligence security center, the Nuclear Regulatory commission, the department of Homeland Security and the department of housing and urban development. Other words, mr. President , weve done more for the American People in two weeks on this site and their representatives have done in the last month. In the two months that House Democrats got away, they gave themselves just one assignment. Draft an enormous political messaging bill and brand it as coronavirus relief. But even on this business, they failed. The 1800 page doorstop was appropriately greeted as the legislative equivalent of a standup comedy. There were tax hike is in the midst of a smallbusiness crisis. There were targeted tax cuts for the wealthiest people in the blue states. E there were two separate taxpayerfunded studies on diversity and inclusion in the market and some 3 trillion dollar wish list in the effort to never let a good crisis go ao waste. Serious work here in the senate. The senate will stay on course and consider our work at this serious time. Tomorrow morning our colleagues on the committee will hear from secretary and chairman powell on the latest status of the act implementation efforts. The Homeland SecurityGovernment Affairs committee wilgovernmento consider the nomination of brian miller to serve as ther special Inspector General for the Pandemic Recovery programs. The special committee will be examining the challenges facing american seniors during this pandemic as both the virus itself and social distancing measures take a heavy toll on Older Americans and of course we will continue to uphold our responsibility is beyond the scope and consider more nominations to the federal Election Commission and federal llbench. Tomorrow our colleagues on the Intelligence Committee will vote on reporting the nomination to serve as the director of national intelligence. This role is essential for countering the threats from russia to china to the groups and to ensure the intelligence communitys input and work by the bipartisan bias or political weaponization. We have a busy week ahead of us. This pandemic isnt going to defeat itself. A careful reopening will not plan itself and the nations other challenges are not about to politely step aside we are going to keep them safe and supportive while they do. Now for the third week in a row, the republican majority in the senate has no related business on the agenda. For the third week in a row, leader mcconnell scheduled zero votes on legislation having