Vote vote the presiding officer are there any other senators in the chamber wishing to vote or change their vote . If not, the yeas are 51, the nays are 42. The nomination is confirmed. The majority leader. Mr. Mcconnell i ask unanimous consent that with respect to the walker nomination, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table and the president be immediately notified of the senates action. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Mcconnell i move to proceed to legislative session. The presiding officer the question is on the motion. All in favor say aye. 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 number 717. The presiding officer the question is on the motion. All 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, the judiciary, cory t. Wilson to be United States circuit judge for the fifth circuit. 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 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 cory t. Wilson of mississippi to be United States judge for the fifth circuit, 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 unanimous consent the mandatory quorum call be waived. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Mcconnell i move to proceed to legislative session. The presiding officer the question is on the motion. All in favor say aye. Those opposed, no. The ayes appear to have it. The ayes do have it. The motion is agreed to. A senator mr. President. The presiding officer the senator more missouri. Mr. Blunt mr. President , over the weekend, we celebrated flag day where we honor our countrys flag as a symbol of unity. Its also a symbol of all the struggles we have gone through as a nation and the struggles ahead of us. Harry truman whose desk one of his desks he used on the senate floor is right here in front of me, once said that flag day is also a chance for us to consider what we want the flag to stand for. So i think its appropriate that were considering the best way we can make sure that the flag stands for all we want it to stand for and for all of us. Senator tim scott has introduced the justice act that would bring us closer to that idea. I was glad to be a cosponsor of the bill. I think this bill has the potential to make a real difference in how we deal with the real important issue of and difficult issue of police reform, and making sure that our communities are both safe and secure. You know, you can be safe in the sense that youre not in danger, but people also need to feel secure, meaning they have confidence that they will remain safe and that they will be treated fairly while they are safe. We need to be sure that all the people of our country believe that justice can be blind, but they can also dispense Justice Without fear or favor. Policing by its very nature is mostly a local function. There are around 18,000 Police Departments across the country. And most of the reforms can most be made at the local level or the state level. There are different ways that Police Systems are structured around the country. There are Different Levels of Law Enforcement and how they relate to each other. I dont think were going to do anything effectively in the congress to impact that, but i think there are some things we can do, both in the congress and the administration. I think senator scott has done a really good job of finding what many of those things are and how to make them happen with bipartisan support. There is a lot in this bill that just simply increases transparency and accountability. More reporting so the Justice Department has an idea of areas where problems seem to arise more frequently and maybe shouldnt. An area of reporting so a troublesome officer, as all of those troubled reported, if they have had problems with these issues of fairness or constitutional protection, and if that officer is applying at another Law Enforcement agency, that information should be readily available. There are two important ways to give people a sense of security. We do that recognizing that the majority of police in this country are not only not a problem, they do an incredibly hard job, and they do it in an incredible way. Its a job that we have to have. It has to be conscientiously, professionally, and courageously done. Law enforcement officers all over america do it. They get up and do a hard job every day. They run to danger when others run away. Its a hard job. Frankly, i think the hardest job in america might be to be the spouse of a Law Enforcement officer. Law enforcement officers really generally as a sense there are occasions when this isnt the case, but generally has a sense whether they are in imminent danger or not. The person who cares about them, the person who wonders all day wonders what at this exact moment is that individual facing and are they safe or not . The problem in policing is really a very few officers and maybe even a much fewer number of Police Departments where there is a systematic problem. I think if there is a systemic problem in a department, its hard for that department to solve that problem, and so some of what senator scotts legislation does helps create the tools that they might need to get that done or the tools that we might need as outside helpers to say heres a department that somebody needs to look at. His legislation can assure us that that small group of people in Law Enforcement who arent conducting themselves the way that everybody else in Law Enforcement does, that there is transparency, that there is reporting, that things cant just be swept under the rug, that an officer cant go from one department to another without the new department knowing exactly what they are getting. This legislation sets up more funding to make sure that body cameras are widely available and have to be used if you have them. I think there is plenty of evidence since 2014 when we had really the beginning of the modern body Camera Movement that if you have got those cameras on your body and you have got them on, that the escalation of violence, for whatever reason, happens much less frequently. Both the Police Officer knows that camera is on and the person they are dealing with knows that camera is on, and it seems to make a difference. Reporting when there are death or serious injuries due to the use of force, and those are investigated i believe in every department in america, but there is no reason they shouldnt also be reported to see if there is a pattern that involves either an individual officer or a pattern that involves a department that needs to be looked at. Sharing records as i said before critically important so that one bad officer doesnt get passed from one department to another there are things in the realm of training where this legislation helps officers get training on tactics to deescalate a situation when it comes out of control. Officers want this kind of training. Officers want the kind of training that makes it easier for them to understand if they are in a situation where Mental Health is the problem or opioid addiction is the problem or drug addiction is the problem. Are you dealing with a real criminal here or are you dealing with somebody who has gotten themselves in a situation that you need to figure out how to get them in a different and better place. While we need to move quickly to take up this legislation, i think there are some areas where the administration can act and is acting based on announcements that were made this week and things that werent announced this week. I talked to attorney general barr a couple of weeks ago as these incidents began to become more clear in the sense of problems that could be within entire Police Departments. And encouraged him to restore more of the pattern and practice reviews that were part of what the Justice Department used for about a decade. They were in place until november of 2018. I think they need to be back in place. Now, we know from past usage that they dont have to be used on any situation or every situation, but they can be used. Weve seen them used in my state, in ferguson, missouri, in surrounding st. Louis county that had a much bigger department, asked for a voluntary review in the city of st. Louis which has a big Police Department but not as big as st. Whether that review was voluntary or even if it involved a consent decree, i think that the case can be made that things happened in those three departments that might not have happened otherwise. The attorney general and i both agreed that if you dont have a tool in the toolbox, you cant use it. And the importance of seeing what you need to do to put every tool in the toolbox, even if its a tool that you have previously taken out and said well maybe we dont need that any longer, if you dont need it, you dont have to use it but youre certainly not going to be able to use it if you dont have it. President trump took some additional steps that i was supportive of and talked about earlier this week when you and i were at our leadership stake youtout,mr. President. Officers with better tools to deal with Mental Health, homelessness, addiction issues, excellence in Mental Health. Missouri is one of the eight excellence in Mental Health states. This is legislation, Bipartisan Legislation that ive worked on for several years with senator stabenow from michigan. It allows Law Enforcement to connect people with the help they need and wind up having them some place more appropriate than either jail or court. In fact, mr. President , the department of health and Human Services in monitoring this program says its led to a 60 decrease in jail time. Now part of that is a lot of people just dont wind up going to jail because it makes it more possible for people in many of the departments in my state and others to have a Constant Contact with that Mental Health professional. Maybe its on the ipad that theyre carrying with them where they can get that 24 7 connection with a health care professional. Certainly benefits from the training that many missouri officers have had now in crisis intervention in kansas city and st. Louis county and st. Louis city and spring field. Ive written to officers and talked to officers and watch how this happens. And that builds confidence. Senator scotts bill builds the same kind of confidence. Now, ive heard some of our friends on the other side say, well, im for 80 of whats in that bill. No, they dont even say that. They say im for 80 of the bill. Now whats the difference . Being for 80 of the bill means there are things in it that you dont want but they also say more frequently, no, that bill has 80 of what i want in it already. Well, let me remind our friends how you make a law. You make a law under the constitution. The house passes a bill and maybe you like that better. The Senate Passes a bill and maybe the senate has 80 of what youd like to see in the final bill, in the senate bill. And then you go to conference. It was taught in every civics school book that every member of the senate studied and we dont do it much anymore. You cant get to conference unless theres a senate product. No matter how much you love the house bill, if youre a member of the senate, you dont get to weigh in on the house bill unless you have a senate bill that allows you to go to that conference. This would be the perfect time when members of the senate say and you and i should be listening carefully over the next few days, when they say 80 of what i want is in that bill or 85 of what i want is in that bill, particularly if usually they say theres nothing in the bill. I dont want it. It just doesnt have everything i do want. Well, if 80 of what you want is in the bill and the house passes another bill that you like better, maybe you come out of that conference with 90 of what you want. If a solution that gets you 90 of what you want or 80 of what you want is the alternative to zero percent of what you want, if you want to be a legislator, youve got to figure out that that is a better path for you to take than the zero percent path. It would be tragic next week if the result of a us deliberation and of a house deliberation and this month the Senate Deliberation is that theres no further discussion because everybody decided if it wasnt everything they wanted, they didnt want to have the process that we used to call and the constitution calls and civics book calls the legislative process. These are not the first struggles we face together as a nation. We have come a long way. We still have a long way to go. Remember, the constitution doesnt talk doesnt even promise a Perfect Union. It promises a more Perfect Union. You get to a more Perfect Union one step at a time, not all at once. My guess is well always be on the journey toward a more Perfect Union. But senator scott has given us an opportunity to take some of the important steps on that journey and make the union more perfect than it is right now. I yield the floor. A senator mr. President . The presiding officer the senator for missouri. Mr. Blunt mr. President , i ask unanimous consent that the senate be in a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak therein for up to ten minutes each. The presiding officer without objection. Senator mr. President . The presiding officer the senator from from alaska. Ms. Murkowski thank you, mr. President. Mr. President , on tuesday, just a few days ago, i convened a hearing on the energy and Natural Resources committee. We were focused on the impacts of covid19 and how this pandemic has impacted our Nations Energy industry. Weve had a lot of discussion about the impact of covid on our nation, on our economy. I think its probably clear to say that every facet of our society has been impacted. But its certainly clear to me as a senator for the state of alaska and as chairman of the Energy Committee that the Energy Sector has suffered perhaps uniquely and i think acutely. Weve seen limits on business, on travel, on social activities, and when you think about those limitations, the farreaching consequences that they have for our Nations Energy producers whether it is those that produce oil and gas, coal, renewables, advanced technologies such as nuclear power, all those who help us produce our energy and use our energy more efficiently all aspects have been impacted. And at that hearing, we had some pretty good testimony. But our witnesses were able to explain and quantify some of those impacts. We heard that u. S. Oil production has declined by almost two Million Barrels per day. Spot prices for liquefied natural gas have effectively collapsed, creating challenges for export projects. Domestic electricity consumption projected to decline by 5. 7 this year. Largely due to the closure of businesses and then of course the shelterinplace orders. But its not just the oil and gas sector. The renewable Energy Sector has also faced substantial supply chain disruptions, the efficiency sector has faced health and safety restrictions in homes and buildings. Overall what we were told, the Energy Industry has lost an estimated 1. 3 million jobs since early march, including more than 600,000 Jobs Associated with clean energy. So good good reminder in terms of where weve seen this direct impact and the impact on jobs. But our hearing was also a reminder that the Energy Industry can be a key leader, really, be a sector that can really help lead our nations economic recovery. When you think about when you think about energy itself, this is a finished product, it is a feedstock, its a raw material, its an input, its an output, it is value added, its a natural resource, its a tradeable commodity, its a precious asset, it is Critical Infrastructure and emergency reserves, its financial collateral and its a source of highpaying an highskilled jobs in its own right. I think we recognize that current low prices are good for us. Were seeing our families pay less and thus they can devote more to other priorities. So underlying message here is the Energy Industry is is an important component to how we move to this phase of economic recovery. So so what can we do to help this industry and thus the broader economy recover . It was interesting because we had a panel of five five witnesses before us. Several of those witnesses all pointed to the same piece of legislation as one of the answers as to how we can help the economy recover, and that is a bill that those of us on the energy and Natural Resources committee developed throughout last year. We called it the American Energy innovation act. I just refer to it as our energy bill. But it will ensur