The nomination of the white house budget director. A vote on that is exacted at 5 30 p. M. Eastern today. This week Senate Lawmakers are expected to continue work on the Defense Authorization for 2021. This is live coverage of the senate here on cspan2. The president pro tempore the senate will come to order. The chaplain, dr. Black, will open the senate in prayer. The chaplain let us pray. O lord, as our lips are open in prayer, so may our hearts be open to receive your holy spirit. Help us to bow to your will and live lives devoted to your providential leading. Lord, we thank you for your providence that brought us the gift of representative john lewis. Were grateful he was a drum major for justice, truth, and righteousness. May his exemplary life and legacy remind us of the Transformative Impact one dedicated person can make on our nation and world. Today, please our senators in their work. Let faith, hope, and love abound in their lives. May they seek to heal the hurt in our world and to be forces for harmony and goodness. We pray in your holy name. Amen. The president pro tempore please join me in reciting the pledge of allegiance. I pledge 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. Grassley mr. President. The presiding officer the senator from iowa. Mr. Grassley one minute for morning business. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Grassley Representative Government is a twoway street. To hold up my part of that commitment, im on my 40th year of holding at least one q a in every county every year. Over the past two weeks, i had a q a in 29 counties. Iowans raised their concerns about the virus, unemployment insurance, the rising costs of prescription drugs, china, and access to rural broadband. Iowans applauded Congress Swift actions on programs like the Paycheck Protection Program and getting muchneeded resources to our Rural Health Care workers. As always, i will continue to bring iowans voices to the policymaking tables, and i look forward to finishing my annual 99county meetings later this year. I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call mr. Mcconnell mr. President. The presiding officer the majority leader. Mr. Mcconnell on friday, the nation lost the presiding officer the senate is in a quorum call. Mr. Mcconnell i ask consent that further proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed with. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Mcconnell on friday, the nation lost a monumental figure, someone who made huge personal sacrifices to help our nation move past the scent of racism and align more with the principles of our founding. John lewis had secured his place among the giants of American History before his career in congress had even begun. From a sharecroppers farm with no electricity or running water, John Lewis Rose to share the stage with dr. Dr. Martin luther king jr. As a founding leader of the midcentury Civil Rights Movement. His unwavering example of nonviolent resistance became a powerful rallying cry, swelling the ranks at marches and sitins, and commanding the attention of the nation. As a young student, john demonstrated wisdom beyond his years and unimaginable patience and dignity in the face of harassment and brutal assaults from the champions of segregation. From boycotts and sitins to bloody sunday in selma, he suffered and suffered and suffered. But he kept working. He was unshaken in the belief that our nation could do better. And he was willing to pay for that progress with his own blood. Because of justice the cause of justice called john lewis to the vanguard. From organizing the lunch counter sitins that made nashville the First Southern city to begin desegregating Public Places to leading the first historic freedom riders across the south to chairing the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee that helped mobilize a generation. To addressing the march on washington from the lincoln memorial. By the time he turned 25, john had already lent his voice and his body to a full lifetimes work. But he wasnt finished yet. That same spirit of urgency followed him here to washington. Whether the days issues found him on your side of a policy debate or the opposite side, his warmth, friendliness, and dedication to his neighbors in georgias Fifth District made an impact on everyone. Im reminded particularly of joining hands with him at a ceremony here in the capitol honoring his friend, dr. King, in 2008 as members of congress sang we shall overcome. It was humbling to reflect on what the man standing next to me had suffered and sacrificed so that those words could be sung at such an occasion in that place. So, mr. President , the memory of our colleague brings to mind dr. He famously said, quote, the arc of the moral universe is long, and it bends toward justice. It would be a mistake to read those words and assume that he meant this bending is inevitable. Our society has only marched towards justice because great figures like congressman john lewis took it upon themselves to lead the way. So the nation mourns his passins passing, and we celebrate the life of this american hero. Now, on an entirely different matter, its been a half a year since the deadly coronavirus began to spread from china throughout the world. 3. 7 million cases have been recorded on american soil. More than 140,000 lives have been lost. Today, our nation stands at a challenging crossroads. States and localities are trying to balance the need to reopen and foster economic recovery with the need to stay on offense against the virus. Back in march, the American People began a period of historic disruption and heroic sacrifice in order to stunt the spread of the virus. Life as we had known it was simply put on ice. Daily routines were reinvented. Not as a permanent solution but as a shortterm emergency measure to save our Health Care System. The American People stepped up. They sacrificed to save lives nowhere in the United States did hospitals suffer the fate of the medical systems in places like italy. Our nation met new kinds of american heroes, doctors, and nurses who worked double shifts, washed their hands raw, and endured physical separation from their loved ones so they could continue to treat ours. Essential maintenance, delivery, and Grocery Store workers who kept clocking in to keep families, communities, and entire industries supplied and functioning. Teachers and parents who tried their best to keep school in session for our nations children from virtual classrooms and kitchen tables all across our country. No generation before us has ever had to pull the emergency brake on National Life in quite this way. And this historic challenge required historic support. So the senate wrote and passed the largest rescue package in history. The cares act put Financial Assistance in the pockets of American Families. It sent hundreds of billions of dollars so that employers could keep paying workers. It mobilized unprecedented resources for the medical response. Economists and experts across the spectrum agreed that the senates bold bipartisan policies have made a tremendous difference these past months. So, mr. President , the question before the senate this week is, where are we now . Where are we now . On the one hand our health care fight against the virus itself is very obviously unfinished. New spikes in large and economically Central States show that we are nowhere near out of the woods. At the same time, neither economics nor our nations sanity would sustain an indefinite total lockdown until theres a vaccine. So even as we continue to fight the health care battle, cautious reopenings will need to proceed in ways that are as smart, safe, and data driven as possible. This is the situation facing the senate as we discuss and consider the possibility of another recovery package. It would neither be another multitrillion dollar bridge loan to make up for a totally shut down economy nor an ordinary stimulus for a nation ready to get back to normal. The need now lies somewhere in between. We need to continue supporting our Health Care System and harbor no delusion that this virus is behind us because it isnt while also taking strategic steps to help laid off American Workers get rehired and American Families get their kids back in school this fall. That is why Senate Republicans will be putting forward a strong starting point for additional recovery legislation hopefully as soon as this week. It will take a goodfaith bipartisan cooperation from our democratic colleagues to actually make a law. That productive spirit is what got the cares act across the finish line unanimously. But last month that spirit was absent. A political determination from our democratic colleagues led them to block, block the justice act and block the senate from even turning to the subject of Police Reform even as millions had taken to the streets demanding change. So for the sake of our nation, if we want to continue helping the American People the next several weeks, well need to look a lot more like march and a lot less like june. Senate republicans will put forward our proposal soon. I hope our democratic colleagues will be ready to Work Together to get an outcome. But first, mr. President , this week the senate will complete two other important pieces of the peoples business. First, well continue the president s well confirm the president s choice to head the office of management and budget. Then well finish and pass the annual national Defense Authorization act for a 60th consecutive time. As covid19 captured our nations attention, we knew our adversaries around the world would not ease up. We knew that those who seek to harm america, our interests, and our allies would use the commotion to show even more of their true colors. And sure enough, the Russian Military has flirted even closer to the boundaries of u. S. Air space. Iran has stepped up its meddling in regional conflicts. China has escalated both its international bullying and its domestic repression, such as in hong kong. So im particularly encouraged that chairman inhofe, Ranking Member reed, and our Committee Colleagues have put forward a robust, bipartisan bill. It will invest in the training and technology that will keep our fighting forces on the cutting edge. It will strengthen our alliances and partnerships with shared systems for containing threats. It will honor our Service Members and their families with the pay raises and Topnotch Services they deserve here at home. That means new investments and 5g systems and hyper sonic weapons, the establishment of european and Pacific Defense initiatives for greater cooperation to check russia and china, and improving military family housing, education, and health care. The ndaa will build on the success of the last three years and rebuilding and modernizing the worlds greatest fighting forces. It will continue to advance our new National Defense strategy putting aside the naive recess of the past administration and continuing to invest in strength instead. So ill be proud to vote to advance and pass the ndaa and i would hope all of our colleagues will join me. Now, mr. President , i understand theres a bill at the desk due a second reading. The presiding officer the leader is correct. The clerk will read the title of the bill for the second time. The clerk h. R. 7120, an act to hold Law Enforcement accountable for misconduct in court and so forth. Mr. Mcconnell in order to place the bill on the calendar under provision of rule 14, i would object to further proceedings. The presiding officer the objection having been heard, the bill will be placed on the calendar. Under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved. Morning business is closed. Under the previous order, the senate will proceed to executive session to resume consideration of the following nomination which the clerk will report. The clerk nomination, executive office of the president , Russell Vought of virginia to be director of the office of management and budget. Mr. Mcconnell i suggest the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. The presiding officer quorum call quorum call mr. Schumer mr. President . The presiding officer the democratic leader. Schumer . Mr. Schumer i ask unanimous consent that the quorum be dispensed with. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Schumer now, mr. President , on friday, july 1, after six decades as one of our nations most preeminent civil right leaders, congressman john lewis, the conscience of the congress, pass way at the age of 80. His trials and tribulations and triumphs are well known to all of us. At the ripe old age of 25 he led thousands of marchers across a bridge in alabama risking their liberias lives for the right to vote. On that fateful sunday, his head dizzy and bleeding, he found the courage and strength to reach the other side of the bridge and he never stopped marching. From the freedom rides to selma, from his leadership of the sncc, for his four decades in congress, he never stopped marching. His actions as a young man helped change the trajectory of a nation and brought about the Voting Rights act. Then he went to congress and renewed that law again and again. He sat in against segregation at lunch counters in the jim crow south and over 40 years later led another sitin on the house floor against gun violence. He spoke out for major equality long before it was popular. He challenged those who walk the corridors of power and then trod those corridors himself to bring Quality Health care, fair wages and social justice to georgians and americans everywhere. It is one thing in fleeing with the passion of youth to join in brave endeavors and it a good thing but even beyond that to sustain that activism and vision and efforts and, yes, that good trouble he talked about getting into over the steady and persistent dedication of a lifetime. But thats who john lewis was deep in his soul, man on a mission who forcefully but gently led us all to do more and do better, who loved his country so much that he risked his life and then spent his life trying to change it. Were an imperfect nation for sure but we have an ability to reinvent ourselves. The story of america is one of constant renewal. But that renewal has never been preordained. It is because americans have pushed and brooded, used their voices and their votes. To force our country to change over time, move ever closer to our highest ideals. In the story 6 america, there are certain heroes whose moral clarity shone out like a beacon for others to follow. North stars who have inspired their fellow americans to join them in the glorious work of bending the moral arc of the universe towards justice. John lewis was one of those special heroes. He paved the road and lit the path, pointed the way towards another bridges for us to cross. It wasnt by always being the loudest voice or the most intemperate. He led by the moral force of his example. Whether he would admit it or not, inspired millions. At president obamas inauguration, john asked the new president to sane a commemorative photo of the event. President obama simply wrote, because of you, john. I dont know how many people must have said that over the years because of you, john. And i never could guess the number who didnt even know to say it but whose lives were forever altered, whose dignity and freedom was made whole because of you, john. As a new generation of young people lift up their voices to claim black lives matter, the memory and legacy of john lewis lives on in each and every one of them. There are very few people who have changed the world for the better. John lewis is one of them. His life is a reminder of all thats the best in us and that we are all capable of doing that best. As we mourn his loss, id ask my fellow americans, including my colleagues in this body, to take up his mission. Many of the old enemies john faced down have not been veining wished. Racial disparities persist in the fabric of our society. So does the Police Violence that met a Young John Lewis and thousands of lawabading americans on that bridge over 50 years ago. The bridge he crossed is still named for the confederate officer, not for the righteous man who led the right for equality. The law he fought for has been gutted by the supreme court. Congress has the ability to restore it but only one Political Party seems interested in doing so. At the 50th anniversary of the march on selma, congressman lewis acknowledged that his mission was not yet complete. There is still work left to be done, he said. We must use this moment to recommit ourselves to finish the work. He told us to get out there and push and pull. Until we redeem the soul of america. As we confront our turbulent past, a pernicious disease, vast Economic Hardship and inequality, the ancient evil of racial