To covering congress. Today in the Senate Lawmakers will debate the nomination of eileen cannon to be u. S. District court judge for the Southern District of florida. Votes are expected at noon eastern. Now live to the floor 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. Eternal master, we honor you for your glory and strength. Your glory fills us with reverence and your strength inspires us with courage. Bless our lawmakers. Inspire them to find fulfillment in the splendor of holiness. Lord, remind them that you expect people of faith to illuminate the darkness of this world with exemplary actions that prompt people to glorify you. May our senators remember that their conduct, particularly during times of adversity, has longterm consequences. Lord, we praise you that you continue to rule our universe. We pray in your awesome 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 iowa is home for a lot of people that have heritage from the Czech Republic and the slovak republic. So november 17 is coming up pretty soon. It marks the 31st anniversary of the velvet revolution in czechoslovakia. In 1989, the czech people stood up against communist rule and through nonviolent demonstrations precipitated the nations transition to democracy. The velvet revolution lasted 41 days and in the end ended 41 years of communist control of czechoslovakia. Jingling keys became a symbol of the revolution and of the new doors that democracy and freedom from communism would unlock for those great people in czechoslovakia. Now we have two countries, the Czech Republic and the slovak republic. We also have a National Czech and slovak mnuchin in cedar rapids, iowa. That museum helps to educate americans about these events i just talked about and most importantly to teach them about the importance of never giving up on fighting for freedom. I yield the floor i yield the floor. Mr. Mcconnell mr. President. The presiding officer the majority leader. Mr. Mcconnell last week the country and the world received some really great news that weve longed for quite a while to hear. A major American Drug company, together with their german partner, announced that their candidate for a covid19 vaccine appears to be at least 90 effective in trials. That is 90 90 90 . Dr. Fauci called these preliminary results extraordinary. Another expert called the news, quote, as good as you could hope for. Of course, tests and trials are ongoing. The f. D. A. Will perform its own thorough review which will include analyzing months of safety data. The American People should rest assure there are appropriate and necessary measures to assure the safety and efficacy of any vaccine before it is rolled out to the American People. But this will proceed with the lifesaving urgency that is called for. Right now covid19 is has continued to spread across the country at rates that are not sustainable and which we must try to slow. Yesterday my home state of kentucky just logged our highestever daily total, 2,700 new cases. The Positivity Rate of our tests is the highest since early may. Its urgent that all americans continue the smart steps that have gotten us this far, wearing masks, social distancing, adapting our plans and our routines. This virus is not going to magically leave us alone if we decide were fed up with taking precautions. But thank god and thanks to the brilliant scientists we may look back on this hopeful announcement as the beginning of the end of this terrible ordeal. I said back in march that our country was about to meet a whole lot of brandnew heroes, many were going to be doctors and nurses, others were going to be essential workers who kept society going, and some are going to be the men and women who worked like crazy in labs and Research Centers until we had this virus beat. But every single american has a role. As cases continue to climb, the simple advice, wear a mask, practice social distancing, wash your hands are now just as important as ever. So, of course, mr. President , discovering the vaccine will only be a part of the battle. Once one or more candidates have been proven effective and safe, it will be a second herculean undertaking to distribute doses of the vaccine throughout our country. This is why this senate and the Trump Administration have been on the case for months. As part of the historic cares act we created operation warp speed, an historic effort that combined interagency government work with private partnerships. This was a 21st century Manhattan Project for a covid vaccine. We helped to fund several firms. We committed billions of dollars in advanced purchase agreements. We flattening regulatory barriers to speed the process, we provided backing so companies could begin mass producing vaccine doses before Clinical Trials fully concluded so wed have a head start on whichever ones wound out working. If we stay on track, we will have a vaccine in a time frame that is absolutely historic. Absolutely historic. President Trumps Administration and this congress should take huge pride in the groundwork that we laid. Now, strangely enough, mr. President , some are finding it challenging to simply applaud this unambiguous good news. The democratic governor of new york opined a few days ago that it was, quote, bad news that a vaccine breakthrough may have been reached because President Trump is still in office. Now, i understand Governor Cuomo has written a selfcongratulatory book on leadership. This after his own state has been pummeled by the disease and his own administration intentionally sent thousands of covid19 positive patients into vulnerable nursing homes. The governor has the temerity to say this vaccine breakthrough is partially bad news. Partially bad news . Because it occurred under the Trump Administration. He gestured vaguely toward unspecified concerns about distribution. I guess he would have preferred the lifesaving breakthroughs be delayed longer with more american deaths in the meantime. The irony, as our colleague, the senior senator from tennessee, has pointed out is that the plans that are in place put states in the drivers seat for arranging distribution and making sure the most vulnerable citizens receive access. The federal government is there to provide guidance and support. As senator alexander said, the governor of new york might want to devote more time and attention to developing this crucial plan rather than undermining Public Confidence for the sake of politics. Sadly, this isnt anything new. Just a few weeks ago the democratic governors of both new york and california both began openly second guessing the food and Drug Administration and doubting its ability to assess the safety of a vaccine. There was suggestions that blue states may set up their own state review boards and with hold lifesaving vaccines for their own people, for who knows how long, until this extra obstacle had been hurdled. This is why this is where they are. Vaccines arent vaccines if a republican is president until new york and california reinvent their own miniature f. D. A. s. To be clear, americans purchased nearly four billion prescriptions every single year four billion prescriptions. Trusting the expertise and professionalism of the f. D. A. That is the trusted authority. Nobodys crying out for liberal governors to add their own good House Keeping seal of approval let alone potentially delay the end of covid19 to do so. If this vaccine proves to be the one, citizens in new york and california should not have it withheld from them because their governors care more about opposing President Trump than about hard science. This reminds me of when the junior senator from california declared back in september during her Vice President ial campaign that she might hesitate to trust a vaccine. The whole the whole country understands that our democratic friends are not charter members of the donald trump fan club. We know that. They do not need to dabble in the early stages of antivac conspiracy theories to prove it. In fact, for the sake of Public Health and Public Confidence and saving lives, they have a moral obligation to stop it. If a vaccine has been found and distribution can begin soon, thats good news, not bad news. It would be a major victory for our country and the world, fueled fueled by American Innovation and aided by project warp speed thanks to this senate and this Trump Administration. It would save thousands and thousands of american lives and Public Confidence will be essential. So heres where we are. Leaders on all sides on all sides have a duty to act accordingly. The presiding officer 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, the judiciary, Aileen Mercedes cannon, of florida, to be United States district judge for the Southern District of florida. Mr. Mcconnell i suggest the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum quorum call quorum call a senator mr. President . The presiding officer the senator from maryland. Mr. Van hollen thank you, mr. President. The presiding officer were in a quorum call. Mr. Van hollen mr. President , i ask that the quorum call be suspended. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Van hollen thank you, mr. President. Yesterday we came together as a country, not as republicans, not as democrats or independents but as americans to recognize the service and sacrifice of our veterans, men and women who served in uniform to protect our country and to defend our democracy. Mr. President , the ongoing attacks that President Trump has launched on our democracy is an insult to those who have sacrificed so much to defend it. And so, too, is the complicity of so Many Republican senators right here in this body who through their silence or active incitement are spreading Donald Trumps absurd false narrative that he won the election. Each of us, each of us in this body has sworn an oath to protect and defend the constitution of the United States, to stand up for our democracy, to support the peaceful transfer of power established there. My colleague, it is time for every senator to do your sworn duty and stand up for the constitution and for our democracy. Make no mistake, on january 20, joe biden will be sworn in as the next president of the United States and Kamala Harris will be sworn in as the next Vice President of the United States. But that does not mean that what donald trump is doing now is harmless. That does not mean that the silence or active complicity of so Many Republican senators is harmless. It is down right dangerous to the health of our democracy and to our National Security interests. We have enough challenges protecting our democracy from foreign enemies and foreign adversaries who seek every day to undermine faith and confidence in democratic institutions. Here in the United States and other democracies around the world. The last thing we need is for people to attack that confidence from within the United States. This is doing harm, mr. President , in the short term and the long term to our National Security, putting us at risk. In the short term, we are seeing a very dangerous purge of top National Security officials at the Defense Department and other places. These are officials with whom i have many policy differences, but they are competent managers, they are qualified individuals, and what youre seeing this president do in the death throes of his administration is purging those qualified individuals and replacing them with people whose only credentials is loyalty to President Trump. Replacing competent, qualified individuals with political lackeys. That is dangerous at any time. Its especially dangerous to mess around with the top leadership of our National Security agencies during a transition to power. Thats what the 9 11 commission told us. And yet what youre seeing President Trump do is play with matches when it comes to our National Security. To put personal political peeves above the National Security interests of the United States. In addition to purging individuals from some of our top National Security agencies, the president is prohibiting the government of the United States which belongs to the people of the United States from providing daily Intelligence Briefings and other Intelligence Briefings to the incoming president , president elect joe biden. Now, we all know that President Trump has been notorious for not being interested in those Intelligence Briefings, but i think all of us who know joe biden from the time he served as senator and Vice President , we know he takes these things seriously and he takes threats that might be learned through those Intelligence Briefings seriously. And to deny the next president of the United States access to those briefings which is part of the tradition, part of the rules that weve developed to ensure steady transfer and making sure the next president has the information needed on day one, that is outright grossly negligent when it comes to our National Security. And its time for our Senate Republican colleague to be speaking out loudly about that. That, of course, is part of the consequence of the fact that the General Services administration has been unwilling to provide the traditional funds to support the peaceful transfer of power. This is another gross abuse of the government which belongs to the people of the United States, not to donald trump. In addition, you have the secretary of state, secretary pompeo, instructing the department of state not to pass along messages from foreign leaders to the next president of the United States, president elect joe biden. Again, another gross abuse of power and of course secretary pompeo undermined this faith in our transition to democracy himself when he talked about the fact that were transitioning to the second trump term. This is the person, this is the individual who is supposed to represent the United States of america overseas, the person who is supposed to stand up for our democracy. And yet here at home, hes undermining faith in that democracy. And who does that give aid and comfort to . Our adversaries and enemies abroad, people who want our democracy to fail. I dont know if our republican colleagues have noticed who has congratulated the president elect joe biden and who has not among foreign leaders. Well, our democratic allies around the world have congratulated the next president of the United States joe biden. The united kingdom, france, germany, canada, the leaders of democratic governments and countries have all acknowledged that our democracy is working and that they are recognizing the next president of the United States. Who has refused so far to congrat late congratulate the next president of the United States joe biden . Vladimir putin, president xi, the leader of north korea. What President Trump is doing and what our republican colleagues are doing by their silence is aiding and abetting thes