under confirmation in just over an hour. u.s. senate here on "c-span2". ... ... mr. schumer: mr. president? the president pro tempore: the majority leader. mr. schumer: now, the senate is laser-focused on confirming president biden's impressive cabinet while paving the way for another round of urgent covid relief. the two tasks will remain the top senate priorities over the next several weeks. by the end of this week, the senate will have confirmed three cabinet-level officials -- the u.n. ambassador, the secretaries of agriculture and energy, and will have set up confirmation votes early next week for the secretaries of education and commerce and the chair of the council of economic advisors. this week senate committees will held confirmation hearings on scores of other nominations including the president's candidates for attorney general, h.h.s. secretary, interior secretary, c.i.a. director, surgeon general and u.s. trade rep. at the same time democrats are preparing to proceed with the urgently needed president biden american rescue plan, a $1.9 trillion lifeline that will lay the foundation for economic recovery and a return to life as normal. we've come a long way in our fight against covid, but we still have a long way to go. over 60 million vaccinations have now been administered across the country. death rates are finally, finally declining. but while the trends are headed in the right direction, more americans are still dying per day than at any point during the worst weeks of last summer. the same goes for our economy. while there are green shoots, our country still remains ten million jobs short of where we were last january. that is nothing to trifle with or pass over. today's report on new jobless claims was the 49th week that the number was higher than at any point during the great recession. let me repeat that. today's report on the number of americans filing for unemployment benefits for the first time was the 49th week during the covid pandemic that new unemployment claims were higher than at any point during the great recession. in the words of federal chairman powell, hardly a big liberal, the economic recovery remains uneven and far from complete. and the path ahead is highly uncertain. that is from a very serious staid man not prone to any hypocrite at all. what he is -- to any hyperbole at all. we cannot slow down before the race is won. we must proceed boldly and decisively. senate democrats will move forward on the american reese skew plan as soon as possible. the bill will erase any doubt that the american people, business, families, workers will have the resources that they need until we can defeat the virus and our economy comes roaring back. the american people should expect nothing less. just yesterday, over 150 executives from the nation's business community said that taking action on the american rescue plan is the right thing to do. the business community is firmly lined up behind this plan. earlier this month 400 mayors from both parties -- democrat and republican -- sent a letter to congress supporting the plan and the help it provides to keep teachers and firefighters and other essential public employees on the job. in poll after poll, the american public overwhelmingly supports congressional action on a bold covid relief package. the majority of democrats and a majority of republicans. as many as seven in ten americans support the american rescue plan. there's clear bipartisan, nationwide mandate to act, and that's just what the senate is going to do. a clear, bipartisan nationwide mandate to act. and that's what we'll do. now, from the start, we would hope this effort would be bipartisan. as i've said before, there's nothing about the budget process that precludes bipartisanship. the same process has been used no fewer than 17 times to produce major bipartisan legislation. but it seems that despite the historic nature of the crisis, despite the clear, pressing needs of the country, despite the support of mayors and governors and economists and business leaders from across the political spectrum and despite the popularity of the legislation with the american people, my republican colleagues are organizing to oppose the next round of covid relief. a report in cnn suggested that republican leaders were maneuvering to keep every single republican from supporting the american rescue plan. it is an exercise in pure partisanship. we've started to hear the same predictable objections in almost the same exact words that republicans use in response to nearly every piece of democratic legislation -- a liberal wish list, socialism. one republican member said that the american rescue plan was to the left of lenin. seriously? to the left of lenin? money for schools, vaccines, direct checks to struggling american families, checks that nearly every member of the senate supported just a few months ago, now it's to the left of lenin? this kind of reflexive partisan opposition is not going to wash with the american people. it wouldn't wash at any time, but it especially doesn't wash during this time of crisis. the american people have all heard it before, and they know the country needs help. all week our republican colleagues have been raising concerns about school closures. well, i'll tell you what. we all want to open schools. we all want them to reopen. we're all concerned, though, about the cost of remote learning on children and parents. so are the teachers, so are the children, so are the parents. but how about we actually give schools the funding they need to reopen as quickly and safely as possible. that funding is in the american rescue plan. while our republican colleagues are cynically attacking teachers -- something they've done for decades -- the school districts in their state are telling them they need more funding. their school intelligence committee centers are telling them they need more funding to hire extra teachers and reduce class size, to increase social distancing, to hire tutors for summer school and the fall to help our children make up for lost time. the education commissioner for the state of nebraska put it simply -- quote, there's a lot of damage to repair. our republican colleagues want schools to reopen. so do we. but what about actually doing something to make that happen as safely and as quickly as possible. it seems my republican colleagues have even taken issue with a tiny amount of funding in the bill that goes to a bridge in new york. they say, look, a pork barrel earmark totally uncovid related. the truth is this is one of the only bridges operated by the federal government. its revenues for operating expenses have collapsed because of covid. no one is using the bridge. ironically, the bridge is located in a district represented by -- in it the house by a republican, and the request for this funding wasn't made by me or any democrat, for that matter; it came from the trump administration five months ago. i learned about it being in the bill when i read about it in the newspaper. that's how silly the talking points of the other side have gotten. republicans have not happy about a small provision in the bill requested by the previous republican administration, so they're going to oppose direct checks to struggling families, another round of assistance for small businesses, money for schools and vaccinations. the argument is somebody burden and we know -- the argument is absurd and we know a total excuse. we democrats would prefer to work with our colleagues on the other side of the aisle to pass this bill. we had an open amendment process. we've already included many bipartisan amendments the senate the adopted in this new reconciliation bill. the first amendment we put on the floor for the restaurants was bipartisan, and that was the first bill i believe i put on the floor -- the first amendment i put on the floor as majority leader, showing my intent to be bipartisan. but at the end of the day, we cannot health obstructionism stop us. at the end of the day, the american people sent us here with a job to do. the bottom line is simple -- we are still in an historic crisis of health, of the economy. the american people know we're in an historic crisis, and the senate will soon take action on our plan to solve this crisis, a plan with overwhelming public support. our republican colleagues will have to decide whether they will work with us to improve the legislation or obstruct it to the bitter end. i yield the floor. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the leadership is reserved. under the previous order, the senate will be in a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak therein for up it ten minutes each. the senator from vermont. mr. leahy: mr. president, i appreciate what the leader just said about covid. it certainly reflects the feelings of people in my state that we have to get going. but i'm here on a different matter today. you know, since the 1780's, we've had an extraordinary list of secretaries of the senate. the outgoing secretary jewellly adams is one of those extraordinary people who have been here. and i've had the distinct pleasure and honor of serving with so many. but let me be personal for a moment. on monday in my role as president pro tem, i will deliver the oath of office to an amazing person, sonceria berry. this is a woman who earned her bachelor's degree in education from the university of north alabama, and she has had so much experience in the senate. she first worked for senator howell heflin of alabama. i had the pleasure of serving with senator heflin -- or as i found when i would travel in alabama with him, he'd usualliing l. be greeted with, hello judge. a man who had an extraordinary sense of how the senate worked, but made very clear to me how much he relied on ann berry. she worked with other good friends of mine. senator pat moynihan, my neighbor from new york, a senator whose office was right down the hall from mine. senator edwards and carper. then she took time out from her duties to help stand up senator jones' office. but she came to the leahy office in 2007, and she worked with my chief of staff, j.p.dowd. there were two of them, they gave such leadership to my office. i found that almost daily, i would stick my head into ann's office, say here's the situation. what do you think we should do here or there. because i -- i knew what a go-to in the senate she had been for generations of staffers, a mentor to dozens of young staffers and interns. i have also said over and over again that we senators are merely a constitutional impediment to our staffs. well, this impediment was delighted he could go to ann berry and seek help and advice. i think of her and her family, reginald, her wonderful husband. her daughter elizabeth who had a chance to see -- grow up, to become a young woman who is distinguishing herself working here in the senate. i also think of her say like this, too, shall pass. or i may have born at night but i wasn't born last night. there is more than one way to skin a cat. or sometimes when we have been here locked in late into the night, she says nothing good happens after midnight. but with her, everything good happens. i think of the senate and all of us in it in a way as a family. over my years here, i have become more and more aware of that. but ann berry truly was. i don't know how many times somebody working in my office -- not just on the professional things. she was always there to answer those and give direction. would go in and say, you know, i have had this thing that has been troubling me, and know that they could get wonderful advice but also advice in confidence. i will admit that the grandchildren, my wife and i think the world of her. we do have one, now 15, for the last few years, he would be in my office, he would say i want to go leave a note to miss ann. and young patrick would go and leave notes for her. it's a kind of family. now, i think the world of our majority leader. he told me that he wanted to appoint ann berry as secretary of the senate, i told him i will forgive him this once only because of her extraordinary capabilities. i will speak more about her next week, but one of -- one of the things that is going to give me pride because of who it involves is on monday, as president pro tempore, i will -- i will administer the oath of office to the extraordinary ann berry, and i will do it as one of the proudest moments since i have been here. mr. president, i yield the floor. mr. mcconnell: mr. president. the presiding officer: the republican leader. mr. mcconnell: next week, house democrats say they will try to recycle failed legislation that would have washington democrats grab unprecedented power over how america conducts its election and how american citizens can engage in political speech. for several years now, we have seen the political left grow less interested in having normal policy debates within our governing institutions and more interested in attacking the institutions themselves to tilt the playing field in their side's favor. when their side loses a presidential election, it's not their fault. it's the electoral college's. when they don't like a supreme court decision, it's time to threaten the justices or pack the court. when long-standing senate rules threaten to frustrate far-left proposals, the senate rules -- it's the senate rules they want to change. now house democrats want to try to use their slim majority to unilaterally rewrite and nationalize election law itself. they want to use the temporary power the voters have granted them to try to ensure they will never have to relinquish it. this year's version of the house democrats' legislation contains the same bad ideas as their efforts two years ago. for example, when the federal election commission was created after watergate with the sensitive job of regulating american politics, it was designed to require bipartisan consensus. house democrats want to scrap those rules and turn the f.e.c. from an even-numbered body, bipartisan body, to an odd-numbered partisan body so democrats can dominate it. then they want to hand the newly partisan f.e.c. new authorities to scrutinize and regulate an even wider share of political speech and private citizens' activities. or take election law itself. house democrats have looked at the division and the disunity of the last several months and decided that what american elections really need is the one-size-fits-all partisan rewrite by one side here in washington. in our country, states and localities run elections. those of us in the federal government do not get a stranglehold over the ways in which voters decide our fates. but house democrats want to change that. their bill would take prudential questions about early voting registration and no-excuse absentee balloting and resolve them one way for the entire nation. they want to force all 50 states to allow the absurd practice of ballot harvesting where paid operatives can show up at polling places carrying a big stack of filled-out ballots with other people's names on them. they want to foashed states from implementing voter i.d. or doing simple things like checking their voter rolls against change of address situations submissions. they want to mandate no-excuse mail-in balloting as a permanent norm post-pandemic. and i promise i'm not making this up. their bill proposes to direct -- directly fund political campaigns with federal tax dollars. they want to raise money through new financial penalties which the government will then use to fund campaigns and consultants. a strange idea. it takes a minute to kind of wrap your head around it. they want the federal government itself to send money for things like political ads that half the country disagrees with. what a bizarre concept that nobody is asking for. this sweeping federal takeover would be exactly the wrong response to the distressing lack of faith in our elections that we have recently seen from both political sides. after both 2016 and 2020, we saw significant numbers of americans on the loosing side express doubt in the validity of the result. as recently as late last september, fewer than half of democrats said they were confident the 2020 election would be free and fair. just weeks later, however, by mid november, once things had gone the way they wanted, democrats' confidence in the election magically skyrocketed up to 90%. we cannot keep trending toward a future where americans' confidence in elections is purely a function of which side won. a sweeping power grab by house democrats forcibly rewriting 50 states' election laws would shove us further and faster down that path. in this country, if the people who win elections want to hold onto power, they need to perform well. pass sound policies. and earn the support of the voters again. house democrats do not get to take their razor-thin majority, which voters just shrunk, and use it to steam roll states and localities to try and prevent themselves from losing even more seats the next time. protecting democracy cannot be a partisan issue. now, mr. president, on a completely different matter, this week, the institution of the senate is losing a talented leader who spent six years as one of our top officials. the secretary of the senate is truly -- is a truly unique position in american government. she or he is essentially the chief administrative officer of the institution itself. back in the 18th century, that meant keeping the minutes and records and making sure people had ink for their quills. today it means managing a squalling array of offices packed with career professionals. anything from parliamentary procedure to public records to the senate library and the page school, and much more. the secretary also fulfills key institutional functions. she or he signs every act that we pass, they carry formal messages to other branches of our government, it takes major smarts, guts, integrity, and people skills just to survive in this mammoth job, let alone to actually thrive in it. but for the last six years, julie adams hasn't just survived. she hasn't just personally thrived. she has strengthened the entire institution of the senate. i first met julie back in 2003 when we hired her to help out our press team. i was just starting my time as republican whip. julie was new to washington, but she wasn't new to policy or to politics. she knocked everyone's socks off right from the start. she combined diligence and professionalism with a heart of gold. she mastered her day job, volunteered for tasks above and beyond, and became the whole office's favorite teammate. of course, nobody's perfect. for example, julie is not a kentuckian. she is a proud daughter of iowa. but trust me, she has become an honorary citizen of the commonwealth many times over. a few years later, she was stolen away to do important work for first lady laura bush, but in 2009, we brought her back to coordinate operations and administration across both my personal office and my leadership office. she brought great judgment, a quick mind, stellar instincts, and a meticulous eye to a big job and made us all a whole lot better. from short-term crises to long-term relationships, julie can do it all. and while perpetually juggling ten tasks for herself, she always found ways to look after everyone else. she made sure each of her colleagues down to the most junior got the attention and the resources they needed. everyone was included. everyone mattered. she made sure of it. her talent and skills made julie an easy choice for secretary of the senate after we took the majority in 2014. now, there is always the potential for sensitivity when a new leader appointed by a senate leader of one party comes in to oversee huge numbers of dedicated long-serving nonpartisan specialists. not surprisingly, julie rapidly won the admiration, affection, and trust of the men and women under the secretary's umbrella. she has championed the professionals who make this place go. she empowered them, stuck up for them, and made sure they were properly insulated from political pressure. everyone knows julie puts this institution and its rules first. staff trust her. senators on both sides trust her. leaders across other branches of government trust her. she plays everything down the middle with total integrity. and amid all of this, she maintained the generous spirit that everyone admires, whether she's delivering senate correspondence to the chief justice of the supreme court or the secretary of state or checking in with a senate employee on a birthday or during a tough personal time, everyone gets the same friendly hello and sincere kindness from julie adams. alas, it is customary to have the new secretary of the senate when there is a change in party control. tomorrow is julie's last day. i'm really, really sorry to say goodbye to such a key player. so on behalf of the whole senate i want to thank juppely's proud -- julie's proud parents, dr. harold and leah adams, her siblings john and jessica and her beloved canine companion maggie for sharing this great friend and essential colleague with us for many years. so, julie, you've made your family proud. you've made me proud. and most importantly, you've been a great credit to this institution. thank you sincerely for your service. mr. president, i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: thank you. the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: quorum call: mr. thune: mr. president? the presiding officer: the republican whip. mr. thune: mr. president, i understand the senate is in a quorum call. the presiding officer: it is. mr. thune: i would ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be lifted. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. thune: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, on tuesday, the senate confirmed tom vilsack as secretary of agriculture. it's a role he's familiar with, having previously serve as agriculture secretary under president obama. i voted in support of his nomination because i believe he understands the issues facing farmers and ranchers and is sincere in his desire to work with members of congress on both sides of the aisle to support our nation's agricultural producers. mr. president, agriculture is the lifeblood of my home state of south dakota, and fighting for farmers and ranchers is one of my top priorities here in the senate. i'm very pleased to once again serve on the senate agriculture committee in this congress, which gives me an important platform to advocate for south dakota farmers and ranchers and farmers and ranchers across the country. one huge priority for me over the past year has been making sure agriculture producers have the support that they need to weather the pandemic. during debate on the cares act, i fought to make sure that we included relief for farmers and ranchers, and i followed up by advocating for cattle producers with the department of agriculture to make sure they would receive the funds. i also worked to inshould sure that a-- insure that additional relief was included in the covid relief weigh passed in december. the food assistance program that the usda established included in the cares act has distributed billions in direct support to agriculture producers, which has been key in helping them weather this pandemic. now that secretary vilsack has been confirmed, i urge him to lift the biden administration's freeze on part of this important program and distribute the additional funding from the december relief package as soon as possible. i also urge the agriculture department to use its authority to provide assistance to agricultural producers like the biofuels industry. mr. president, during my meeting with secretary vilsack prior to his confirmation, we spent time discussing my soil health and income protection program which became part of the 2018 farm bill. that program arc the ship program, mr. president, allows farmers to take their lowest-performing crop land out of production for three to five years. this benefits the environment by increasing soil health and water quality, and itist abouts farmers by providing them with the rental payment for the acres that they've temporarily removed from production. i will continue to urge secretary vilsack to expand farmers' access to ship by holding another sign-up this year. i will also continue to urge him to address another priority i brought up in our meeting, and that's the november 1 grazing date, which is too late in the year for farmers in more northern states like south dakota. as i said, one of my top priorities has been making sure that farmers and ranchers have the support that they need during the pandemic. when it became clear that farmers and ranchers were largely missing out on the paycheck protection program that congress had set up to help small businesses weather the pandemic, senator baldwin and i introduced legislation to allow more farmers and ranchers to access the program by allowing them to use their gross income rather than their net income to determine their loan award. it became law as part of the coronavirus bill that congress passed in december. and senator baldwin and i have continued to engage with the treasury department and the small business administration to ensure that the paycheck protection program is working properly for farmers and ranchers. for example, we recently led a bipartisan letter urging broader implementation of our paycheck protection program for producers act to ensure that farmers and ranchers organize as partnerships or limited liability companies are allowed to apply for paycheck protection program loans using this more favorable gross income formula, as was intended. mr. president, these issues are front of mind for ag producers in my state. last week i had the opportunity to discuss many of them in person with representatives of the south dakota corn growers association, which represents and advocates for corn farmers in south dakota. another thing that we spent a lot of time talking about was bowels. in addition to helping to feed our nation, it provides essential feedstocks for biodiesel which provides an important source of cleaner energy. ist long been an advocate for the benefits they offer to the agriculture industry. when i met with secretary vilsack, he committed to working with me. i recently introduced two bipartisan pieces of legislation to support the increased use of biofuels and emphasize their clean energy potential. the adopt green act, which i introduced with senator klobuchar, would require the environmental protection agency to update its greenhouse gas modeling for ethanol and biofuel by using the department of energy's gree model. a recent study found that ethanol is 46% cleaner by as much as 61%. thesed findings underscore how biofuels can reduce emissions in the near term using our nation's existing vehicles. currently, however, the e.p.a.'s modeling does not fully recognize the tremendous emissions-reducing potential of ethanol and other biofuels. the adopt greed act would fix this program and pave the way for increased biofuel use both here and abroad. i also introduced a bill to advance long-solved biofuel registrations with the e.p.a. regulatory inaction has stifled the advancement of promising technologies like ethanol derived from corn kernel fiber, even though some of the fuels are already being safely used in states like california. my bill would speed up the approval process. this would allow biofuel producers to capitalize on the research and facility investments that they have made and improve their operating margins while further lowering emissions and helping our nation's corn and soybean producers. mr. president, the pandemic highlighted vulnerabilities in our nation's food supply chain, especially when it comes to meat processing capacity. too much of our nation's processing capacity is concentrated in a handful of facilities, leaving our meat supply vulnerable if a problem like a coronavirus outbreak occurs at one of these plants. i recently introduced the strengthening local processing act with senator merkley. our legislation would help expand national meat processing capacity by providing new resources for smaller, more local meat processing operations. spreading out and expanding our nation's meat processing capacity over more plants will make our nation's meat supply less vulnerable to interruption in situations like the coronavirus pandemic or natural disasters and provide livestock producers with more marketing options. mr. president, i'm proud to represent south dakota's farmers and ranchers here in congress. and i will continue to do everything i can to ensure that all of our nation's farmers and ranchers have the support that they need to weather the rest of this pandemic and to continue feeding our nation and the world. mr. president, i yield the floor. mr. peters: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from michigan. mr. peters: i have seven requests for committees to meet during today's session of the senatement they have the approval of the majority and minority leaders. the presiding officer: duly noted. mr. peters: mr. president, i'm proud to stand today in support of general i have granholm's nomination to be the next secretary of energy. i've known secretary-designate granholm for years and i served in her administration while she was governor. there is no question she is uniquely qualified to serve as secretary of energy. as the governor of michigan, she led our state through an economic crisis. she knows how to deal with multifaceted challenges and has a documented record of strong leadership. during her confirmation hearing, jennifer granholm outlined three key missions that she wants to prioritize in her new role. one, strengthening national security. particularly on nuclear nonproliferation through the national nuclear security administration. two, supporting the research and development at scientific research facilities all across our nation. and, three, utilizing that research to create new, good-paying jobs for americans. all of these issues are issues that jennifer granholm has been focused on throughout her entire career. as governor, she worked to support groundbreaking research that's unanimous consent -- that's conducted at michigan's world-class institutions, research constantly leading to new discoveries that will change the world to create jobs and save lives. as governor, jennifer granholm established the 21st century jobs fund which leveraged funding to diversify michigan's economy, create jobs in clean energy by attracting new business investments, and put michigan on a better path. those are the kinds of actions and investments that i look forward to, working closely with her on. and it is clear that she also recognizes what must be done to advance our nation's energy interests because she has already achieved results in michigan. if we're going to build back better, we must do so in a sustainable, forward-thinking way that addresses climate change. that's something president biden's administration is committed to doing, and i know secretary-designate granholm is as well. i come not be more excited to say that we will have a fellow michigander leading the department of energy, and i urge all of my colleagues to support her confirmation. mr. president, i yield. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: nomination, department of energy, jennifer mulhern granholm of michigan to be secretary. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from wyoming. mr. barrasso: i ask unanimous consent that the senator from west virginia and i both be allowed to complete our remarks before we begin the roll call vote. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. barrasso: thank you, mr. president. when governor granholm came before the energy and natural resources committee for her nomination hearing, she said she was committed to american energy dominance. she stated she understood the importance of having a broad energy mix and supporting entering inowe -- energy innovation. i asked her if it was a good thing the united states was the leading producer of oil and gas. she said it was. i asked her if low oil prices and high-paying american jobs were good things. she agreed they were. when i asked her if america exporting its energy influence around the globe was a good thing, she again affirmed that it was. she has demonstrated that she is dedicated to supporting carbon capture, nuclear power, and american uranium production. and for these reasons, she cleared our committee with broad bipartisan support and will soon be confirmed by the senate. i expect we will work together closely on these efforts when she leads the department of energy. during her nomination hearing, governor granholm also said that she didn't want to see anyone lose their job or get left behind. yet, this is exactly what the biden administration is doing to thousands of american energy workers. on inauguration day, the president spoke of unity and bringing our nation back together. once he arrived at the white house, however, he threw that rhetoric out the window, picked up his pen, and started signing radical executive orders. his ban -- his order to ban oil, gas, and coal leasing on federal lands and to exil the keystone x.l. pipeline will throw thousands of americans out of work. these workers' livelihoods are being sacrificed in the name of the biden agenda. leaders in the administration are telling these oil rig and coal mine and palestine workers that they can simply get new jobs building solar panels. actually, john kerry said that the biden administration policies will give these workers better choices. in 2019, the average salary of a solar panel technician was about $30,000 a year less than the average salary of a worker in the gas, oil, and coal industry. so john kerry flies around the world, private jet, but is asking american energy workers to each take $30,000 a year less in income. and that's if these green energy jobs even exist. to that point, "the washington post" fact-checker took a look at what john kerry had said, and they said he was offering false hope and misleading use of statistics. but we've heard it all before. when president biden was vice president, the obama administration promised thousands of green energy jobs, jobs that never materialized. millions of taxpayer dollars were wasted on green energy companies that went bellyup. now this has returned. "the washington post" fact-checker said it expects just over 10,000 new wind and solar jobs over the next ten years. in wyoming alone, the long-term leasing ban would result in 33,000 workers losing their jobs and where are these wyoming workers supposed to go? hundreds of thousands of more workers are going to lose their jobs in new mexico, colorado, texas, and other states. how will they provide for their families? the biden ban won't just hurt workers. it's going to hurt kids, too. a long-term leasing ban is going to eliminate hundreds of millions of dollars in state revenue, the dollars which go for essential services to public schools for roads, bridges, and hospitals. a long-term leasing ban is going to hurt teachers, students, and the communities they call home. america needs all the energy, the oil, the gas, the coal, the uranium, the wind, the solar, all of it. banning fossil fuels will hurt our economy and force more workers out of work. president biden has declared war on american energy and american energy workers, and i just can't stand by as this administration tries to crush wyoming's economy. i can't support an administration that throws my constituents out of work and hurts the schools and the hospitals and the communities and the teachers who teach the children. energy is a force multiplier. american energy -- america is an energy superpower. we need to act that way, mr. president, and president biden seems to want to pull the plug on american energy dominance. i cannot in good conscience vote to approve his nominee for secretary of energy. thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor. mr. manchin: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that upon the disposition of the granholm nomination, the senate resume consideration of the cardona nomination. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. manchin: mr. president, first of all, i'm delighted to speak today on the nomination of jennifer granholm to be secretary of energy. i have known jennifer since we were governors together more than a decade ago. she served two terms as governor of michigan from 2003 to 2010. that was a particularly challenging time in her state's history. and i saw how she handled the difficult challenges facing her during the great recession. when the bottom dropped out of the auto industry in her state. she was up to those challenges. she helped save the domestic auto industry. she diversified michigan's economy. she brought in new investment and new industry. and she created new jobs. leaving no worker behind. i know she will continue to apply the mindset at the national level. she has leadership skills, the vision, and the compassion for people that we need at the helm of the department of energy to face the climate challenge and at the same time preserve our energy security, protect our national security, clean up the cold war legacy, and preserve our scientific and technological prowess. moreover, she is someone that you can talk to and work with. she listens and she is an honest broker. she may not always agree with you, but she will listen to your concerns and will try to address them. and finally, she is just simply a good person. that is a quality that i value and expect all of my colleagues will benefit from. i believe she is extremely well qualified to lead the department of energy, and i urge, i truly urge all of my colleagues to show in this bipartisan vote to confirm her nomination today. thank you, mr. president. mr. manchin: i also yield back the remaining time of our presentation. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the question occurs on the nomination. is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll. vote: vote: vote: vote: the presiding officer: are there any senators in the chamber wishing to change their vote? if not, the yeas are 64. the nays are 35. the nomination is confirmed. under the previous order, the motion to reconsider is considered made and laid upon the table and the president will be immediately notified of the senate's actions. under the previous order, the senate will now proceed to the following nomination which the clerk will report. the clerk: nomination, department of education, miguel a. cardona of connecticut to be secretary. mr. blunt: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senior senator from missouri. mr. blunt: mr. president, on january 20, the world watched as we inaugurated the 46th president of the united states on the west front of the capitol as we have done now for the last four decades. but this was the 59th time in our nation's history that we've gathered to witness one of what has really become one of our most iconic and sacred ceremonies. i described it that day as president reagan did 40 years earlier as commonplace and miraculous. commonplace because we've done it every four years since 1789. miraculous because we've done it every four years since 1789. this is the second time i've had the privilege to serve as the chairman of the joint congressional committee on inaugural ceremonies or as is normally known, jccic. that's how i'll refer to it in the rest of these remarks. senator klobuchar, the ranking member at that time on the rules committee, was a big part of helping with that as were the other four members of that committee. in a normal year, organizing an inauguration is a major undertaking. but when you add a pandemic and then you add the events of january 6, it's uniquely challenging. without a doubt this was an inauguration of twist and turns where adaptability, creativity, and determination were crucial. today i'm here on the floor, mr. president, to thank the staff, the partners, and the volunteers who met those challenges and made this year's inauguration a success. as i mentioned earlier, the two factors that posed the greatest challenges this year were pandemic and security. in order to keep the inauguration from becoming a super-spreader event, we consulted with public health authorities at the johns hopkins center for health security and the cleveland clinic. we engaged experts from the national football league, the major league baseball, nascar, the national hockey league, disney, adrian group, and clear about pandemic protocols and technology that relates to them. we were in regular consultation with the office of the attending physician, particularly dr. monahan and his chief of staff keith prey and we relied on support from the defense health agency and the department of health and human services covid-19 joint command cell. testing was required for all attendees and over 7,000 tests were administered at two sites, one in the capitol and one in the pentagon. masks were required to be worn by all attendees. graciously, ford motor company produced a significant quantity of masks, truly a first for this -- any inauguration. and we are grateful to them. 3m provided specialized masks for the limited indoor activities that we had. the health and safety measures put together really created significant logistic challenges. all this couldn't have been done without the leadership of robin mmaingan, our directors of operations for that health activity and testing activity. her team dr. alex lazar who was on sabbatical from m.d. anderson, jordan wilson with us from rob witness p.a.n.'s office -- wittman's office, and shannon, emergency management, to help with that part of what we did. security is always the foremost consideration for an inauguration. it's a time of great exposure, frankly, for our democracy and our nation's leaders. as i said earlier, just two weeks earlier the inaugural platform itself had been stormed and damaged. the officers who fought valiantly that day to protect the capitol were also in charge two weeks later with keeping the inauguration safe. and while carrying the burden of the events of january 6, the united states capitol police officers with the assistance of the national guard ensured that inauguration -- the inauguration was secure and that the events of the day would occur without interruption. our committees, capitol police liaison lieutenant jeffers seamlessly coordinated the work of jccic and the department's inaugural task force. i want to thank lieutenant jeffers, the united states capitol police and the inaugural task force along with the national guard and the entire executive steering committee and law enforcement elements of this national special security event for maintaining the security of the capitol complex during the inauguration. because of covid, significantly limited in-person participation, we had to put a particular emphasis on ensuring that people at home could also experience the inauguration. i believe we succeeded. viewers of the 59th inaugural ceremony totaled more than 108 million people. the enhanced viewing experience provided by jccic was viewed by more than 75 million people across social media platforms and the committee's website. this was more than double, mr. president, surprising to me at least, the viewership of the traditional national television news broadcast which tallied about 33 million -- 33.8 million people. in addition, the jccic was able to generate 5.2 million individual impressions on twitter. and making it one of the bigger twitter events ever. one of the most well received aspects of the jccic production was the narration provided by two capitol visitor center guides, janet clemens and ron jackson who described the various events through the day offering viewers a behind-the-scenes experience that only somebody who spent day after day totally understanding the capitol building could have done. we appreciate the technical expertise and the creative insights offered us by industry professionals, like rila flicks and razor management, showcase castle technologies and trileadership resources. all of those groups came together to help give us advice and assistance. i want to especially thank-page walsh, the communications director. paige was on loan from senator romney and her vigorous efforts to overhaul the jccic brand and the website and realize innovative ways to make our ceremonies more inclusive for americans and viewers around the world really paid off on inaugural day. i think we can all agree that paige and her team, ben, carena, chany, foster outshined any expectations anybody would have had for what we were able to get across in this different kind of inauguration day. there was much to be seen on what we called eye day as the staff called it and there's so much that we didn't get a chance to see. the staff worked tirelessly in the background. that's the work we didn't see. the months for some, weeks for others to make the inaugural presentation seem like it was basically effortless, even though there was incredible effort. jen jett was our director of administration and kept the master timeline, a lengthy document and intricate task that allowed the president to be sworn in before noon as required by the 20th amendment to the constitution. we all watched president biden take the oath of office at 11:48. jen was ably assisted by abbey stall what was the first to greet you when you called or visited the jccic offices as we made presentations -- preparations for this inauguration. todd byer, our director made sure we knew where to be and when to be there. through all of the ceremonies of the day. jackson blogitt skillfully supported those advanced efforts and facilitated an immense undertaking of credentials access. grace higgins hired to support our alternative plans for inclement weather instead became responsible for successfully managing a complex technical solution and the integration of elaborate health screening processes to assure everyone's health safety. sam burke, most recently a marine corps senate liaison officer served as jccic operations manager and militarily jason where he worked closely with the task force officials with the military district of washington who also played an incredibly instrumental role in that day. martha scott poindexter, now the republican staff director of the senate agriculture committee served as our director of member services and ticketing and was responsible for assisting senators, representatives, governors, foreign dignitaries, former presidents, and former members. frankly as only she can through the complexities of participating in this year's ceremonies. volunteer manager holly harris stevens who was on loan from representative stabner and vincent brown on loan from senator klobuchar's rules staff recruited and managed 278 essential volunteers over months of unacknowledged task. mollie also helped design and implement a brand new and seamless integration of our health and security operation fielded by our volunteers. without the volunteers, mr. president, an inauguration would not be able to carry -- be carried out. we want to thank each of them and the names of each of them i'd like to be printed in the record and i'll submit those names to be printed in the record. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. blunt: while the jccic had to make the difficult decision to forego a traditional congressional luncheon this year, we're grateful to partners like corbell, lenox and smithsonian art museum for working so closely with us on planning. emily carney, the first person hired by the jccic who early on worked with our partners at the government printing office to design the tickets, invitations, and programs certainly should be commended for her work and to later coordinate and maintain the traditional gifts presented to the president and vice president and the capitol -- in the capitol rotunda. lauren mcbride, detail from the house sergeant at arms to manage our exercises and rehearsals, expertly led our jccic team and core partners through a series of in you ways to prepare for inclement weather and directed the massive undertaking of the dress he hers -- dress rehearsal. there is also a small group of dedicated staff who returned to support inauguration after inauguration. celeste gold, mish chill from the house appropriations committee, tim metrovehicle from the house, senate sergeant at arms returned to the jccic and once again loaned their experience to the benefit of the ceremonies. special thanks to jen dalby and tim moynihan, the republican staff director and deputy staff director respectfully of the committee of house administration for their assistance in the inauguration's performers and program participants. i also want to thank the jccic staff representatives of our committee members. my personal staff, my rules committee staff, in addition to their normal duties, were able to lend their considerable talents to the jccic. i especially want to thank rules committee staff fits elder who served as the dedicated staff director of the jccic, overcame the extraordinary challenges presented to the committee and undeniablably paramount to the success of the ceremonies. michelle schroder, jackie barber, chief counsel, and james farren, director of information technology, tammy morris sorn was spnl for the organization of the presidential platform. she seated every single person in attendance and made certain we were six feet apart or sitting right by somebody we sat by all the time. i'm thankful for her tireless efforts, patriotic heart and inaugural expertise, this was her sixth inauguration. rita, this is the second inauguration that i asked maria to take responsibility for and she helped to plan and execute this in a way that i am very grateful for her. glad she did it the first time, even more pleased she was willing to come back and do it again. before she joined us with jccic, mr. president, she had been deployed to guantanamo bay, cuba as part of her duties in the navy reserve. maria developed a plan and end this another plan and then another plan. she built a staff and a positive culture in a really challenging time. she exceeded expectations and with determination to make certain that democracy prevailed on january 20. finally, i want to thank the office of the house chief administrative officer, the provisions committee, especially -- the appropriations committee, especially jessica berry, lewissing a new and julie adams, especially cindy butler -- cindy but butler, andh hahn. the clerk of the house, cheryl johnson for lending the technical expertise of her editorial staff, katherine cook and jeremy. and brent and his staff, not only had to build a platform and put in a sound system, but they had to repair that platform and replace the sound system. from brett blaton's staff, mark reed, jason mcintyre, and duane thomas, tim bloggett and his staff and especially ted and davita and jennifer hemingway and her staff, and becky and carly. i also want to thank acting chief pittman of the u.s. capitol police, and in that case especially john erickson who commanded the i.t.f. and took personal responsibility to safeguard our jccic staff. on january 20, 2021, the world witnessed the 59th natural ceremonies our determined -- -- as a periodic event that has become both commonplace and miraculous, the natural ceremonies are not -- the inaugural ceremonies fulfill our constitutional duty and give assurance of our unbroken commitment to continuity and perseverance. with great thanks to everybody mentioned and with tre mend cooperation from -- and with tremendous cooperation from the house and senate, i yield the floor. ms. klobuchar: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from minnesota. ms. klobuchar: mr. president, i wanted to join senator blunt in thanking the jccic staff. i see them up there, all six feet apart. they are incredible and did such a great job in a difficult situation and i want to thank senator blunt for his great leadership through thick and thin. there were a lot of hard decisions that had to be made and he made the right ones and we worked together really well. the sky was blue when the new president got inaugurated and somehow he pulled that off as well. i thank the staff and i thank senator blunt for his great friendship and leadership. thank you. i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator for illinois. mr. durbin: mr. president, a lot of people are familiar with this saying. it goes like this. neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night shall delay these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds. i ask that the senate come to order. the presiding officer: will the senators take their conversations off the floor, please. could the senators take their conversation off the floor, please. mr. durbin: the excerpt i read was written by charles elliott in a poem known as the letter, and it has been adopted by the u.s. postal service and only blazenned in our memories of the cuteful work and awesome responsibility of the u.s. postal service throughout our history. i'm proud of that postal service and most americans are as well. if you ask many people, what is your contact with the federal government, the united states federal government? they might be hard pressed to identify it, but when you mention the postal service, they say, of course, six days a week, my mailman, my person delivering mail. during the recent covid-19 pandemic, many of us stayed home in our neighborhoods for lengthy periods of time, and it became a routine that when the mailman came each day, as he did, we went out to greet him with masks on and chatted for just a moment or two. it was a tough assignment. they were no longer showing up at 2 pneumonia the afternoon -- 2:00 p.m. in the afternoon as usual, but sometimes 8:00 o'clock at night. i wanted to say that by letting everyone know i am proud of the postal service and i will fight to keep it in business serving america and i know it's going through extreme hardship. two nights ago i was on a town hall meeting with alderman harris. she asked me to come on the call because of the problems she is having inned hyde park area. she wanted me to hear some of the situations that they were facing in the fifth ward. the united states postal service, unfortunately, is a lifeline that is being threatened at the current time. so many people in chicago and all across the country depend on it for regular prompt mail service to deliver everything from birthday cards to bills to cards to checks and medicine. yet lately mail delivery has been slow. i heard from many chicago area residents and small businesses that have gone upwards of a month -- a month without the delivery of mail. these delays are having a devastating impact on the lives of families in my state. one chicago man said that after receiving no mail for three weeks, he went to the local post office to check where his mail was. he waited in line for six hours before he finally was given his mail. another woman wrote me that she worries that missing bills will hurt her credit rating, making it harder to make ends meet. another woman wrote that missing bills will not only hurt her credit rating but hurt her personally by not getting her medicine. small businesses are losing customers because their mail orders are delayed or just flat disappear. this vivid example that brings these together is the story of ms. carmela koh gonzalez. she has a disability and is unable to travel outside her home and restrictions are more constraining during the pandemic. she suffers from high blood pressure making her medicine delivery essential. she said that she and her neighbors are lucky if they get their mail delivered one day a week. she told my office that a shipment of office shipped on february 8 didn't reach her home until february 23, while others simply didn't arye at all. -- arrive at all. when they reached out to the post office, they were told there weren't enough carriers to deliver it. the report from the postal office of the inspector general found that the reason there weren't enough postal carriers to deliver the mail is that the administrators hadn't bothered removing the names of employees who no longer worked there. this meant they weren't able to bring in additional staff when needed to deliver a growing backlog of delayed mail. the report noted that more than 60,000 pieces of mail had been delayed in chicago neighborhoods over several weeks. these delays are not new and certainly not confined to chicago. u.s. porsal services -- postal service have had delays for several months, veterans missing their medicine, small families missing their paychecks and not receiving notices of premiums due in time. mail delivery is always important and especially critical now. receiving medications enables people to stay safely at home rather than venturing out and risk covid infections. the postal service helps by providing a low-cost shipping option for small businesses that are struggling to survive. yet, rather than focusing on how to fix the current delivery delays, u.s. postal service leaders are now considering changes that could result in higher prices and even more delays. this is no plan to fix the postal service, it's a plan to sabotage the postal service in order to benefit its commercial competitors. cut service, raise prices, then lose customers because you cut service and raised prices an repeat that destructive cycle again and again until there are little or no customers left. that's the plan of the postal service under postmaster general dejoy and congress needs to step in. we must demand that the postmaster general implement new policies and operational changes immediately to end delivery delays. congress need to ensure the postal service has all the resources an tools it needs to provide reliable, affordable services during this critical time and to come out of this pandemic on secure financial footing. our founders understood that reliable mail service was essential to our economy and national unity. the postal service is one public service that is so important it is mentioned by name in the constitution. we cannot allow the temporary custodians appointed by the previous administration to cut it in order to enrich private competitors, especially during the pandemic. mr. president, this situation is grave and serious for a lot of people the delay of a day or two in receiving mail is just an inconvenience, for others it could be a matter of life or death, literally, when so many medicines are moving through the mail, prescriptions and medications that people count on for their livelihood. and it really is something that has been so fundamental in america, we have to ask the basic question, what is going on here? i'm happy to report that yesterday the biden administration announced that they were appointing three new governors to fill three vaccines on the board of governors. those vaccines have been too long and festering and creating the situation that we have today. the postmaster general, mr. dejoy, who came to this position in controversy when he said he would delay the delivery the ballots in the election, is adamant that he is going to continue on his mission. we have to intervene on behalf of the people we represent and on behalf of this country. i stand by the postal service. i believe in the men and women who make it work and everyone i have met, certainly in my neighborhood and the ones that have been coming to my home over the years almost became a part of the family. i knew about all of their families and some of the problems and wonderful things happening in their lives. that was part of the experience, the postal experience in small town america that we want to preserve. but when it comes to the big cities, we've got to be sensitive to that as well. when massive amounts of mail are being held in trailer trucks behind the post office, not being sorted and delivered, it is just absolutely, positively unacceptable. if covid-19 among the working -- among the workforce is one of the reasons, let's address that directly in terms of vaccines -- vaccinations, number one, replacing employees or getting temporary employees whatever it takes. i urge my colleagues when you go home if you're hearing the same stories about the u.s. postal service, let's make it a bipartisan response, families and businesses and vulnerable individuals across america are counting on us. i yield the floor. mr. lankford: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator foroklahoma. mr. lankford: mr. president, in 1932, 11 years after the tulsa race massacre, maxine horner was born in tulsa, oklahoma. she was maxine sislet at the time. she grew up in segregated greenwood, a district recovering from the devastating effects of the massacre just a little over a decade before. her parents were exceptionally protective and instructed maxine and her siblings not to go into certain stores in downtown tulsa knowing their children wouldn't be welcome. they didn't want their children to experience the pain and humiliation of being told to leave the store or to not sit at that end of the counter. her mother once told her, though, never let the color of your skin get in the way of achieving your goals. if you put your mind to it, you can do anything. you can be anyone. maxine was part of the first class to graduate from booker t. washington high school which at the time was an all black school. she was proud of the education she received at booker t. spent two years studying at wiley college before returning back to actual sa. she got a job working for congressman james jones, an opportunity to sparked some political ambitions in her. in her 50's she returned back to school and received a bachelor's degree from langston university in 1985. despite being decades older than her fellow classmates and occasionally mistaken to be the professor in her class rather than one of the other students, she finished her education. and in 1986 she ran for the oklahoma state senate and became one of two women to be elected for the first time into the oklahoma state senate as an african american. maxine was a true trailblazer. she worked hard for her constituents and she championed education and the arts. her life was full of poe et yik justice -- poetic justice. she grew up in the greenwood district in the wake of the tulsa massacre but in the late 1990's she sponsored the state legislation that created the tulsa race riot commission. she also cofounded the greenwood cultural center after she left office she continued to fight for the victims of the massacre and chaired the committee overseeing the search for the burial sites, work that's still going on today. as a young teen she recalls going into the tulsa union depot and seeing dri drinking town obs labeled colored and white. mr. lankford: as a state senator she sponsored the legislation that created the jazz hall of fame which occupies the old tulsa union depot build where they don't have drinking fountains labeled black or colored and white. as a student she attended segregated schools. as a senator she championed the oklahoma higher learning access program or what we now call oklahoma's promise. a scholarship program for low and middle-income students in oklahoma. oklahoma's promise has helped over 75,000 young oklahomans pursue higher education. she lived quite a legacy. two weeks ago on february 8, oklahoma lost this transformational giant. mans seen horner -- maxine horner passed away at the age of 88 and she certainly will be missed by her family and be missed by oklahoma. i did mention that in 1986 she was one of two ladies that were african american that were elected in the senate senate that year, the first ladies that were african american to be elected into our state senate. the other lady was a dear friend, vicky maza la grange. she was born in 195 3 in a segregated hospital in oklahoma city. she grew up in a loving home with her parents and older sister. her parents were well respected educators. both got their master's degree in 195 from the university of oklahoma, just seven years after a case won to allow black oklahomans to even attend at the university of oklahoma. as a young girl, she was interested in government and when her friend's mother hanna atkins decided to run for the oklahoma house of representatives, vicky helped out, even as a teenager. she became what they put together called hanna's helpers, a group of young people who campaigned for hanna atkins. she won her race and became the first black female to serve in the oklahoma house of representatives. vicky attended mcginnis high school. she got -- she stayed involved in a little politics there, participating in girls state, asking a mutual friend patrick mcwiggin who i am convinced had a crush on her when they were in high school, asking patrick about that time, he recounts the stories and has written about it even in some of his writings about how vicky went to girls state and was elected governor of the oklahoma girls state program that year but when the sponsoring organization decided who they were going to send to girls nation, they for the first time didn't send the governor. they chose to send the lieutenant governor. that's what vicky faced as she grew up. she attended vasser college and at 18 became a delegate at the democratic oklahoma state convention. it was there that she met carl albert who told her that if she ever ended up in d.c. to look him up and to come work for him. well, that's all you would have to tell vicky. she attended howard university law school, walked right into the speaker of the house's office one day here at the capitol and convinced carl albert that she should remember his offer and she became an intern in his office immediately while she pursued her law degree. this was not an unusual thing for vicky. after graduating law school, she clerked for a federal judge in houston, joined the criminal department of justice where she prosecuted war criminals. she decided she wanted to return to oklahoma in 1983 so she returned, though she was rejected for an office in the u.s. attorney's office, ironic because later she became the u.s. attorney for the western district. she walked right into the district attorney's office bob macy's office, resume in hand, know appointment, and asked to be able to speak with him. and she waited outside of his office until he came out of his office. he came out for lunch and walked out with a job offer after that. 1986 she decided to run for state senate. this was the same year maxine ran as well. her dad, a former industrial arts teacher, helped fix up her campaign headquarters. her mother, mother's best friend were campaign managers and she won that race and unseated senator porter, a 22-year incumbent. when you look at vicky's life, there are a lot of firsts. along with maxine horner, she was the first african american female to be elected to the oklahoma state senate. in 1993 when she became the first african woman to become united states attorney for the western district of oklahoma. a year later in 1994 president clinton appointed her to be the united states district judge for the western district of oklahoma. she was the first african american federal judge among the six states that make up the tenth circuit, that federal jurisdiction. she was appointed by chef jiewz william rhenquist as a member of the international judicial relations committee of the judicial conference in the united states. shortly after when she became a federal judge, the horrific genocide unfolded in rwanda. vicky advocated for an independent judiciary in rwanda and was part of the group of international legal experts who were sent to rue wanda -- rwanda to help reform the system. she made eight trips at her own personal risk. she was awashedded the courageous -- awarded the courageous lawyer award. in 2013 she was inducted into the oklahoma hall of fame, the highest honor you can receive for contributions to the state. she received many other awards including the women's trailblazer award. in the early 1296 -- 1960's, she was so inspired by president kennedy's inaugural address that she wrote to him to say how happy she was that he was president. one of his advisers actually wrote her a letter back. she kept that letter and in fact she hung it in her office while she was a judge. she was quoting -- quoted as saying above all else, she's a career public servant. there's a newspaper article when she took her very last case in 2018 as a federal judge. and quoted back to 1994 when she was in front of this senate for confirmation hearings, being the first african american judge ever in the tenth circuit. and she said this. my race will not determine my decisions. she said, i don't want to be known as a good black judge. i want to be a respected and good and fair judge. vicky, that's exactly how we remember you. oklahoma is proud of these two ladies and what they've done. and we're proud to call them fellow oklahomans and the trailblazing that they have done. thanks for your leadership. with that i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator for north carolina. mr. burr: mr. president, we're all representative of heroes and idles -- and idols and clearly my colleague from oklahoma points several out from his home state. mr. president, i rise -- i ask unanimous consent that i complete my remarks before we go to the vote this afternoon. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. burr: mr. president, i rise to support the nomination of miguel cardona to be the next secretary of education. he has the background, qualifications, and the temperament to serve in this position. dr. cardona as a rise from a classroom teacher to a school principal to a commissioner of education for the state of connecticut. i'm glad the president's nominated him to lead the education department. it's such a challenging time for our nation's schools. covid-19-related school closures have led to significant learning losses with millions of children stuck at home trying to learn. parents are at their wit's end because many of the adults running public schools aacross our country are failing to actually follow the science. we should be seriously talking about reopening schools as quickly as possible. that's what the science tells us. that's what students need. dr. cardona testified before the senate help committee. he stressed the need for students to get back to school. and i'm glad that's now finally a bipartisan mission. at the same time each school district, college, university, state and local community faces different circumstances in dealing with this pandemic. trying to treat them as a mono light instead of providing flexible advice for states and localities to use if applicable and useful would be a mistake. dr. cardone take says he understands that once size fits awl mandates from washington won't work. dr. cardona also agreed to be responsive to our oversight requests and keep us updated on his plans and department action. we won't agree on everything but we should be able to find places where we can agree and we can move forward. i support the nomination of dr. cardona and look forward to working with him and i encourage my colleagues to support his nomination as well. now, mr. president, on a personal note, it's time to take the fences down around this capitol. to leave them up, it's not about security. it's about an attempt to say we're really, really important. we work here. well, let me say what i think most of my colleagues believe. we aren't. we're like everyone who we represent and who lincoln referred to as common folks. mr. president, at one time this was a shiny city on a hill. and today we've made it into a bunker on the hill. the message that that sends globally, the message that it sends dom mostly -- domestically is wrong. it's time for us to take these 4,000 national guardsmen and let them go see their families. versus 24 hours a day to patrol when we don't even provide them a cafeteria open at night. they eat out of vending machines or they bring would they eat. we thank all of these individuals for the safety they have provided us after a horrendous january 6 event. now it's past time for us to open up this campus and to allow d.c., the district of columbia, to fully open up to the tourism that they thrive off of. i thank the president for his indulgence. i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the motion to invoke cloture. the clerk: cloture motion, we, 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 executive calendar number 16, miguel a. cardona of connecticut to be a secretary of education signed by 17 senators. the presiding officer: by unanimous consent, the mandatory quorum call has been waived. the question is, is it the sense of the senate that debate on the nomination of miguel a. cardona of connecticut to be secretary of education shall be brought to a close. the yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule. the clerk will call the roll. vote: vote: vote: vote: vote: vote: the presiding officer: are there any senators in the chamber wishing to vote or to change his or her vote? if not, the yeas are 66, the nays are 32, and the motion is agreed to. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from nevada is recognized. ms. rosen: i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to executive session to consider the following nominations. house numbers 18 through 25, calendar numbers 18 through 25 and all nominations placed on the secretary's desk in the air force, army, marine corps, navy and space force service, that the nominations be confirmed en bloc. ms. cortez masto: the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table en bloc with no further actions or debate, that no further actions be in order to the motions, that the president immediately be notified of the senate action and the senate return to legislative session. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. ms. cortez masto: no objection. mr. leader, i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to legislative session and be in a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak therein for up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. cortez masto: i understand that there are two measures at the desk, and i ask for their first reading en bloc. the presiding officer: the clerk will read the title of the measures for the first time. the clerk: s. 461, a bill to create a point of order against legislation modifying the number of justices of the supreme court of the united states. s.j. res. 9, proposing an amendment to the constitution of the united states to require that the supreme court of the united states be composed of nine judges. ms. cortez masto: i now ask for a second reading, and i object to my own request, all en bloc. the presiding officer: the objection is heard. measures will be read for the second time on the next legislative day. ms. cortez masto: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the by annual report from the office of congressional workplace rights be printed in the record. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. cortez masto: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the consideration of s. res. 76 submitted earlier today. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: s. res. 76, congratulating the national active and retired federal employees association on the celebration of its 100th anniversary, and so forth. the presiding officer: without objection, the senate will proceed. ms. cortez masto: i ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. cortez masto: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the consideration of s. res. 77, submitted earlier today. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: s. res. 77, designating the week of februar, 2021, as public schools week. the presiding officer: without objection, the senate will proceed. ms. cortez masto: i know of no further debate on the resolution. the presiding officer: is there further debate? hearing none. the question is on the adoption of the resolution. all those in favor say aye. all opposed nay. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the resolution is adopted. ms. cortez masto: i ask unanimous consent that the preamble be agreed to and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. ms. cortez masto: i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 3:00 p.m. monday, march 1. further, that following the prayer and pledge, the morning business be deemed expired, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, and the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day. further, that following the administration of the oath to swear in sonceria ann berry as secretary of the senate and any morning remarks, morning business bs closed and the senate proceed to executive session to resume consideration of the cardona nomination. that at 45:30 p.m., the postcloture time on the nomination be considered expired and the senate vote on confirmation of the nomination. finally, if the nomination is confirmed, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate and the president be notified of the senate's action. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. ms. cortez masto: mr. president, senators should be prepared for two roll call votes at 5:30 p.m. on monday. those votes will be on confirmation of miguel cardona to be secretary of education, following by a cloture vote on gina raimondo to be secretary of commerce. if there is no further business to come before the senate, i ask that it stand adjourned until the -- under the previous order. the presiding officer: the senate stands adjourned until senate stands adjourned until >> u.s. senate is gambling out, earlier they confirmed jennifer granholm to be energy secretary, 64 - 35. next week senators will but on secretary nominee and debate of the nominations printed for live coverage here in cspan two. book tv on "c-span2" top nonfiction books and authors every weekend. and sunday evening at 9:00 p.m. eastern, on afterwards, nationally syndicated radio host, eric from texas on his foot from fish out of water. is there for the meaning of life for unit about his life and career. days interviewed by the claremont institute center for the american way of life fellow. and then at 10:00 p.m. eastern, they argue that there has been an increase of sexual assault in europe due to immigration printed in a bucket, pray immigration islam and the erosion of women's rights. and 11 oh 5:00 p.m. eastern, the best selling author james patterson and retire name army major talk about their book, walk in my combat boots. a profile and women who fought in u.s. wars went back to vietnam. whisper to me, the "c-span2". sunday evening. a number of small business owners are talking about how the coronavirus pandemic has negatively affected them. questions from the banking committee which is chaired by senator sharon brown of ohio. >> this in the banking housing committee the virtual format printed the reminders as you began once you start speaking, there will be a slight delay before you are displayed on the screen. to minimize the background noise, please click the mute button. you should all have one box on your screens labeled and it will show how much time is remaining for witnesses you will have five minutes. opening statements. and all senators a five minute still applies to all of your questions printed 30 seconds remaining, you will hear belt rank to remind you that the time is almost expired. and it will ring when your time has expired. this technology issue will move to the next witness or senator until it is resolved. and the speaking order, as we do this remote. the senator and i have agreed to go by seniority for this hearing. one of the most part of things that we can do in this committee is to give a voice to all people who have not had enough of a voice in their government. last week we began by hearing from ohioans and witnesses from around the country printed who don't have corporate lobbyists to understand their communities and understand their

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