by democrats and republicans, including energy efficiency measures, battery storage, bar r carbon capture, electric grid security, building codes and new generation of nuclear reactors. now live coverage of the u.s. senate here on c-span2. the president pro tempore: the senate will come to order. the chaplain, dr. black, will lead the senate in prayer. the chaplain: let us pray. eternal god, our father, through these days of lent, give us a continuous awareness of your presence. may each lawmaker

remember your promise to never leave or forsake us. finding power in your presence, give our senators the ability to discover solutions to the problems that confront our nation and world. may they strive to make a positive difference for all americans, permitting your light to illumine the way. lord, provide our legislators with a new vision of faith and a fresh venture of hope as they seek creative ways to help a troubled world.

we pray in your powerful name. amen. the president pro tempore: please join me in the pledge of allegiance to the flag. 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: madam president? the presiding officer: the

senator from iowa is recognized. mr. grassley: i would ask permission to speak for one minute in morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. grassley: this month is iowa history month, and for iowa history month, i'll probably give a few one-minute speeches about history in iowa, but today i want to recognize the role of iowa veterans have played in our history. just, for instance, in the civil war, iowa sent over 75,000 soldiers to fight for the union, the most per capita in any state. now, i've been saying the most per capita of any state because i thought that's what the history, but i've had other states also say the same thing for their state. so i want to be intellectually honest but i'm still proud of those 75,000 iowans to fight for

the union. iowa has kept that tradition of service and i often have the pleasure of meeting our veterans. like yesterday i met an iowa delegation for the veterans of foreign wars. i participate in the library of congress project called veterans history project. accordingly, i have then had the honor of helping preserve 31 interviews with iowa veterans as part of the veterans history project. and that's taken place over just the last two years preserving the oral history of these iowa veterans. so the iowa veterans history project will then have their stories for future generations to ensure that the service of these iowans and the sacrifices

of these iowans are never forgotten. i yield the floor. mr. mcconnell: madam president? the presiding officer: the majority leader is recognized. mr. mcconnell: last week i described how congress could quickly secure supplemental funding to combat the coronavirus. the way to secure these urgently needed resources with speed and certainty was to forego partisan posturing, forego micromanagement at the leadership level, and let the bipartisan appropriators actually do their work. since then chairman shelby, senator leahy and their counterparts in the house have worked hard on bipartisan, bicameral discussions. thanks to their good work, we are close. the funding legislation appears to be about at the five-yard line. i'm optimistic we can complete the legislation and deliver this funding this week. we are close.

in order to finish it up, both sides will need to continue to do what has worked thus far and resist the temptation to impose any last-minute ideological demands. in particular, i've heard that democratic leadership may be contemplating a last-minute demand that this funding legislation also test drive some untried, untested, and controversial parts of their medicare for all proposal that relate to the pricing of new drugs and innovations. so look, madam president, everyone agrees that the potential diagnostics, therapeutics, or vaccines that might come out of this new funding cannot only be available to the ultrawealthy. we all agree on that. everyone agrees. we already have long-standing tried and true procedures so the government can buy and

distribute new medicines in scenarios like this to ensure accessibility. these mechanisms are already in place. there's no need and this is no time to begin experimenting with ideological proposals that could jeopardize research, development, and innovation. like i said, the accessibility of treatments or vaccines is a priority for everybody. but before new technologies can be accessible, they obviously have to be available. this is a moment to empower innovators, to incentivize innovators. it's a time to remove hurdles to innovation, not build new hurdles and create new uncertainty through ideological experimentation. so i hope these rumors do not prove true. i'm optimistic we'll be able to close out the remaining questions and process this legislation. in short order.

this moment calls for collaboration and for unity. our bicameral, bipartisan talks have made great headway. it's time to give our public health experts and health care professionals the surge resources they need at this challenging time. in the mean time the senate will continue considering an important package of comprehensive energy legislation. for the first time in more than a decade, we're looking at a thorough update to the laws governing innovation, security, and workforce development all across the american energy sector. as chairman murkowski has noted, 12 years is a long time. the demafnedzs we face in researching, producing, refining, storing, and protecting our abundant domestic energy has evolved a great deal since 2007. so it's high time for relevant federal policy to evolve as well. i'm grateful the chairman was willing to take on this

important task. and i'm glad that she and senator manchin led our colleagues on the energy and natural resources committee through an overwhelmingly bipartisan process to produce this bill. as i mentioned yesterday, the legislation aggregates 50 individual bills. it contains input from more than 60 senators. it covers an exhaustive range of energy-related challenges from power storage and renewable technologies to carbon capture and electrical grid cybersecurity. it has earned the support of a similarly broad range of industry advocacy and research organizations. in one letter the bipartisan policy center, the american nuclear society, the nature conservancy, and 36 other signatories endorsed it as, quote, the culmination of extensive efforts to develop practical legislative solutions. that's the american nuclear

society and the nature conservancy. that ought to tell you what you need to know about this bill. this is a bipartisan piece of legislation done right. this is how you take practical steps and build consensus on issues that affect every american in every state. around this time last year, you'll recall we saw high profile example of exactly what not to do. the far left edge of the house democratic caucus rolled out a massive scheme to forcibly remake much of our economy and our society according to their radical top-down designs. we all remember the green new deal. categorical bans on the most affordable forms of american energy, a dim future for millions of energy jobs, unprecedented washington mandates on every subject from building codes to personal

transportation. and we all remember what happened next. this socialist fantasy did not stay confined to the ideological fringe. it quickly grew into a broader rallying cry. when the senate had the opportunity to vote on this wish list of central planning, only four, just four of our democratic colleagues could bring themselves to vote against it. well, that's quite a remarkable commentary on the state of our politics. experts estimated the green new deal could have cost our government more than the g.d.p. of the entire world. the green new deal could have cost our government more than the g.d.p. of the entire world. instead this bipartisan legislation will let us direct responsible and targeted investment in a smart way toward

key energy priorities. the green new deal sought to have washington micromanage everyday life in this country to a degree that the 20th century socialists would have drooled over. instead, this bipartisan legislation will create better policy and regulatory conditions for american workers, american innovators, and american job creators to actually thrive. speaking as the senior senator from kentucky, i know firsthand that many americans in the middle of the country suffered badly during the obama era because washington pure contracts decided american energy had to fit their ideological designs. the last thing, the very last thing we want is to move backward and expand those expennyly -- exponentially that would make the war on coal look like child's play.

what kentuckians and all americans to deserve is for the federal government to make dominance easier, not harder. they deserve investment and support to help the communities that have fueled this country for generations to prosper once again. and that is what this bipartisan bill will actually deliver. i'm proud to support this smart legislation. clearly i'm not alone since only three of 100 senators voted yesterday against advancing the bill this week. so i would urge all of our colleagues to keep up their support and let's use these -- let's see this package through to the finish line. the presiding officer: the leadership time is reserved. morning business is closed. under the previous order, the senate will resume consideration of the motion to proceed to s.

2657 which the clerk will report. the clerk: motion to proceed to s. 2657, a bill to support innovation in advanced jeem thermal research and -- geothermal research and development and for other purposes. the presiding officer: the senator from west virginia. a senator: today we vote for consideration of bill 2657 which will serve as the vehicle for the american innovation act. this is truly a bipartisan energy policy. it's innovation package would be the first comprehensive energy policy update in 13 years. it brings together the strong bipartisan work of the energy committee over the last year. i would like to thank my friend and chairman of the committee,

lisa murkowski, republican from alaska for her leadership and partnership with me over the last 14 months to process these bills and form the basis of the energy package we'll be turning to today. mr. manchin: and thank you to the members of the energy and natural resource committee for their contributions to the development of this legislation. the american energy innovation act draws from 53 bills from members of both sides of the aisle. 39 of those were truly a bipartisan effort. and 63 members of the senate have either sponsored or cosponsored a piece of this package. it truly is a bipartisan product and one that i believe will benefit this country greatly. so far we have had over 150 amendments filed, several of which are bipartisan, and there was no controversial issues that i know of. i'm hoping that we can work together to incorporate some of those amendments from both sides of the aisle. as it stands, the american energy and innovation act will advance the department of energies and national laboratories' ability to deliver

much-needed technology that american workers can then export across the global marketplace. not only will it further our ability to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from energy transportation, industry, and buildings, but it would also enhance our cyber grid security and maintain our competitive edge and role as a global leader. we talk a lot, all of us do, about global climate. when you think about global climate and you think about our responsibility and what we emit into the air, for some reason, most people have been led to believe the power generation, whether it be coal-fired power plants, natural gas fired power plants, anything that has to do with fossil as contributing all of the greenhouse gas emissions in the united states. that's just not true. let me give you the breakdown. power generation contributes 27.5% of the greenhouse gas emissions. power generation, how you get your electricity, comes from a coal-fired power plant, gas, or any other type of fossil.

transportation, how we come and go back and forth to work, how we receive our goods, whether it is by car, plane, train, by trucks, 29% of the responsibility of greenhouse gases goes to transportation. the industry where people work, where they make their living, provide for their family, whether it be in a small factory, a large factory, a small business, or a high-tech business, industry contributes 22% of greenhouse gas emissions. commercial and residential, which is the building we're in today, which is the beautiful capitol, and where we live. just the commercial and residential is 11.5% responsible for greenhouse gases. so you have to have an all-in policy. one -- one thing doesn't fit. and we don't have a silver bullet to fix everything. what we have done is you take all of those power generation, transportation, industry, commercial, and residential, that represents 90% of all the greenhouse gas emissions. we're approaching and we're

basically -- this piece of legislation approaches every one of those to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions. if we all work together and gas this truly bipartisan, far-reaching, all-inclusive bill, it will make a world of difference in how we lead the rest of the world in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. that's what we're trying to do. we do it through innovation. we don't do it through elimination. elimination is not practical, responsible, or reasonable. the rest of the world will not follow. and basically, we have to have base load fuel. it has to be dependable, reliable, and affordable. but it has to be the cleanest in the world. that's what this bill does. the other 9% -- you say well, it's 90%, where is the other 10%. that's in agriculture. that's not in our jurisdiction, but they are working very hard in the agriculture committee to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and their footprints, so everybody is doing their job. i believe this package is well balanced and many of my

colleagues' priorities on both sides of the aisle have been met. this bill represents a critical step in the right direction. i encourage, i truly, sincerely encourage all of my fellow members, democrats and republicans, to vote yes today on the motion to proceed. your children will thank us, your tbrirn and generations after them will definitely thank all of us for doing our job today. thank you, madam president, and i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

mr. schumer: mr. president -- madam president. the presiding officer: the democratic leader. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent the quorum be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: now, madam president, as the number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in the united states continues to grow, congress is taking swift action this week to provide our health experts, hospital health care providers, and state and local governments the funding they need. a bipartisan negotiation between appropriators in the house and senate is very close to producing an emergency funding bill that would provide between $7 billion and $8 billion to respond to the coronavirus. this is very close to the amount that i thought was appropriate when i requested it last week, $8.5 billion, and it's more than four or five times what the administration originally

requested. i believe if we hadn't pushed them, they would have been totally inadequate to the crisis, as they have been in preparation and planning. the administration requested $2.5 billion, which was half, -- only half of that was new funding. the rest came from pulling it out of other things like ebola that were very much needed as well. the bill we put together here in congress is far more appropriate and will actually address our country's short and medium term needs. this is very, very good news, and i'd like to compliment democrats and republicans, house and senate, for making efforts to come together, for being the adults in the room while president trump childishly exaggerates, underplays, points fingers of blame, latches onto conspiracy theories, and most of all doesn't lead. this is an example where america needs leadership, and president trump's lack of leadership is glaringly apparent to americans.

the crucial legislation provides funding for very specific and timely needs. there will be $350 million for hot spots, areas affected by the outbreak. there will be $500 million to procure pharmaceuticals and masks, protective equipment, and other medical supplies to distribute to states, local governments, and hospitals. there will be $100 million for community health centers and funding for training and beds. we are replenishing the c.d.c.'s infectious disease rapid response fund so that it can respond quickly to local areas that experience an outbreak. in total, there is over $950 million in funding for state and local governments to undertake the many activities they need to respond to the spread of the virus. surveillance for the coronavirus, laboratory testing, contact tracing to identify anyone who may have been infected by a person known to have the virus, infection control at the local level and

more. and this is only one piece of the bill. the rest of the bill will give desperately needed funds to c.d.c., h.h.s., usaid, and f.d.a. and others to do vaccine research and development and much more. the funding levels in this bill and their specific uses very much reflect the needs of the country as health care professionals across america work to confront the spread of the virus, and i want to thank our appropriators on the front lines, ranking member leahy and chairman shelby in the senate, chair lowey and ranking member granger in the house. while the trump administration's response has been slow and halting, congress has taken action. while president trump is playing fast and loose with facts and blaming everyone not named donald trump, congress is taking responsibility and acting like the adult in the room. democrats would like to see this emergency funding package passed through the senate by the end of the week, and we will work with the majority to make sure that

that happens. i urge all of my colleagues in the interest of time, understanding the urgency of the matter, to help us achieve this goal. now, yesterday, vice president mike pence and his team from c.d.c., f.d.a., and h.h.s. met with the democratic caucus to answer questions about the administration's response to the coronavirus. we appreciated their willingness to come to our caucus, and they stayed. unlike some of the previous briefings, they stayed and addressed a lot of our questions. the only problem, they didn't have as many answers as we needed, answers the american people would expect at this stage of the epidemic. one of our top priorities at the moment is testing. we need to know who is infected in order to contain the spread of the virus and treat any american affected by the disease. we asked the administration about the availability of testing kits, but they could not answer how soon hospitals,

medical labs, and public health centers would receive the tests and if they would have enough of them to do the amount of testing required fast enough. the best way to deal with test something to let people do it on-site, let them go to their local doctor, their local c.h.c. and get a test and get an answer quickly. unfortunately, the vice president and his team had noences a to that. it is a real problem. one of the -- one of our questions at the meeting yesterday should give the administration an urgency to figure this out as soon as possible. i'd also plead with president trump to begin showing some leadership on the coronavirus. so far the president's main concern has been to tamp down concern about the virus. he gives broad assurances that everything is under control. when you show up at your doctor's office because you think you might have coronavirus and there's no test and he doesn't know what to do and he just says go home and don't go

to work, that's not everything under control, mr. president. if any member of his administration says something optimistic, he -- a vaccine will be ready soon. all misstatements from president trump. in a televised meeting with government experts and pharmaceutical experts, the president failed to comprehend that a vaccine would take over a year to develop and test. this is the president of the united states during a crisis. he doesn't even understand the basic rudiments of what is going on. he suggested blithely that we could just use the influenza vaccine for the coronavirus and he was quickly corrected by dr. fauci. 24 hours later, the president was claiming that they would speed up the production of a vaccine to him. president trump, people are circumstance people are dying. the economy is being wreaked

havoc and you look at it as a favor to you. it is not about you, mr. president. it is about america and the crisis and what our federal government is doing to help. the president saying it was a favor to him, the president stating such blatant mistruths was a shocking demonstration of just how little the president listens, how little the president learns, how little leadership he shows at a time when we desperately need leadership. during a public health crisis of this magnitude, we need steady and competent leadership from president trump. so far it's been totally lacking. unfortunately for america. i yield the floor. the presiding officer: under the previous order, all postcloture time is expired. the question occurs on the motion to proceed. 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 vote or change their vote? if not, the yeas are 90, the nays are 4. the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report the bill. the clerk: calendar number

357, s.2657, a bill to support innoknowvation and advance research in geothermal development and for other pups. ms. murkowski: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from alaska. ms. murkowski: i polled the members of the energy committee and with withdraw the amendment. the presiding officer: the amendment is withdrawn. ms. murkowski: i call up substitute amendment 10007. officer the clerk will report. the clerk: ms. murkowski proposes an amendment numbered 1407. strike all after the enacting clause -- ms. murkowski: i ask that the reading of the amendment be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: i call up amendment 1419. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the amendment. the clerk: mr. mcconnell for ms. ernst proposes amendment numbered 1419 to amendment number 1407.

at the end of subtitle c of title -- mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent that the reading of the amendment be waived. the presiding officer: without objection.

ms. murkowski: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from alaska. ms. murkowski: mr. president, i want to thank all those who just voted for the motion to proceed to s. 2657 and have now called up my substitute amendment which is 1407 which now contains the full text of the american energy innovation act. so we are moving through the process a little slowly here, but we are moving through the process. we now have more than 150 amendments that have been filed to the bill. senator manchin and i are working together with other members to sort through potential votes on the bill. we're also working to see which ones might fight into a manager's package of easy,

noncontroversial, worked out proposals. i know everyone thinks theirs is easy, it's been worked out, and of course it's noncontroversial. but we have a hand full of those and are seeking additional. i would remind members that amendments require cooperation, bipartisan cooperation, especially from those beyond the energy and natural resources committee. those that are on the committee have had an opportunity to go through each and every one of these measures that we've had in front of us that are incorporated as part of the american energy innovation act. that input has been helpful and very, very positive as we have built these proposals. and i know folks are looking at much of this, some of them for the first time as they're not on the committee, and they have

ideas that are good and worthy, and we want to respect that process and incorporate them as they are appropriate and enhance this bill. i want to have votes. the leader has said that he wants to have this open amendment process. i want to have a managers' package, but it is entirely possible -- we've seen it before -- that that opportunity is spoiled. so i would just urge members to just be honest about how ready their proposals really are. sometimes it might not be as vetted as you think that it might be, and it might need some additional work. but know that as a committee, we stand ready to work with you on those proposals to better enhance them. so i have taken an opportunity over the past couple of days to share with colleagues more about what our package includes, the

result of this good work that we've done over the past year, working through regular order in our committee. last night i talked about title 1, which focuses on innovation. the big, key p buzzword here innovation. everything from energy efficiency and renewables to energy storage. we all talk a lot about energy storage. advanced nuclear carbon capture, utilization storage. so good focus on the innovation side of this bill. this morning i'd like to highlight what is in title 2, which is kind of our security title. and i have put it in three differently buckets here. you have mineral security, which is critical to the supply chain. you have cybersecurity and grid security which, again, is key to all operations of commerce and our economy. and then you have the economic security that comes with good jobs, and so the focus on

workforce is here as well. out of these three, i want to begin with mineral security because we don't always associate these efforts with meeting our energy and our climate goals. what we focus on within this bill is the development of new clean technologies, but there is also a very important reality that we have to acknowledge, and that is meeting our energy and our climate goals will require a significant increase in our supply of critical minerals. the world is not producing nearly enough of almost all of them. so think about that. we're pushing, we're challenging those within our national labs, we're challenging those in the private sector. we're saying move us to cleaner technologies, the world of renewables. but we have to build all of these things, whether it's your smartphone or whether it is a wind turbine, we need to build

them, and they require minerals. they require critical minerals. and if we're not producing them them, where are we getting them from? more to the point, the united states is not producing nearly enough of almost any of these materials that we're talking about when it comes to how we move to clean energy sources. we're largely absent from the field as other countries, most notably china, increasingly dominate these long-term supply chains that will give them an almost unsurmountable competitive advantage. so just to consider a few of the numbers here, according to the world bank, meeting the goals set by the paris agreement would increase demand for battery storage minerals like lithium, cobalt and nickel by 1,000%. right now nearly 70% of raw cobalt is coming from the

democratic republic of congo. over 60% of the processed cobalt used in batteries is controlled by china. so think about that. the u.s. has no capacity for battery-grade cobalt. that's a situation that we're in right now. no capacity for battery-grade cobalt here in this country, and that is before the projected 600% increase in demand over the next 30 years. and despite new development on state and private land in nevada and north carolina, the united states only produces about 1% of the world's raw lithium and contributes about 7% of the processed materials. so think about it, the cobalt that is so necessary, the lithium that we require for our batteries, the same goes for

graphite, 60% of mined graphite and 100% of the processed material is coming from china. we've got some reserves in my state and alaska for graphite. but again, think about what this means when we're talking about solar panels, about advanced batteries and electric vehicles. what are they made of? it's not chocolate and candy canes here. if we want to compete in the industries of the future, we're going to have to do better. weech to compete particularly -- we have to compete particularly with china, and right now we are at a disadvantage. last year an expert from the foreign policy analytics tested about china's domination of mineral markets and supply chains, for electric vehicles, china controls or has influence over 80% of the supply of rare earth elements.

that's coming from china, 80%, over 80% of the supply of rare earth elements. they also control or have influence over 70% of the supply of graphite, 59% of the supply of lithium. china has 56% of the supply of vanadium and 36% of the supply of cobalt. now some of this is due to production and supply chains in china. some of it is the result of extensive investments that they have made to acquire mines and mining interests around the world, most notably in places like congo. this is the reality that we are facing right now, is this increasing, ever-increasing reliance and therefore vulnerability for these minerals that are so necessary to the investments that we will make. so it's not just china we're

talking about here. canada is well ahead of us. just this week prime minister trudeau released the canadian minerals and metals plan with the goal of, quote, being the leading mining nation, close quote, in part because minerals are critical to clean energy technologies. so while other countries are competing to lead in this space, what are we doing here in this country? how are we doing it? now, i want to give the administration credit in this space. they recognize the problem. they are acting on it. the president has -- had an executive order that -- that he has laid down. i just visited with the secretary of the interior on their minerals analysis. but, really, the facts are -- are pretty clear in front of us. us gs tells us this every year,

we are still a long, long ways from true mineral security. right now we import 50p of our supply of -- 50% of our supplies of minerals including 127 of them. this is the achilles' heel for us. we have surrendered the front end of the supply chain and then we wonder why we have a hard time capturing any of the rest of it. our mineral subtitle will put us on the right track. it is not an overnight cure all, there is none, but it will enable the united states to increase the responsible production and processing of critical minerals. it will help us figure out what we have. it will help us develop alternatives and substitutes for the minerals that we lack. that is an important part of this. because as much as it is to have that supply, that secure supply

here, we need to be pushing ourselves to recycle, to find the alternatives and the substitutes. that is key, and that kind of falls into the first title which is all about innovation and the technologies that will help us advance that. but keeping -- keeping and pushing on the r&d in that space. and then also what we do within the bill is increase recycling to decrease the need for new supplies. so, again, you've got a focus on mineral security but, again, how that ties into the innovation and how we can reuse, recycle and develop alternatives is key. over time our mineral subtitle will help america become a leader in growing industries like battery and renewable manufacturing along with the jobs and the economic growth that they represent. i think it also helps put the united states in the driver's

seat to prevent supply disruptions that could quickly derail our efforts to deploy renewables, energy storage, e.b.'s, and other technologies. now, there's one thing that our minerals subtitle will not do and that is it will not weaken laws that protect our lands and waters. our bill continues to ensure that only responsible development is allowed to proceed. now, i've heard some claim, as just recently as yesterday, that somehow or other our bill will weaken the environmental review process but know that that is not accurate. that is simply wrong. the u.s., right now, has one of the slowest permitting processes in the world -- in the world. some years back we were -- we were dead last. we were actually tied with new

guinea, but we do not have a permitting process that is the envy of everyone. it is entirely fair to encourage agencies to do better, like their counterparts all around the world, by working smarting and more efficiently. i also want to remind colleagues that we passed this same provision as part of our 2016 energy bills. minerals were important enough to draw 85 votes back then in 2016, and so i would think that we would regard them as even more important now as our reliance and our vulnerability has only increased. i want to thank senator manchin for his support on our efforts on mineral security and for his cosponsorship on the mineral security act. i was also glad to be able to combine his efforts on a bill that he called rare earth element advancing coal technologies. we've included that bill in our

subtitle. i also want to thank a number of members on the energy committee, senators, barrasso, risch, daines, and mcsally on this very important subtitle. so another subtitle within secure addresses the real and growing threat of cyberattacks. according to the 2019 worldwide threat assessment of the world intelligence community, china, russia, and other foreign adversaries are using cyberrer operations to -- cyberoperations to target our critical infrastructure. we have seen the ramifications of cyberattacks on energy infrastructure. in december of 2015, russian hackers cut off power to a quarter of a million people in ukraine. a year later russian hackers

disabled a saudi arabia plant's safety systems. we can't -- we can't let that happen here. our electric grid which is comprised of generation, transmission resources is critical. every sector of our economy depends upon it. we know what the impact would be if -- if there was a successful hack. it could impact homes, hospitals, banks, gas pumps, cellphone services. the consequences -- the consequences really go without -- without bounds in terms of the devastation that could be brought, particularly if power couldn't be restored for any meaningful duration. working with the administration, we've seen good steps to address this through the establishment of cybersecurity, energy security and emergency response

known as caesar at the department of energy. i thank them for that there. this office is busy responding to increasingly sophisticated cyber threats. our package builds on that effort through a bill that we have called the protect act which will enhance cybersecurity defenses of grid assets by providing incentives, grants, and technical assistance for ewe tilts to invest in cutting edge technologies. the innovation package will also allow all ewe tilts and power producers, especially those most vulnerable smaller ewe tilts that have fewer resources to continue investing in new technology that keeps their systems protected against evolving cyber threats. this is an important part of it. because we -- we have a tendency to focus on the big systems and what that impact might be, but for many, many, many around the

country in our smaller, more rural areas, it -- these are -- these are flour -- these are our smaller ewe tilts that -- utilities that don't have the resources to be as current or as protected as they want to be and as they should be in the event of any kind of a cyber threat. so helping assist them is also key. we have included language from senator gardner to facilitate state energy security plans and private-public partnerships for grid security. we have included programs in place to partner with industry and other federal agencies. senator cantwell has been a real lead. when she was the ranking member on the committee and now as she continues to focus on this issue. it's -- this very important issue of cybersecurity.

so she has a good provision included in this bill as well. mr. president, the american energy innovation act will help improve our national security in significant ways. again, through mineral security and protecting our electric grid from cyberattacks. we recognize that these measures play a crucial role in supporting energy innovation and ensuring that its many benefits can be enjoyed by the american people. there is more that i will take the time to outline at a later point, but i think it's important that as -- as members consider what -- what this energy provision allows for, it's pretty expansive. it's pretty expansive. and it's expansive because, again, we haven't seen an energy bill that has become law in now 12 years. so it should be expansive and it should focus not only on how we

can help facilitate more of the ingenuity and innovation that will come forward from our universities, from our labs, from private-public partnerships, from those who are working every day with great ideas to help really transform not only our economy but -- but our environment as well. and so it is -- it is more than innovation in the renewable space. it is innovation in the carbon space, it is innovation in nuclear space, it is innovation when it comes to industrial emissions, it's innovation when it comes to efficiency. and with that innovation comes security whether it be recognizing that we must do more to ensure that we have stable and secure supply chains through

mineral security, through the security that comes with protection of our grids and protection from cyber threats, modernization of our grids and, again, the security of the good job that comes with a skilled workforce. so there's much to talk about in this good measure. again, i would encourage colleagues. we are in an amendment process. come to us with -- with your -- with your comments, your suggestions, your concerns. let's work them out but let's get an energy bill through the senate, through the house and signed into law by the president. with that, mr. president, i yield the floor and would suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call:

the presiding officer: the majority whip. mr. thune: mr. president, is the senate in a quorum call? the presiding officer: we are. mr. thune: i would ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be lifted. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. thune: mr. president, two years ago at this time we were hearing that the internet as we know it was going to disappear. on february 27, 2018, senate democrats sent a tweet warning that americans would be getting the internet one word at a time. why? because the federal communications commission had repealed heavy-handed obama-era internet regulation. if we didn't immediately undo the f.c.c.'s rules change democrats warned the effects on the internet would be catastrophic. two years later the internet as we know it isn't just still with us, it's flourishing. broadband access has expanded. americans are enjoying faster internet speeds and we're

implementing 5-g internet technology across the nation including in more rural places like south dakota. it turns out that the internet doesn't fall apart without the heavy hand of government. in fact, it thrives. and that should be an important lesson for us going forward. historically speaking, mr. president, the federal government has taken a light touch approach to internet regulation. the government largely stayed out of the internet's way and innovation and creativity flourished delivering nearly everything from netflix to weather apps to uber. but in 2014, the obama administration decided that it wanted the federal government to start regulating the internet more heavily, and in 2015 the obama federal communications commission passed the open internet order which dramatic capitol hill expanded the -- dramatically expanded the federal government's power over the internet in the name of net neutrality. mr. president, you might not know it from democrats' rhetoric

but net neutrality is a concept that enjoys broad support in both parties. i support net neutrality and rules that prevent blocking, throttling or the paid prioritization of internet traffic. i don't think a major service provider should be able to block a small news start-up and i don't think netflix should be able to pay to have its search results appear before anyone else's. but what the obama f.c.c. did in 2015 went far beyond net neutrality. in the name of keeping the internet open to everyone, the obama f.c.c. asserted broad new government powers over the internet using rules that were designed for telephone monopolies back during the great depression. this opened the door to a whole host of new internet regulations, including price regulations. unpricingly, mr. president -- unsurprisingly, mr. president, the f.c.c.'s move resulted in a decline of broadband investment as companies saw the possibility

of burdensome new regulations headed their way. that was bad news for americans, especially americans in rural states like my home state of south dakota. getting broadband to rural communities is already more challenging than installing broadband in cities or suburbs, and the possibility of heavier regulations acted as a further disincentive to expanding access. fast forward to 2017, the federal communications commission under chairman pai voted to repeal the heavy-handed internet regulations passed by the obama f.c.c. democrats, as i've already mentioned, mr. president, responded hysterically, hysterically predicting that the new internet or the internet as we knew it will disappear. providers, they warned, would slow down internet speeds to a crawl and block access to desired content. is except, of course, none of

that has happened. here's what's actually happened, mr. president. broadband investment has rebounded. in 2018 private broadband investment rose by $3 billion. broadband access has expanded. the f.c.c. reports that in 2018, and i quote, broadband providers both small and large deployed fiber networks to 5.9 million new homes, the largest number ever recorded, end quote. and internet speeds have increased. the nation is poised for widespread adoption of the next generation of internet which is 5-g. all this, mr. president, despite light-touch government regulation, or perhaps more accurately, because of light-touch government regulation. the time when democrats were pushing for government takeovers of everything from our health care to energy choices, it's important to remember that a lot of times heavy-handed government

involvement causes problems instead of solving them. of course there's a place for government regulations, but more government involvement does not automatically mean a better outcome. in fact, a lot of time it means the opposite. giving the federal government more power over the internet not only didn't help anything, it actually discouraged the investment needed to ensure it that all americans have access to reliable high-speed internet service. lifting the heavy hand of government regulation, on the other hand, encouraged broadband investment, which is resulting in better internet access for more americans. mr. president, if we want the internet to continue to thrive and serve as an engine of economic innovation and advancement, we should ensure that the federal government stays away from heavy-handed regulations. i've spent years calling for a bipartisan net neutrality bill that would address concerns about blocking while codifying a

light-touch approach to internet regulation. and i am still, mr. president, waiting for a democrat partner on that legislation. while the current f.c.c. has established a healthy approach to regulation, a different administration could return and in the same way they did during the days of the obama f.c.c., slow down internet advances like 5-g and the expansion of broadband happening in rural communities across the country. i will continue to work for bipartisan net neutrality legislation that encourages -- i should say that ensures that the government will not weigh down the internet with unnecessary and heavy-handed regulations. mr. president, i hope my democrat colleagues will join me. mr. president, i yield the floor and i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk

will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call:

quorum call:

quorum call:

mr. cotton: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from arkansas. mr. cotton: i ask consent to end the quorum call. i have 14 requests for committees to meet during today's session of the senate. they have the approval of the majority and minority leaders. the presiding officer: duly noted. mr. cotton: yesterday, the

senate passed my resolution to honor the life of lee win lui wong, the chinese doctor who her roarically tried to warn his fellow citizens and the world about the wuhan coronavirus late last year. dr. lee tragically fell victim to that very disease but not before he was victimized by his own government the chinese communist party. he was 34 years old when he passed away of coronavirus on february 7. he had a wife and a young child and another young child on the way. his whole life was ahead of him. and now his wife is widowed, his child has no father, and his second child will never know his father. but as li knew, when you become a doctor, you pledge to care for the sick and the dying, whatever

the hardships, whatever the costs, whatever the risks to yourself. so when patients with a severe pneumonia began appearing at li's hospital late last year, he sounded the alarms to fellow doctors. the chinese communist party responded with lightning speed. not to contain this epidemic but to intimidate dr. li and attack his reputation. local communist goons paid him a visit a few days later forcing him to retract his statements and apologize for so-called illegal behavior. china's state media piled on denouncing li and other whistle-blowers as rumor among gears who were -- mongers who were spreading fear among the chinese people. that's been the pattern of the chinese communist party's response to the coronavirus from the very beginning. first cover-up and then catastrophe. when chinese internet users flooded social media with indignation following dr. li's

death, their cries were scrubbed there the -- from the internet by the communist party's army of sensors. when a chinese human activist called for chairman li to step -- chicago to step down -- chairman ch hi to step down, he was detained. the chinese communist party failed to contain the virus and they kicked three of the paper's reporters out of the country. the chinese communist party's deception has been so thorough, that its rare moments of candor however obviously helpful have been quickly suppressed and punished. when a number of the reported infections spiked upward due to an improvement in data reporting, the party purged local officials who were likely responsible. and after chinese scientists gave the world a head start in

developing a vaccine by publishing the disease jenome online, what happened? were they given awards? were they celebrated? no, their lab was shut down the very next day. the scientists deserved awards. they deserved a medal. instead they were given a professional death sentence. the chinese people have suffered greatly from this coronavirus. they are in fact the first and the worst victims of their own communist government. but now the whole world is suffering with them. just as the bubonic plague spread to europe due to traders on the silk road, the wuhan coronavirus is traveling china's new silk road. it turned out the initiative exports not just chinese's money and china's -- chinese debt, but china's viruses as well as its repression. it threatens not only economies

around the world, it threatens peoples around the world. right next door to china, iran is suffering a devastating outbreak of the coronavirus. birds of a feather flock together i have to add. the mulas in tehran have emulated the chinese communist party's shameful response to coronavirus. first denying and then downplaying the outbreak until it's no longer possible to ignore the bodies stacking up in clinics. the mysterious sickness spreading through the cabinet of iran's government itself. remember the suffering people in these countries when you hear triumphant, self-congratulatory messages coming from chinese propaganda rags like the global times and china daily or even the world health organization which i have to say seems more interested in protecting the

feelings of the chinese communist party than protecting the health of people around the world. china's propagandists are reportedly hard at work on a book exonerating the chairman for his negligent response to this virus. the official line is that the coronavirus is contained and china is back to work but don't believe it. do not believe the hype. the chinese communist party lied from the very beginning of this outbreak and it's lying still. and it is responsible for the scale of this virus outbreak around the world. this outbreak didn't happen in spite of the chinese communist party's efforts to contain it. it happened because of the communist system of government. three months later we still don't know how many people have been infected or killed by coronavirus on the chinese

mainland. all we have are bogus statistics that just so happen to track perfectly, perfectly with the communist party line day after day. i'll cite one example. baron's, the financial publication discovered that the official number of deaths could be predicted perfectly in advance, in advance in china using a simple mathematical formula. this coronavirus isn't just contagious and deadly, it is good at math as well, if you believe the chinese communist party. but that doesn't just happen in nature. they are obviously cooking their books. it's not hard to see why. china's economy has ground to a halt. the chinese communist party is desperate to restart it. and avoid the first contraction in the last 30 years, whatever it may cost in lives of chinese

people. if china is truly back to work as the chinese communists claim, it's only because it has employed communist tactics that invoke the worst horrors of soviet communism from stalin's five-year plans to linen grad 1943. after shutting down almost half the country's factories to stop the spread of coronavirus, the chinese communist party is opening them again barely one month later. investors around the world beware. that decision is motivated not by confidence but by desperati desperation. it will almost certainly lead to more outbreaks as workers congregate on crowded subways and factory floors, all because the chinese communist party mannedderrings living safely behind armed guards and walls in

beijing decided that hitting their growth target was more important than the peasants' lives. when i first called for travel restrictions on china back in late january, dr. li was still alive and the coronavirus was thankfully far from our shores. tragically it's now a global disease and we have to do all we can to arrest its spread. the most vital thing china can do is still be fully open and transparent about the origins and extent of the coronavirus. i say to the chinese communist party, stop hiding behind your fake numbers and politically correct bureaucrats at the world health organization. let truly independent experts into wuhan to investigate this virus. the united states has offered repeatedly, repeatedly to send a

team and would do so tomorrow if you would just have the humanity to let them in. and help save your own people. finally, give those people the freedom to speak candidly about the disease that has devastated your nation. do not stifle the next whistle-blower, the next doctor, or nurse who speaks up to save the lives, not just of their own people but of the people around the world. here in america only time will tell how this virus will run its course. we have many advantages, though, to help us in this fight. we have the world's best doctors, nurses, and health care professionals. as important, we live in a republic that protects the liberty of our citizens and

gives every american the freedom to speak, to write, to dissent, to sound an alarm -- loudly sound an alarm when we see something that isn't right and we think we can make it right. tragically, for himself, for his family, for the world, dr. li wenliang enjoyed no such freedom. yet he still spoke up to try to save his neighbors and save the world. for that, he was punished, and now he has passed. may he rest in peace, and may his memory inspire other selfless heroes who will speak truth and hold the chinese communist party to account, no matter the cost.

mr. president, i yield the floor, and i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call:

quorum call:

mr. durbin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: i ask consent the quorum call be suspended. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: mr. president, on average we lose 100 americans every single day to firearms. last week marked one year since the house of representatives passed a bill h.r. 8, a bipartisan bill, democrats and republicans supported it. and it stood for a very basic proposition and a proposition -- and the proposition is this. whatever your constitutional rights or god-given rights if you make that argument, to a

firearm might be, we as a society cannot allow people who are convicted felons are shown to be mentally unstable legally buy a firearm in this country. we're supposed to have background checks to make sure that doesn't happen. it turns out more than one out of five firearms are sold in america without a background check. and so h.r. 8, this bipartisan bill, passed the house to close the gaps in our background system. what kind of gaps are we talking about? we have terrible gun violence in the city of chicago and some of the critics of chicago like to say, well, you have the toughest gun laws and the most gun deaths. well, they don't tell you the whole story. many of those guns start off not in chicago, not in illinois, but in gun shows in northwest indiana where they're sold sometimes in volume without any background check on the purchaser. it's been one year of nothing in

the united states senate to respond to this national crisis, not one. it's within the power of the majority leader, the republican senator mitch mcconnell of kentucky to at least let us address the issue and debate it. he has the majority. nothing is is going too pass here without -- nothing is going to pass here without the majority. he knows it. one mannen, the republican majority leader says no. he styles himself as the grim reaper of the senate. he takes pride in the fact that he's killed hundreds of bills passed by the house that will never, ever see the light of day in the united states senate. well, i can tell the senator from kentucky that after attending so many funerals, after giving heartbreaking sympathy to the families of those who have lost their children and loved ones, after hearing about somas shootings --

so manymass shootings, aren't we shocked when people go to a movie theater in colorado and are gunned down as they watch a movie? aren't we shocked when a crowd in las vegas just wants to enjoy a country and western concert and they're gunned down? weren't we shocked at a high school in florida or a first grade classroom in connecticut when mass shootings take place? what will it take, america? what will it take for this senate, for this majority leader to realize enough is enough? i believe in the second amendment rights to firearms for those who buy them legally, use them and store them responsibly, whether it's for self-defense, sport, or hunting. but none of the people that come to me and argue this issue are arguing for convicting felons and mentally unstable people to buy a firearm. we need them to stand with us and to stand with law enforcement who are often the

victims of these firearms to make this a safer nation. there are obvious gaps in the federal gun laws that make it easy for felons, abusers, mentally unstable people to get their hands on guns and hurt innocent people. loopholes in the background check system like the gun show loophole i mention and one which i haven't mentioned -- loopholes on the internet where there's no real background check whatsoever -- account for massive sales of firearms each year into the united states. the house-passed bipartisan background checks act would close these gaps in the background check system. around 90% of americans support this bill. 90% of them. good enough for america, right? not good enough for the senate. obviously the majority leader needs to be persuaded, and 90% of america is not enough. it is a commonsense, bipartisan step we should take consistent with constitutional rights but

consistent as well with common sense. i can't explain why the senate republicans won't take up a bipartisan house-passed bill that is so overwhelmingly supported even by republicans. there are literally hundreds of bills that have passed the house of representatives gathering dust on the senate desk, and this is one of them. these bills deal with issues like reducing the cost of prescription drugs, protecting the pensions of working americans and retired americans, securing our elections from foreign interference and, of course, reducing gun violence. they all wait on the desk of the senator hostiles himself the grim reaper -- who styles himself the grim reaper. there's plenty of time you can tell when the senate floor is forced to roll up its sleeves and tombly legislate. when it comes to gun violence, the cost of inaction is

devastating. 100 americans a day. it is time for senator mcconnell to call up the bipartisan background checks act and have this senate actually debate an issue and actually vote on an issue that can make a real difference in america. mr. president, i ask consent that my next statement be placed in a separate part of the record. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: mr. president, i will commend the majority leader and senator murkowski of alaska of really doing something that is out of the ordinary. there's a bill pending before the senate on the issue of america's energy policy. you see, last year on the floor of the united states senate, this deliberative body that has been honored throughout history for the great debates that have taken place here, last year during the entire calendar year, the senate considered only 22 amendments in the entire year. now, i've everybody ised here for a while. i can -- now, i've served here

for a while. i can never remember a time when there was so little activity on the floor of the i want to commend senator murr cow scheme she has started us off with aen an indication that things might change. this energy bill is going to be hotly debated. what's required is to bring a measure forward, debate it, compromise where you can, and come up with the best product that you can come up. congress has not passed major energy legislation since the year 2009. over ten years have passed. has the energy picture in america changed in ten years? of course. has the environmental picture changed? we know it has. president obama in 2009, in his stimulus package, included critical tax credits for renewable energy like wind and solar. this week's debate marks an opportunity to tackle a decade-long legislative slump on these issues.

the american energy innovation act seeks to modernize our electrical grid, support research into advanced energy technology and improve efficiency, energy efficiency in i would abouting across america. through big bipartisan effort, my colleagues have constructed a package that starts to address one of america's most pressing issues -- energy for our future. although the bill contains provisions that support innovation and research at the department of energy, i have to say i think we can do more. we need more robust support for basic science research, the kind of research that costs too much and takes too long for private companies to undertake on their own. time and again, whether it is new medicine, new medical devices, or new energy policy, the federal government has shown the real leadership in basic research. we're at risk of no longer

leading the world in cutting-edge research because we are not adequately -- our generation is not adequately funding basic science. we are living off the achievements of previous generations. we're knot leaving the world of our children and grandchildren better for the research we're doing today, at least not as much as we should. that's why i put forth an amendment to this bill to increase funding fornt o energyf science by 5% real growth -- that's 5% over inflation -- each year for the next five years. this amendment will provide more than $43 billion over five years for basic research in energy technology and close a funding gap that has stopped some of d.o.e.'s most important projects. think for a moment about electric vehicles. commonly now their range of mileage is 200 to 300 miles. what if we doubled or tripled that number? would it change the attitude of the public about using electric

vehicles and reducing pollution? i think there's no doubt that it would. this investment will pay off, this investment in research. it will strengthening the energy bill and help move us into the 21st century in a leadership position where the united states should be. and while my amendment addresses one priority to enhance the american energy innovation act, a larger question remains -- it is fundamental and basic. how does this bill on energy address the existential threat of climate change? the we should ask that about every bill that comes across the floor. certainly on a bill talking about the future of energy. my colleagues have worked to improve energy efficiency and fund innovation. i support both of those efforts. but this bill does not honestly and aggressively deal with climate change. unfortunately, facing the global threat of warming will require more than just faith in

technology. climate change impacts every sector of american life. it is well past time that we deal with solutions that can promise our kids and grandkids a habitable planet. according to the climatologist in my state of illinois, as a result of climate change, illinois faces higher temperatures and more frequent intense rainfall than at any other time in our state's history. that's over 200 years. our farmers have seen it. last year increased precipitation between april and june literally crippled our farmers when it came to planting and left them many times with fields that were not productive. we've seen it in in in this the city of chicago. there were waves as high as 20 feet pummeling the lake michigan shoreline of chicago and flooding our coastal communities. through the summer record

temperatures in chicago last year threatened the elderly with heat stroke and kept many kids behind doors. even the trump administration has seen it. despite the president's denial on climate change, people within his administration spoke up. in november of 2018, the fourth national climate assessment reported that american economic losses could research hundreds of billions of dollars by the end of the century as a result of climate change. for decades, scientists have warned us about this threat and now we can see it in our lives almost every day. as the senate considers energy legislation, we do the american people a great disservice by failing to seriously address climate change. that's why i've been working on an approach that i think has some promise. let's look back in history to the 1930's. the united states faced a different existential crisis called the great depression. at that time franklin delano

roosevelt established the reconstruction finance corporation. this was an agency that issued low-interest loans and harnessed investment across the economy. the r.f.c., as it was known, became the critical lifeline for the united states economy, and its catch-all approach to investment spurred us into our recovery. though climate change represents a different set of challenges than the great depression, the r.f.c. model shows us an example of a broad strategy needed to combat existential threats to our nation. would end to take immediate action to decrease greenhouse gas emissions and limit human-induced global. according to the e.p.a., in 2018 the united states emitted more than 5.2 billion tons of carbon dioxide, a 3.2% increase over the previous year. we're moving in the wrong direction. clearly this administration's

strategy of removing the united states from the paris climate accord and skirting around climate change is one that is not helping us address this issue successfully and effectively. tacking this issue requires an immediate reduction in carbon emissions, massive investments in resilience and clean energy technology and a willingness to take this threat seriously. climate change makes the normal disasters in america that much worse. it increases their frequency and their intensity, and it's devastating to most vulnerable people and businesses in earthquake in. i -- in america. i support efforts like the bill before us, the american energy innovation act, that takes small steps toward addressing climate change but this problem calls for a much larger commitment, not just by the senate and the house and by the president but certainly by the american people. we have it within our power, if we have the will, to deal with

this challenge. research, technology, and a willingness to make a sacrifice for future generations is all that it takes. we can put that package together on a bipartisan basis. mr. president, i yield the floor. i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call: