ms. ernst: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from iowa. effort ernst are we in a quorum call? -- ms. ernst: are we in a quorum call? the presiding officer: no. ms. ernst: thank you, mr. president. with spring aproposing, the days are getting longer and -- with spring aproposing, the days are getting longer and temperatures are heating up. many are hitting the gym trying to get in shape for the beach,

including some turtles. that's right. your tax dollars actually paid for a study that put turtles on treadmills. so here we have our turtles on a treadmill. to no one's surprise, it turns out that turtles are really, really slow. okay. that's what our tax dollars went to. in fact, this wasteful study found that turtles moved at nearly the same pace as dead turtles on a treadmill. aren't you glad that washington

bureaucrats used your hard earned dollars to conduct this study? good grief, folks. now how many of your tax dollars went to this study exactly? well, folks, your guess is actually as good as mine because there is no legal obligation for most federal agencies to publicly disclose the price of government projects even though the american taxpayers are paying for them. folks, this is your money, your money. so shouldn't you have a right to know how it is being spent? it's been said before, and i sure believe it, government functions best when it operates in the open.

this is the basis of sunshine week which begins this sunday. sunshine week is celebrated every year in march to remind us of just how important it is to have government transparency, especially when it comes to how our tax dollars are being spent. transparency really is fundamental to the principles upon which our nation was founded. the people have power to affect the decisions made by those of us who are elected leaders and in turn congress has the authority to hold accountable the millions of unelected washington bureaucrats who ultimately write the rules and regulations that impact nearly every aspect of our lives and

decide how our taxpayer dollars are spent. this year i have a couple of bright ideas to shine some light on how washington is spending your money. let's talk about those darn government boondoggles, those federal projects that are billions of dollars over budget and years behind schedule. frankly, we know nothing about them because the government agencies aren't required to report this information to you. well, i have a bill to help shed some light on these costly monstrosities. my billion dollar boondoggle act would require an annual report listing every single taxpayer-funded project that is

$1 billion or more over budget or five years or more behind schedule. this will make it impossible for washington bureaucrats to continue throwing our tax dollars into bottomless money pits without being noticed. unfortunately it's not just the billions wasted on boondoggles being kept secret. it's the cost of the federal projects. so i've proposed a bill that requires every project supported with federal funds to include a price tag with the amount that is paid by taxpayers. that way when your money is being spent to put turtles on a treadmill, the ones i mentioned to you earlier, you, the taxpayer, can decide if the price is right.

of course, the waste doesn't stop there. did you know that federal agencies spend over $1.4 billion every year on advertising and public relations? this includes -- you'll love this -- more than a quarter of a million dollars for costumed mascots like sammy soil and milkshake the cow, a quarter of a million dollars, nearly $10,000 to produce a zombie apocalypse survival guide. yes, folks, i am not joking. and $30,000 for a martian new year's eve party. and hundreds of thousands of dollars on tote bags, stress

balls, fidget spinners and other trinkets. well, folks, thankfully the senate homeland security and governmental affairs committee is voting today on my bill that forces agencies to disclose exactly how much they are spending on all of these government gimmicks. folks, it's time we bag the swag and end this unnecessary taxpayer-funded propaganda. with our national debt now exceeding $23 trillion, there's literally no better time than sunshine week to start shedding more light on how washington is managing or maybe in this case mismanaging your money. the only reason to keep taxpayers in the dark is because these spending decisions can't

withstand the scrutiny. and, folks, that is exactly why sunlight is the best disinfectant. thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from oklahoma. a senator: there are a lot of things going on right now in d.c. and a lot of moving targets. a lot of americans are looking closely at what's happening with the covid-19 virus. we're tracking what's happening in overseas in afghanistan and multiple issues on the stock

market as well as what's happening with oil and gas right now. mr. lankford: we're spending a little bit of time in all those things saying we can't lose track of structural issues in government to say we can work on those issues that are right now in front of us but we've also got to look at the long-term issues to be able to deal with basic government transparency and basic accountability for government. so i want to highlight as several of my colleagues are here as well, highlighting some of the things that are on the floor or moved recently or we think can move on. one of those is the great act. this is a bipartisan bill that deals with basic transparency for grants. if you go back 20 years ago, the federal government gave away very few grants. now $600 billion a year are done just for grants. my colleague joni ernst of iowa just highlighted some of the wasteful grants that are out there that as we go through it, we can try to get them one at a time or we can try to get a system in place where all grants have to go through a centralized data system where we can

actually all look at the data and compare it across the government. to basically look for areas of inefficiency. that's what the great act does. it creates a standard data elements so that we can look at how the money is being spent, americans' money so we can actually evaluate it. that has overwhelmingly already passed. we're grateful to be able to get that done this year. another we were able to get this done year that has passed the senate but not passed the house yet is providing accountability through transparency. it may seem simple but let me begin with the basic principle. no small business owner in america gets up every day and reads the federal register. that just doesn't happen. if you're running a small business, you're running your small business. you're not getting up every day reading the federal register to see the latest regulation. even if you did, the pages and pages and pains of regulation -- pages of regulation, you can't make sense of it. this basic providing accountability through transparency asks a simple

question. can we force the agencies when they actually do a new regulation to condense it down to a hundred words or less? in plain english? so you can actually figure out what this regulation is trying to do. so when you see a regulation come out, you can actually understand it without having to hire an attorney to be able to go and interpret it for you. that has overwhelmingly already passed the senate and we're waiting for that to be able to pass the house as well. basic simplification of some of the government entities in trying to be able to help out. we passed and already been signed into law dealing with fraud. again this was a simple piece that was just needed in government. we discovered that if someone is a trustee from a federal retiree from their retirement account, as a trustee they stole the money out of that person's account, we couldn't actually enforce the law now. we could on several other areas, if it was social security or disability but we couldn't on federal retirees.

so we were able to get a bipartisan agreement to be able to pass this, to be able to take care of that. it was a very simple bill but it's the way we need to be able to react when we see a problem, to actually go to solve that problem rather than to take forever to be able to do it. in speaking of forever to be able to solve, what i think is the most basic government transparency piece that we can put out there to be able to force real dialogue on budget issues is a simple bill that we have on shutdown prevention. if we can end government shutdowns, we can actually allow us to have more debate on budget issues here in this room where it should occur and take the pressure off of federal workers and federal families facing a shutdown and furloughs. maggie hassan and i have a very simple bill. the bill simply says you get to the end of the fiscal year, if we don't have all the issues resolved on our budget, we continue debating those things here. we remain in session seven days

a week until it's actually resolved but in the meantime federal workers and their families are unaffected because the budget automatically continues into last year's budget level until we get things resolved here. but in the meantime, we can't go home until we actually solve that problem. it's a straightforward solution to say we're not going to have government shutdowns. we're not going to have the chaos across the whole country. we had 21 government shutdowns in 40 years. we've got to stop that chaos. so it stops that chaos and it puts the pressure where the pressure needs to be, on us. when we finish our work, then we can move to the next thing. but if the budget work is not done, the most basic element of those appropriation bills, if they're not finished we remain in session seven days a week until they are finished. we need to find ways to be more efficient as a government. government shutdowns waste

money by the billions. rob portman and his team did a remarkable study to be able to look and see how much money was wasted in the last shutdown. and it was in the billions of dollars and not even every agency turned in all their information to rob portman and his team. we can't keep losing money that way. we can't keep that chaos going for all the federal workers and their families. we should have the arguments about budget. we have big ones that need to be resolved. but we should keep it here. so on this week as we pause for just a moment and all the other big issues that are pressing on us right now, i'm grateful that we're also pausing for a moment to say what are the big issues that we should look long term on and how do we solve some of those issues for the future as well dealing with making government more efficient and trying to make government more transparent. thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor.

mr. portman: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from ohio. mr. portman: mr. president, i'm here to join my colleagues speaking on the floor in advance of government sunshine week but before i do that let me commend my colleague from oklahoma about the comments for the need for more transparency in government and our grant-making progress. we have made progress. his predecessor in congress tom coburn worked on this issue. we came up with legislation when i was on the other side of pennsylvania avenue, to pull all grants and contracts on line which was a start. but the data act takes that to the next level to make sure there is uniformity in government. we still have difficulty with some agencies getting the information out there but he's absolutely right. it would make a difference because if people know how the money is being spent, it's much more likely it will be spent wisely all the way down to the zip code in terms of where grants are going, what kind of

federal taxpayer dollars are being spent in our communities and whether it's being spent well. government shutdowns of course, i couldn't agree more with my colleague. they have not worked to help make our government more efficient. nsks, we always -- in fact, we always spend more after the fact. people are furloughed and when they go back to work they get back pay. we have a lot of dislocations that are unfair. people that have to go to work that are essential employees -- think of our t.s.a. employees not to get paid. a lot of them had car payments or house payments they couldn't make during the last government shutdown. just unfair. we've got to get at that. we've got legislation that actually two-thirds of members of this side of the aisle have supported and yet we have not been able to make that bipartisan. so i appreciate the fact that my colleague from oklahoma has a bipartisan approach to that. we tried for four or five congresses now to pass legislation that simply says at the end of the fiscal year, if you haven't completed all the

bills, then the government continues to operate but 1% spending is cut every 120 days and every 90 days thereafter to give the appropriations committees here the incentive to get to work and get the budget bills done. that i think would work. it used to be a bipartisan approach. it's not now. i'm interested in looking at other options including what the senator from oklahoma was talking about in terms of providing more pressure on us here to get our work done, because these shutdowns clearly haven't worked to help the government become more efficient. they have had the opposite impact. today is a discussion about transparency and i'm going to talk about one that maybe is going to surprise some people, but it's about the lack of transparency and about $150 billion a year that is taxpayer money that's put into research and development. it's money that we as taxpayers pay to places like the national institutes of health, the

national institutes of health does great research and so the federal dollars go in there to try to develop cures for vexes but also -- for diseases but also health care research. the department of energy which does a lot of basic research on science in our country. i'm going to focus on that funding today and a specific problem that we have right now. it's about ensuring the government remains accountable to taxpayers. it's about ensuring that hardworking american taxpayers know where their money is going. and it's about a specific issue of that money going to research that is then taken by other countries, particularly by china, and the need for us to address that issue in part through transparency and part through new criminal statutes to ensure there is accountability. last fall the permanent subcommittee on investigations did a study, and it was about a

yearlong study. and we looked at this issue of china's talent recruitment programs and more broadly other countries, but specifically what china has been doing to find researchers here in the united states that they think are doing interesting work and recruiting those people to be able to provide that research and sometimes to have the person actually go to china to provide that research. the issue that we focused on in our report was intellectual property at research institutions and at our colleges and universities. and it was a shocking report, and we issued it late last year. it showed, as you probably know now from some of the press accounts that have arisen since then, that in fact china was recruiting individuals who were giving up their research that was taxpayer paid. china has made no secret of its goal to surpass the united states to be the world's leader in scientific research but that doesn't mean they should use our

research institution here in america, paid for by us, to accomplish that goal. these talent recruitment programs, most notably the thousand talents program recruits researchers at american universities, american research institutions to do the same research usually at shadow labs in china or to just transfer taxpayer-funded research back to china. this is an issue that has been going on for two decades, we found out, and really kind of right under the nose of the f.b.i. and others. the f.b.i. testified at our hearing and said they readily acknowledged that they were asleep at the switch essentially. they had not been on top of it, and that only recently had they begun to focus on it. we've seen the results of that, by the way. until very recently, little was done to stop it, but recent lip there has been a lot of publicity. you know about the recent arrest of dr. charles leeber at harvard

university. he lied to investigators about his participation in the plan and that's what they charged him with. most recently today we hear about dr. james lewis at west virginia university who pleaded guilty to fraudulently requesting time off to raise a newborn when he was actually in china conducting research as part of his agreement with this same group, the thousand talents plan. this is a definite conflict of interest. for example, professor leeber is accusing $50,000 a month from the talent recruitment program, also $150,000 in funding for his expenses. remember he's already being paid by harvard. but also accepting $1.5 million to set up a shadow lab in china. he did not tell his employer, harvard, about this. again, he was not able to be honest in talking to the federal prosecutors, which is how he became charged. so the fraud that he was committing was not the charge

because that's not a criminal offense. it needs to be one. with regard to the guy from west virginia who just pleaded guilty yesterday, we don't know all the details yet there, but we know that this again is research that was being done, we assume parliament funded by taxpayers -- partly funded by taxpayers and this talent recruitment program was able to get that research. this can lead to obviously a real problem because it's helping to fuel not just the chinese economy, but also the chinese military, some of some f professor leeber's research was done for our military and they got military research and we assume military secrets as well. they provide a reputational risk to the universities we're talking about, of course, and so many others around the country. but it's also just unfair to taxpayers because this is government funded for the benefit of america, not to one of our stiffest global competitors.

so we are working with the trump administration to ensure that we know where that taxpayer is going, making sure it's going to benefit the united states of america. along with my counterpart in the subcommittee on the democratic side of the aisle, tom carper from delaware, we plan to introduce bipartisan legislation that uses the key findings in our subcommittee report to ensure that our research enterprise is protected here in this country. also to ensure that it continues to be open and transparent and accountable, but also secure. and our legislation does this in a few ways, and a lot of it has to do with more transparency. first it creates a new cross government counsel at the office of management and budget to coordinate and streamline the grant making process between federal agencies so we know where the money is going and how it's being used. right now these agencies don't talk to each other and we don't know much about the grant making process. we need to make that transparent. sunshine, i think, will be a very effective disinfectant

here. second, the bill makes it illegal to not tell the truth on a grant application. and apparently that happens all the time now. if we were to subpoena some of these applications from the thousand talents program. we weren't able to get all the information we wanted but we got enough to know most of these say i'll accept the money p through the chinese program but i will not tell my employer about it. on the grant application they have to say that they will not reveal it. obviously that's defrauding those u.s. institutions whether it's a research institution or a university. the third part of the legislation closes the loopholes exploited by china and other countries and empowers the united states state department to deny visas to foreign researchers who seek to exploit the openness of our u.s. research enterprise to steal intellectual property and research from our universities and research institutions.

now this is something that the state department has worked with us on and asked for. they're looking for additional authority for us when they know somebody is not here on a good-faith effort to do research but rather to take our research, they want to be able to act. fourth, it requires research institutions and universities to have basic safeguards against unauthorized access to sensitive technology. you would think that's already in place, but apparently it's not. and also it requires them to tell the state department what technologies a foreign researcher will have access to on campus. so again, we can start talking to each other, including folks at the state department, law enforcement folks, and people in our research institutions. fifth, it directs the u.s. government to work with our critical research partners. think of japan or australia or the u.k., to protect their research enterprises from chinese theft as well. we're not interested in having u.s. taxpayer dollars go to do research here that we can

collaborate with a foreign government, an ally, and that that research is taken back to china or other countries. so we want more information about working with partners as well to protect that important research. and finally, it requires colleges and universities to report any gifts of $50,000 or more and empowers the department of education to fine universities that repeatedly fail to disclose these gifts. current law requires reporting at the level of $250,000. if you get $250,000 from a foreign entity, you're supposed to report it. we found in our study shockingly that 70% of u.s. universities consistently failed to do that. so the universities don't want to report the fact that they're getting money from foreign governments. but we need to know that. the taxpayers need to know that. lowering the threshold from $250,000 to $50,000 and increasing this transparency including adding the penalty

ensures that those schools will report. in my view, that will lead to accountability and what we're looking for, which is more information. beyond these provisions, we are all going to have to do more to protect the u.s. research enterprise. my bill makes it clear that research institutions receiving taxpayer dollars have got to do a better job, giving the government just basic information about foreign researchers they partner with. by the way, academics tend to agree, on the monday the president of the american counsel on education -- council on education in an op-ed agreed with the recommendation that research institutions should establish a, quote, know your collaborator culture. know who you're collaborating with. know what their background is. providing basic information about researchers and what they'll have access to on campus allows the state department to properly vet foreign researchers before issuing them a visa. frankly it's harold to believe e university isn't already required to tell the u.s. state department this information.

a few universities and academic group raised concerns about administrative burdens and we don't want to burden unnecessarily any research niewtion, university or -- niewtion, university or college but we want the transparency. it's my hope that our research institutions will step up and do their part as patriots to help us ensure that our taxpayer-funded research does not fall into the wrong hands. research universities need to take a hard look at what's happening on their own campuses. this threat is very real. if universities expect to continue to receive billions in taxpayer research dollars, congress has got to ensure the academic community is taking basic commonsense steps to secure the research. i believe our legislation is a balanced way to ensure that will happen. we talked earlier about the actions by college professors that have now been in the media. they have been charged by the f.b.i. and others. one thing we do on legislation

as well is we establish a new criminal law with regard to defrauding a university or defrauding a u.s. taxpayer. again, the reason these charges have been able to be brought is not because of the fraud that was committed, but because in one case someone lied about the reason they were looking for leave. and in the other case person lied to the f.b.i. about whether they were in the program or not. these were perjury issues. our legislation also tightens that up. i think we all agree that the relationship we have with china is complicated. there is some good, there is some bad. it is in both of our countries' interest, in my view, to have a healthy relationship and have an exchange of new ideas, have the ability to collaborate where appropriate. but we cannot allow this continued theft of taxpayer-funded research. my hope is this legislation will

send a firm but fair signal to china to change their behavior, respect our laws when it comes to research, and see the wisdom of our research values here in the united states of openness, of transparency, reciprocity, of integrity, and most importantly, merit-based competition. i encourage my colleagues to take a look at this legislation. we hope to introduce it the week after next when we're back from recess. and we believe that this legislation will be incredibly important to ensure that we can protect this research that taxpayer dollars are funding. with that, mr. president, i yield back my time. i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call:

mr. cramer: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from north dakota. mr. cramer: are we in a quorum call? the presiding officer: we are. mr. cramer: i ask unanimous consent to suspend the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cramer: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, i rise today to join my colleagues to offer support in improving the way our government runs. what we're doing, mr. president, is we're fighting for a government that has led an open, transparent way by elected leaders, elected leaders that are accountable to the people who elect us. reigning a bureaucracy that has run rampant has been a top priority of mine ever since coming to congress. in fact, last year when i outlined my vision for serving in the senate in my maiden speech, i vowed to take on the bureaucracy. since coming to washington, it has become abundantly clear to

me that the bureaucracy has evolved into an unelected, unaccountable creature. when constituents back home reach out to my office for help, there's a good chance it has to do with an intransigent, unresponsive or even an aggressive, confrontational government worker who has forgotten to serve the public. it is made up of people who represent the people. in many cases they have transformed from a group of civil servants carrying out our laws into a rogue body expanding their power. this bureaucracy has turned internal guidance documents into infallible laws placing the implementation of their policies and processes above the american people's needs. in fact, in many cases changing the actual laws that they are

supposed to be enforcing. this is something i look to address at every given opportunity, mr. president, because it's a problem i discover at almost every issue that we seek to solve. i'll start by talking about the army corps of engineers. my efforts to take on this bureaucracy began almost immediately when i came to senate. president trump, in fulfilling his promise to secure our border and keep america safe declared a national emergency in order to expedite the construction of physical barriers along our southern border. unfortunately, the agency charged with executing the building of this wall that is the army corps of engineers, is not known for expediency or responsiveness. as a member of the armed services committee and the environment and public works committee, both which have direct jurisdiction over the corps of engineers, i exercised my congressional oversight

responsibilities by conducting a study of the army corps' procurement process, how it awards contracts, how those companies have performed since being selected, what they are paid for in their bidding or r.f.p. process. my findings simply were horrifying. in a letter to president trump i detailed how the corps' procurement process fails to foster competition, particularly when it comes to price and schedule and disfavors new entrants and innovators into their process. as i was -- as i was conducting the investigation that led these findings, i was met with bureaucratic obstruction at almost every step from bad-faith promises to empty vows of cooperation to bureaucrats actually leaking my personal e-mails to the media. army corps bureaucrats failed to meet even the basic standards of good faith, cooperation an dealing with a senator who sits on the committees which oversees

them as though their agency runs us instead of us having oversight over them. the kor respondence -- the correspondence didn't say anything that i wasn't already saying outloud. i think that's what bothered them the most is that i was saying it outloud. this was a coordinated attempt to discourage me from continuing to dig into the bureaucracy. as i told them then, if you're counting on 99 out of 100 people to walk away exasperated because of your delays, consider me the other one. such intimidation, such a breakdown in proper government action should be infuriating an horrifying to any civically minded person who believes in checks and balances and the ability to hold the bureaucracy accountable. it's not my first encounter with bureaucratic overreach with an executive agency dipping its foot into the water of activism.

during my time in the house of representatives in my previous administration, the conservation advocacy group, ducks you unlimited was providing staff to the natural resources conservation services embedded in their offices. this meant that taxpayer funds were supporting the work of advocacy staffers campaigning for a state ballot measure to establish a slush fund that would benefit their organization. you heard it correctly. the federal government was funding political activists while those activists worked to pass a measure that would give them further funding. if that's not corruption, then nothing is. whether it's intended or not. and if not for our efforts to shine light on such obvious corruption, their abuse would have gone unchecked and their power would have only grown. somehow, the issue with the natural resources conservation service is not the most obvious example of bureaucratic abuse that north dakotans have

experienced. over the years, the fish and wildlife service has increasingly encroached on the rights of landowners who have perpetual wetland easements on their property. one particularly egregious case is the story of mike johanson, a farmer from pope, north dakota. after a heavy rainfall here, the land flooded, leaving him unable to harvest and to seed for the next planting season. he asked the service for help, but due to poor guidance and enforcement, the service offered him nothing. in fact, after he dug a drain, the service cited him and dragged him to court. the legal fees and fines caused by these vague regulations written without clarity, oversight, or an appeals process forced mike to quit farming, sell his equipment, and borrow money just to get -- just to get the funds he needed to defend himself in court against his government. thankfully, he won in court. he proved his case against the

government. but the cost was bankruptcy. bankruptcy. i had the privilege of hosting interior secretary bernhard so he could meet with mike and north dakota landowners who have experienced similar abuse. since then, the interior department has begun issuing updated guidance to give our landowners and clarity in the right to appeal overzealous bureaucratic action. i appreciate the secretary's timely action and his emphasis on being a better neighbor, but this will only be successful if fish and wildlife service employees follow the spirit of the secretary's actions to actually work with landowners versus ruling over them. we're working closely with the department to make sure these regulations work for our constituents, and i'm hopeful this example concludes with a positive ending. but after every election, there is a new set of leaders. i'm -- frankly, i have been appalled at the reaction that

the bureaucracy has had to -- to the trump administration's moving of the bureau of land management from washington, d.c. to grand junction, colorado, or a couple of usda agencies moving from washington, d.c. to kansas city. only so they can be closer to the resources they manage and the people that they are supposed to be serving. the backlash has been incredible. the outcry unbelievable. as though the bureaucracy is entitled to whatever they think is important as opposed to the people who they work for being entitled to good service. sadly, there's one glaring example to me that's far, far from reaching a conclusion or a positive ending any time soon. although i'll never give up. i'll never give up. over 50 years ago during the vietnam war, the u.s.s. frank e. evans battle ship collided with an allied aircraft carrier and

sank, killing 74 deployed sailors. the u.s.s. frank e. evans had served multiple tours off the vietnam coast and was scheduled to return after completing this exercise about 100 miles outside of the official combat zone. they were exercising with other american ships as well as other allied ships. during the vietnam war. because of a geographic technicality, the names of those lost 74 sailors are not memorialized on the vietnam veterans memorial wall, as if they didn't die in the service of our nation's effort in vietnam. the honor and gratitude owed to them is long overdue, but the only objections i have ever heard -- now, remember, this was 50 -- just about 51 years ago now -- the only objections i've ever heard are from the people whose job it would be to add their names to the wall. in other words, i can't find anybody that opposes adding the 74 names to the wall except the people whose jobs it would be to

carry out this task. so we're working on sending a man to mars, but somehow it's too much to add 74 heroes' names to the vietnam memorial wall. it's inexplicable to me that bureaucrats in washington could determine these sailors' ultimate sacrifice is unworthy of being memorialized simply because they were on the wrong side of an arbitrary line. the exclusion of these veterans is a disservice to those who gave their lives for our country. a technicality is not an excuse for inaction. a previously issued memo is not a reason to express disapproval. and an objection from washington's bureaucracy should not stop us from honoring these -- these heroes, these veterans. last year, a bipartisan group of senators introduced a bill to force the bureaucracy to make this a reality, yet it remains stuck here in the senate. mr. president, let me repeat

that. the bureaucracy's excuses have found welcoming ears here, and the bill remains stuck with no explanation or reasoning. it has equal bipartisan support, yet it remains stuck in the bureaucracy of this body. if we do not see movement soon, i'm going to return to the senate floor to attempt to pass the bill by unanimous consent. now i have spoken to the chairmen of the two committees of jurisdiction. they see no objection. and yet, yet, somewhere in this big place, objection clearly exists. so i hope that between now and then, we're able to see real progress on this important issue. the people fighting to have these fallen soldiers memorialized are also heroes. they are their shipmates. they are the survivors. they are the spouses and the children of these heroes. and i'm not going to join the bureaucracy by standing in the way, and i hope none of my colleagues do either. mr. president, these are just a few of the many, many examples of what i call bureaucratic

abuse, obstruction and overreach that i have witnessed since coming to congress just seven years ago. and i think we should call them out. in the opinion of federal career staff it is not sacrosanct. it's advice, it's counsel, but it's not a decision. and without further action, come complacency will only empower the bureaucracy, and people elected us to have their power, the people's power. so now is the time to remind this city who holds that constitutional responsibility and authority. the people hold it. the people hold it. our constituents elected us, the president, and every elected official, but they have no say, they have no say in the bureaucracy except through us. that's our job as elected officials, to give the people we work for their voice in the bureaucracy. we must dedicate ourselves to doing -- to doing so so that we can define this era as the time

that we, the elected representatives, stood up to the bureaucracy, reclaimed the true power of the federal government for the people, not the bureaucracy. with that, i yield my time and note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call:

a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from rhode island. mr. whitehouse: mr. president, i rise today -- the presiding officer: the senate is in a quorum call. mr. whitehouse: may i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. whitehouse: i rise today for "time to wake up" number 258 with my increasingly battered chart here to urge colleagues here in the senate to wake up and see the looming danger that we face from climate change. just look at the recent climate effects in our southern hemisphere. the most devastating wildfires anyone can remember have ripped across australia, burned more than a fifth of australia's forests, destroying thousands of homes, killing an estimated one billion animals, and making a day of breathing air in sydney like smoking 37 cigarettes.

in the ocean off australia, new warnings that the great barrier reef, a wonder of the world, visible from space, is doomed. the warmest temperatures ever were recorded in antarctica, a 70-degree day when the average february temperature would be 33 degrees. here's the glacier. here on antarctica's glacier, scientists drilled to the ocean floor below and discovered water two degrees above freezing. 70 degrees above, it degrees above. it's a melting sandwich. losing that glacier would trigger almost three feet of sea level rise, and that glacier is going. sea level rise brings me to the crash warnings that are the subject of this speech. crash warnings that are flashing throughout the economy.

sea level rise connects to these crash warnings because some of these crash warnings revolve around sea level rise crashing coastal values. others are what economists call the carbon bubble. i have a binder of these warnings that i put together, and i sent this binder to yemp member yemp -- every member of the senate in february of 2019. every member has all of the warnings that are compiled in that binder. i've got a letter too following up on the warnings in that binder, just about the warnings that emerged since february of 2019. and in fact mostly just this year. i sent this to all the members of the senate banking committee because the economic crashes that are warned of are within the jurisdiction of the senate banking committee, and that committee has its responsibility

to be the distant early warning system for the rest of us in the senate about these warnings. so i'd like to, mr. president, enter that letter to the banking committee members into the record. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. whitehouse: the warnings, mr. president, are serious. they come from some of our foremost financial experts. so let's walk through what we have in store if we keep sleepwalking through the climate crisis. warning one, as i said, coastal property value crash. freddie mac, not an environmental organization, the giant mortgage company, warned that rising sea levels will prompt a crash in coastal property values worse than the housing crash that triggered the 2008 financial crisis. first street foundation found that rising seas have already caused $16 billion in lost property values in coastal homes

from maine to texas. moody's, the bond rating agency, has warned that climate risk will trigger downgrades in coastal communities bond ratings black rock, the biggest asset manager in the world, estimated that by the end of the century, climate change will cause coastal communities annual losses averaging up to 15% of local g.d.p. averaging up to 15% of local g.d.p. with hardest-hit communities obviously hit far worse. hello, florida. warning two is the carbon asset bubble crash. the bank of england, the bank of france, the bank of canada, the european central bank, all backed by top-tier peer-reviewed

economic papers, have warned that fossil fuel assets are dramatically overvalued on fossil fuel companies' books, that these assets are actually uneconomic and will become stranded, and that the resulting carbon asset bubble crash will swamp the world economy. how bad is it? well, it's called, quote, systemic financial risk. systemic financial risk is finance-speak for risk to the entire system. remember the 2008 financial crisis. bad home mortgages blew up more than mortgage companies. they caused a brutal economic recession. millions of people lost their jobs, their homes, and their retirement savings. we are still recovering from that collapse.

that's systemic financial crisis and the warnings are this one will be worse. in my recent letter, i looked at the more recent warnings. here's the bank of international settlements recent green swan report. the title is a reference to the metaphor of a black swan, an unpredictable event with calamitous consequences for the economy. here's what my letter to the banking committee quoted from this green swan report. page 1 warnings that, and i quote, climate change could be the cause of the next systemic financial crisis. page 65, quoting, central banks, regulators and supervisors have increasingly recognized that climate change is a source of major systemic

financial risks. and quoting again, climate catastrophes are even more serious than most systemic financial crises. again from page 1, exceeding climate tipping points could lead to catastrophic and irreversible impacts that would make quantifying financial damages impossible. let's slow down and do that one again. exceeding climate tipping points could lead to catastrophic and irreversible impacts that would make quantifying financial damages impossible. as a little aside here, it's an odd coincidence that the report's language -- catastrophic and irreversible -- mirrors president trump's warning in a "new york times" ad in 2009 that

climate change consequences would be catastrophic and irreversible. same words -- catastrophic and irreversible. trump in 2009. bank for international settlements green swan are report just two months ago. back to the green swan report, page 3, the complex chain reactions and cascade effects associated with both physical and transition risks could generate fundamentally unpredictable environmental geopolitical, social, and economic dynamics. fundamentally unpredictable economic dynamics. fundamentally unpredictable social dynamics. page 1 again, climate-related risks will remain largely

unhedgable as long as system-wide action is not undertaken. page 3 again, like the black swans from which the report derives its title, quoting here, the physical and transition risks are characterized by deep uncertainty and nonlinearity. their chances of occurrence are not reflected in past data, and the possibility of extreme values cannot be ruled out. the possibility of extreme values. another big warning that i quoted from in my letter to the banking committee came from black rock c.e.o. larry fink. in his open letter to c.e.o.'s fink echoes the green is swan warning and i'm quoting climate change has become a factor in company's long term prospects.

and as a result he continues, quoting again here, we're on the edge of a fundamental reshaping of finance, one that is, quote, compelling investors to reassess core assumptions about modern finance. folks, black rock is the biggest asset manager in the world. when its c.e.o. speaks of a fundamental reshaping of modern finance, shaking its core assumptions, that's serious stuff. in my letter, i cite other recent warnings of this systemic financial risk all since i distributed the binder, many just this year. here are a few instances. in december, the bank of england proposed climate stress tests for corporations under its regulatory supervision. we started bank financial stress tests after the 2008 mortgage

crisis. central banks are starting to do the same for the climate crisis. in january, massive management consultant mackenzie, again, not a green group but presumably a pretty smart group, warned that climate change could, and i'm quoting them here, make long duration borrowing unavailable. impact insurance costs and availability, and reduce terminal values. climate change could, the report continues, i'm quoting here, trigger capital reallocation and asset reprisinh is finance speak for fundamental upheaval of our economy. january, the world economic forum puts out its global risks report identifying the five most likely global risks facing the world over the next ten years.

the five most likely global risks facing the world over the next ten years. five for five, every single one of them was climate related, all five. and finally, from the stanford business school's corporations and society initiative, a report warning that, and i quote, the financial risks from climate change are systemic -- there's that word again, systemic -- that these risks are, quote, singular in nature, like the green swan black swan warning, and that, and i'm quoting here, global economic losses from climate change could reach $23 trillion, three or four times the scale of the 2008

financial crisis. pause for a moment and recall the agony of the 2008 financial crisis. losses in the stock market wiped out nearly $8 trillion. housing values cratered. retirement savings vanished. and americans lost jobs, lost homes, and lost nearly $10 trillion in wealth. global economic growth went negative. we all went home to states where we witnessed extraordinary human suffering. three or four times that? the stanford report is telling us that we are courting financial peril, systemmistic, the likes -- systemic risks the

likes of which we cannot imagine. mr. president, climate change is a natural force. it has blown carbon dioxide levels way outside what will humankind has ever experienced. it's depositing the equivalent of four hiroshima-size atomic bombs of excess heat per second into our oceans. per second. and it is an economic bomb positioned beneath our economy, its detonator ticking down steadily. we have a chance to defuse the bomb. with all these warnings that i described in this binder and that i described in my letter to the banking committee, with all these warnings comes a clear

description of the solution. government must act. here are the solutions that i quote in my letter to the banking committee. page 66 of green swan, end the procrastination that has been the dominant modus operandi of many governments for quite awhile. by the way, here it really hasn't been procrastination. it's been obstruction. it's been obstruction by the fossil fuel industry, its money and its minions. but clearly we haven't done anything serious about it. so that has to end. page 2 of the green swan, the most obvious are the need for carbon pricing and for systematic disclosure of climate-related risks by the private sector. the most obvious are the need

for carbon pricing. it is indeed obvious to people in the financial sector. it is only not obvious to us because fossil fuel money swirls all around this place trying to convince us that the obvious isn't true. but blackrock c.e.o. thinks letter echos that call for carbon pricing. he says, and i quote, carbon pricing is essential to combating climate change. so we have the warnings, and we have the solutions. we have everything except the will to act. and the reason we don't have the will to act is because we have dark money political predators controlling our behavior in ways that are deeply, deeply

inappropriate. when this blows, assume that these warnings are correct. when this blows, senators who didn't help us act will have to come up with a better excuse than well, we weren't warned -- because we were warned. we have been warned over and over and over again. we have been warned by experts. we have been warned by major financial institutions. we have been warned by the custodians of our economy, the central banks. colleagues, you have the warnings in your in-box. when this blows up, when coastal property values crash or when the carbon bubble bursts or,

worse, when both happen -- nothing says both can't happen -- it is not going to look good to say, yeah, i was warned, but, you see, my political party is funded by the fossil fuel industry. so, naturally, i did nothing. that's how you lose the privilege of representing people. it was a bit of a tempest in a teapot. it happened in rhode island 28 years ago. but i've lived through this. we had a financial crisis in rhode island in 1991. i was working for the governor, who came in to have to clean up

that horrible mess. and i was there for the following election after the financial crisis hit. the legislators who slept through the warnings lost their jobs in a tidal wave of popular outrage. in the subsequent election, the 1992 election, more than a third of rhode island's general assembly was either voted out or didn't even bother running again. there was a movie when i went to law school about the harvard law school. i think it was called "1l." and they brought in the freshman class or the 1l cass and the couchettey dean said, a third of you are going to be gone before you graduate because this is so

demanding. look to your right. look to your left. one of you will not be here at graduation. if this thing blows, that's going to be a look to your left, look to your right, one of you won't be here afterwards moment here in the united states senate. you think people are mad now? wait until this hits. wait until these warnings come true and they know you were warned. wait for that. it is time to wake up. i yield the floor. i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call: mr. booker: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from new jersey. mr. booker: before i give my remarks --. the presiding officer: the senate is in a quorum call. mr. booker: oh we're in a quorum call. i request that the quorum be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. booker: thank you, mr. president. this page class, i don't know if you've noticed, mr. president, but they are better than adequate. they are doing a good job for the united states of america and i appreciate them and the job

they're doing for the senate. mr. president, as of today, there are over 1,000 confirmed covid-19 cases in 35 states and washington, d.c. the world health organization has now declared covid-19 a pandemic. 31 people have died in the united states already. and because of this virus, already one person, this includes one person in the state of new jersey. communities across the country most recently new jersey, are confronting the possibility of seeing a spread of this virus. we also know that it's possible due to delays and lack of availability of testing that the actual number of those infected here in the u.s. is likely higher than what has been reported. every day that passes during the spread of this virus, every single day, every single hour,

every single moment is critical. we must act urgently to slow its spread, to mitigate its impact. we all have a role to play in fighting the virus, each and every one of us, from our personal hygiene habits, to those of us in position of authority and the roles we can play to protect each other and protect our communities. and one of the most significant ways to do this is actually by encouraging people to stay home. members of congress have self-isolated themselves. the people who have symptoms, who have severe cause for, they may have been exposed, there is an importance in social isolation. staying home when you're sick. the challenge, though, for us as a country is that for millions and millions of americans, this idea of staying home is not an option. tens of millions of americans know that if they stay home,

they miss a paycheck. if they miss a paycheck, that can mean financial devastation or ruin for their family. we are now the only industrialized nation in the world that doesn't have paid family sick leave for workers. this is an unwelcome and unfortunately this is a dangerous distinction now in the time of a global pandemic. and this literally punishes people who are struggling, low-income workers. right now the choice for millions of americans is really this, choose between your next paycheck and caring for your sick child, choose between going to work sick or having to skip a meal. choose between your health and well-being or your family's financial security. that choice unfortunately before even this pandemic, this is a

choice that many americans knew that the people that are handling our food, the people that work in our restaurants, the people that work with our elderly often go to work sick in this country, helping the normal flu spread, helping other illnesses spread. in the case of a pandemic, it has a mortality rate of potentially five, ten times of the flu, this is unfortunately a tragic choice that families are trying to make. according to the national partnership for women and families, 70% of the lowest-income workers do not have a single paid sick day. they also report that 81% of people working in the food service industry -- let me say that again. 81% of people working in our food service industry and 75% of child-care center workers do not

have access to paid sick leave. and this is disproportionately seen in communities of color. so think about this. the choice you would make, your child is sick, you are showing signs, but you know if you do not go to work, you will not be able to make rent, you will not be able to keep food on the table, you will miss a car payment, which means that you might have your car repossessed. these are impossible choices that don't just put that family in crisis. they put us all at risk. the disparities in access to preventive care are also an issue. there are disparities in access to preventive care and health care and affordable medicine for people all across our country, millions and millions of people. this is already, before a global pandemic, it's already a health crisis. the continued and unmitigated spread of covid-19, though, could have disastrous impacts on

people and communities that already have this vulnerability. in my community, where i live, where i'll hopefully go home this weekend, in newark, new jersey, the median income -- the census track i live in is about $14,000 according to the last census. $14,000 per household. and i no he that public health -- and i know that public health emergencies can quickly become economic disasters for those who are already struggling at the economic margins of our country. as we work together to combat the spread of this virus, we need to remember that any of us are only as healthy as our most vulnerable neighbors. in other words, when martin luther king said years ago, he said injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. well, the virus anywhere is a threat to the health and safety of us everywhere. that is why we need to act urgently to pass the bill

introduced by my colleague, senator patty murray to guarantee seven days of sick leave for all workers and critically guarantee 14 days of paid sick leave during public health emergencies. that is an act of self-interest. again, i know with over 80% of those who handle our food in restaurants, those folks who do not have paid family leave, they are not economically incentivized to go to work sick. it could cause a greater spread of the virus. paid sick and family leave is a public health and safety issue, plain and simple. it's about economic justice and economic strength and security, but it is a public health issue for us all. as we prepare to fight this virus, we need to do the things that keep our people, our communities, our country safe,

healthy, and strong. that means joining with the rest of our industrial nations and having paid family sick leave. that means opening up and modernizing the unemployment insurance act because workers who lose a paycheck because their factory closes or their restaurant closes or they lost child care should be able to access the critical benefits they need to help their family get by. and that means we also expand snap benefits for those kids who are forced to stay at home and from school and may miss meals. to take on this virus, protect all of our communities, to ensure the strength of our economy, to ensure our health, we need to take a comprehensive and inclusive approach. that means leaving no one behind, because we're all in this crisis together. i have seen challenges from 9/11

to when i was mayor and we had hurricane sandy hit. it was the strength of our community, that region around 9/11, the strength of our community during that terrible storm, i remember seeing the strength was that we stood up for each other, we stood by each other, neighbors opening up their homes, people lending a hand, people showing sacrifice for each other. that's the american way. those values, those virtues should be reflected in our policy. we are weakened right now. we are more vulnerable right now because we do not have commonsense policies. other countries take for granted like paid family leave. we as the united states senate should act for love of country, for love of each other, for the strength, security, health, and well-being of us all. mr. president, i yield the floor.

a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from massachusetts. mr. markey: mr. president, i just want to first say that i agree with everything the senator from new jersey just said, and i think it's important to heed his message because as of this afternoon, we are officially facing a global pandemic. the coronavirus pandemic has spread to more than 100 countries around the world. the world health organization has declared it a pandemic. the economic repercussions have taken on a global dimension. and this is also a virus that is impacting americans on a very personal dimension. massachusetts residents are worried about keeping their children, their families and themselves safe. day to day, even hour to hour there is a lot of uncertainty

during this public health emergency. will i be able to work? will i be able to get medical care? will i be able to pay the mortgage or the rent? but there's one thing i want my constituents to know for certain. i share your concern for your loved ones and your safety is my top priority. we need our response to this emergency to match the seriousness of the crisis. i commend the governors and mayors across this country who have stepped up and provided leadership to their constituents, including massachusetts governor charlie baker, who has wisely and swiftly declared a state of emergency in massachusetts. to our great mayor of boston, march -- martin warble, who has led early on this issue to make sure that we deal with this crisis. we need that leadership more

than ever because we have seen a dangerous, complete abdication of leadership from donald trump. his mismanagement of this crisis is unconscionable. it is immoral. and the harm that it is causing the american people is an injustice. the trump administration has let this crisis spin out of control. president trump has repeatedly said the risk is low and minimized the implications of the disease, even saying americans are unlikely to die from an infection. but just today dr. tony fauci, director of the national institutes of allergy and infectious diseases and the nation's leading expert on infectious diseases explained that coronavirus is ten times more lethal than the flu. the administration overruled health officials but wanted to recommend that elderly and physically fragile americans be advised not to fly.

trump has called efforts to draw attention to the real risk of coronavirus, the new democrat-created hoax. and just today it's being reported that the white house has ordered federal health officials to treat top-level coronavirus meetings as classified, further hampering information sharing in our response to this virus. we saw what a lack of transparency, misinformation, and denial did in china with the spread of this virus. we cannot allow that to happen in the united states of america. the bottom line, families need clear, nonbiased, accurate, and reassuring information. they need it from public health officials. they need it from their elected leaders. there should be no partisanship in pandemics. the president and his administration have undermined

science and our scientists. we have the best scientists in the world. we must put their expertise to work to solve this challenge. we're showing that we can do that. congress came together and quickly passed $8.3 billion in emergency funding to respond to this crisis. but we can and do much more. first, the president should immediately declare the coronavirus pandemic an emergency under the stafford act. that declaration would allow fema access to over $42 billion into disaster relief fund and support states and communities directly as they deal with the spread of this virus. i am officially calling on president trump to do that today, declare this an emergency under the stafford act. free up the fema money of $42

billion in disaster relief so that we can work on this issue right now, dealing with it in a way that reflects the seriousness of the threat. the -- the president should act today. second, we need widespread and free coronavirus testing and affordable treatment for all. third, we need to increase the federal medicaid percentage. this would increase the amount of federal dollars that go into medicaid, immediately pumping resources into states to deal with this health crisis. we did this during the great recession as a way to assist states and provide medical care. we should do it again, and i will be introducing legislation to accomplish that. fourth, we need to ensure paid sick leave for our workers. we need to pass senator patty

murray's legislation to provide an additional 14-day sick leave immediately in the event of any health emergency, including the current coronavirus. fifth, we need to enhance unemployment insurance and expand and support programs like snap and women and infant children and school lunch and other initiatives to support food security. and banks should suspend payments on mortgages for those struggling with the economic impacts of this crisis and we should provide rental assistance for those who need it. sixth, we need to protect consumers, and that includes shielding them from scams an price gouging, which i called on amazon to do and amazon took action removing back actors from the site who were charging up to $400 for hand sanitizer. no one should be allowed to reap

a windfall from human suffering many we need to provide guidance and access to needed protected equipment. in a pandemic our health care workers are heroes, but these heroes need help. we have to make sure they get the protective gear which they need. but the coronavirus is not the first and it will not be the last biothreat the united states faces. that's why i've introduced legislation to provide $1 billion for research into a universal coronavirus vaccine that prevents the next biothreat that comes in the form of coronavirus. they more of into -- more into different types of coronavirus. we need to find a universal coronavirus vaccine now and we have to fund it which is why i'm asking for $1 billion for that solution to be found. sadly, the reality is that this pandemic is going to get worse

before it gets better, but this is our call, this is our time to come together. we all have a responsibility to act, to show leadership, to support those who are most vulnerable and will be most impacted by this virus. the elderly in nursing homes, our young children, the uninsured, the undocumented, they need our help right now. these are the lives to be saved, livelihoods to be protected, futures ensure. i will continue to work with my colleagues and fight for legislation that provides massachusetts residents and businesses and those all across our country with the resources which they need. i urge all of my colleagues to join me in this commitment to action. madam president, with that, i yield back and i question the presence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: quorum

call: quorum call:

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mrs. blackburn: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from tennessee. mrs. blackburn: are we in a quorum call? the presiding officer: we are. mrs. blackburn: i ask that we waive the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. blackburn: thank you, mr. president. i will have to tell you and all of my colleagues -- and they probably know -- this has been a fairly tough month for my fellow tennesseans. as you know, last week a tornado tore through eight counties. this started in west tennessee and exited through middle tennessee, up on the plateau of our great state. this left multiple communities absolutely devastated, and we have mourned the loss of life and livelihoods and property.

and i will say, i want to again thank president trump for coming to tennessee, for offering his support, for listening to those that were so adversely impacted by this storm, and for being there to encourage the emergency management officials, the volunteers, all of the elected community officials. and we have been encouraged that our tennesseans have been joined from volunteers all across the country that have shown up to help. they have donated their time, their supplies, and their money to our restoration and rebuilding and recovery and cleanup efforts. and to all of those who have volunteered and offered that support, you have made such a difference in the lives of so

many tennessee families. and we know this is going to be a long and difficult recovery. and then, after all of this occurs, on wednesday of last week tennessee health officials confirmed our first case of coronavirus, and it was in a patient just south of nashville in williamson county. so, with all that said, that's a lot to handle in any given week. but tennesseans and all americans should be encouraged that there's a lot of good work that is taking place. as i said, you know, the rebuilding efforts that span all those counties in our state. and then of course right there in nashville, efforts to combat the spread of the 2019 novel

coronavirus. the vanderbilt university medical center's denizen lab is one of the top 20 labs in the world that is studying this disease. for over 25 years, they've received federal grants for their research into how these viruses make us sick, and they are currently helping with the development of treatments, antivirals, and vaccines to deal with coronaviruses and especially the covid-19. and i am especially so pleased with the progress that they're making. but today i want to draw attention to a threat that has again been highlighted because of this virus outbreak. pharmaceuticals are no different from other products, and they're usually manufactured in pieces. the active ingredients in one

place and the inactive ingredients in another place and so on. currently, only 28% of the facilities producing active pharmaceutical ingredients -- and you will hear these referred to by the acronym a.p.i.'s. only 28% of the facilities producing these a.p.i.'s are in the united states. what this means is that american consumers rely heavily on foreign-sourced drugs in order to stay healthy. meanwhile, the number of chinese facilities producing these a.p.i.'s has more than doubled since 2010. think about that. only 28% of all the facilities

globally are in the u.s. and china has doubled -- doubled -- the number of facilities in china that are producing these a.p.i.'s. well, why does this matter? last year experts at the f.d.a. testified before congress that while the u.s. is a world leader in drug development, we're falling behind in drug manufacturing. so we do all the r&d here. we have the great scientific minds here. they are creating these products. then where do they get manufactured? primarily in china. their testimony identified the cessation of the american manufacturing of a.p.i.'s, a a key health and security concern because it created vulnerabilities in the u.s. supply chain. the f.d.a. is not alone in their

concerns. in its 2019 report to congress, the u.s.-china economic and security review commission revealed serious deficiencies -- and i'm quoting -- serious deficiencies in health and safety standards in china's pharmaceutical sector, end quote. so, that's not something -- so that's not something that somebody just read on the internet. it's not an assumption. that is the 2019 report to congress from the u.s.-china economic and security review. the coronavirus outbreak is drawing much-needed attention to the possibility of a global health crisis. indeed, today the w.h.o. classified it as a pandemic. i have to tell you, i think awareness is not enough. if the united states congress

does not act, our dependence upon china for medications will continue to put american lives at risk. yesterday, alongside my friend, the senator from new jersey, senator menendez, i introduced the securing america's medicine cabinet -- or the samc act -- to encourage the american manufacturing of a.p.i.'s. the act would expand on the emergency management program within the f.d.a. to prioritize issues related to national security and critical drug shortages and bring pharmaceutical manufacturing jobs back to the united states. in addition, the act authorizes $100 million to develop centers of excellence for advanced pharmaceutical manufacturing in order to develop these

innovations. these centers will be partnerships between institutes of learning and the private sector. the number of a.p.i. manufacturing facilities in china is still growing. it grows every single day. although we cannot yet quantify our dependence on chinese a.p.i.'s, we do know that the more chinese products flow into the u.s., the more potential there is for trouble. in 2007 and 2008, 246 people died as a result of adulterated heparin. an investigation by the center for disease control determined that batches of heparin manufactured in china had been contaminated. the contaminant, which is very cheap, was similar in chemical structure to heparin and went undetected in routine tests.

since 2010, regulators have also found serious problems with batches of thyroid medication, musclerelaxers. the f.d.a. recalled a number of blood pressure medications made in china that were contaminated with cancer-causing toxins. to be perfectly clear, though, adulteration isn't the only concern. in 2016, an explosion at a chinese factory resulted in a global shortage of an important antibiotic. because that factory was the drug's sole source of production. think about that. the factory exploded, and there was a shortage of an important antibiotic because they were the

only people that were making it. without intervention, the f.d.a. expects the pharmaceutical industry will continue to rely on chinese companies to make these pharmaceutical ingredients, the active pharmaceutical ingredients, the ap.i.'s. -- the a.p. i.s. on february 267, 2020, the f.d.a. announced the shortage of one drug that was used to treat patients with the coronavirus. they attributed the shortage to difficulties obtaining, guess what? -- the active pharmaceutical ingredients from a site in china that has been affected by the disease. the status quo has made us vulnerable, mr. president. but the fix is sitting right in front of us. if we fail to act, we're placing

our future in the hands of unregulated foreign companies we know to be bad actors. we have a lot of work to do before we'll be able to call our supply chain and our health care delivery systems secure. but if we're learning anything, we are learning we need to bring this production back into the united states where there is proper oversight, where we know we're not going to have contamination in this supply chain for these active pharmaceutical ingredients. we must embrace telehealth, especially across state lines, and halt the breakdown of care in our rural areas. i've introduced bills that will help support those things, and i welcome additional cosponsors. the door is always open.

all of this activity is here to secure our supply chain and our ability to access the health care that americans need. and today i specifically ask that our colleagues support senate bill 3432, the samc bill, securing america's medicine cabinet act. that is a first step in securing this pharmaceutical supply chain and securing the health and wellness of american consumers. i yield the floor and notice the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

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quorum call:

mr. mcconnell: mr. president? the presiding officer: majority leader. mr. mcconnell: i ask consent that further proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed with prrve without objection. -- the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i understand there's a bill at the desk. i ask for its first reading. the presiding officer: the clerk will read the title of the bill for the first time. the clerk: h.r. 6172, an act to amend the foreign intelligence surveillance act of 1978 to prohibit the production of certain business records and for other purposes.

mr. mcconnell: i now ask for its second reading and in order to place the bill on the calendar, under the provision of rule 14, i object to my own request. the presiding officer: the objection having been heard, the bill will have its second reading on the next legislative day. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the consideration of s. res. 540 submitted earlier today. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: senate resolution 540 recognizing the contributions of ameri corp. members and alumni to the members of the people of the united states. the presiding officer: without objection, the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. mcconnell: i know of no further debate on the measure. the presiding officer: if there's no further debate, the question is on the adoption of the resolution. all in favor say aye. opposed no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the resolution is agreed to. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the preamble be agreed

to and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the consideration of s. res. 541 submitted earlier today. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: senate resolution 541 recognizing and celebrating the 200th anniversary of the entry of maine into the union as the 23rd state. the presiding officer: without objection, the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of calendar number 407, s. 227. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: calendar number 407, s. 227, a bill to direct the attorney general to review,

revise, and develop law enforcement and justice protocols appropriate to address missing and murdered indians and for other purposes. the presiding officer: without objection, the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the committee-reported substitute amendment be agreed to and the bill as amended be considered read a third time and passed, and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: as if in legislative session, i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of calendar number 417, s. 982. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: calendar number 417, s. 982, a bill to increase intergovernmental coordination to identify and combat violent crime within indian lands and of indians. the presiding officer: without objection, the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the committee-reported substitute amendment be agreed to and the bill be as amended be

considered read a third time. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i know of no further debate on the bill. the presiding officer: if there's no further debate, the question is on passage of the bill as amended. all in favor say aye. opposed no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the bill as amended is passed. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask the chair lay before the senate a message to accompany s. 1678. the presiding officer: the chair before the senate a message from the house of representatives. the clerk: resolved that the bill s. 1678 entitled an act to express united states support for taiwan's diplomatic alliances around the world do pass with the following amendment. mr. mcconnell: i move to concur on the house amendment

and ask unanimous consent the motion be agreed to and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of h. con. res. 91 which was received from the house. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: house concurrent resolution 91 authorizing the use of emancipation hall in the capital visitors center for a ceremony to present the congressional gold medal collectively to the chinese american veterans of worl worldr ii. the presiding officer: without objection, the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the resolution be agree to, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: so, mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 9:30 a.m. thursday, march 12. further, that molg the prayer and pledge, -- following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day,

and morning business be closed. further, following leader remarks, the senate proceed to executive session for the consideration of calendar number 587. further, that notwithstanding rule 22, the cloture vote on the danly nomination occur at 11:45 a.m. and that all postcloture time expire at 1:45. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: so if there's no further business to come before the senate, i ask it stand adjourned under the previous order. the presiding officer: the the presiding officer: the gentlemen. >> today to block an education department changing its policy on student loan debt forgiveness. fifty-three - 42 . the white house as the president trump will be told to measure when it comes to his desk. the mean time off the negotiations continue on federal coronavirus response an economic stimulus package as well as an

energy environment built combines more than 50 proposals. we will have life coverage when the senator's gavel back in. here on "c-span2". tonight on c-span at 9:00 p.m. eastern, watch president trump addressed the nation on the federal response to the spread of the coronavirus. live coverage tonight at 9:00 p.m. eastern on c-span. >> follow the federal response to the coronavirus a cspan.org/coronavirus. you can find white house briefings hearings with key public health officials, and interviews with public health specialists. review the latest events anytime at cspan.org/coronavirus. during this election season, the candidates be on the talking points are only revealed over time. since you can't be everywhere,

there cspan. our campaign 2020 program differs from all of their political coverage from one simple reason, and we brought you your unfiltered view of government every day since 1979. and this year will bring you an unfiltered view. in this november. in other words, your future. so this election season, unfiltered credits in the biggest picture for yourself. and make up your own mind, was c-span, campaign 2020. brought to you as a public service by your television provider. canada is dealing with fewer than 100 cases of coronavirus and one death so far. yesterday canadian prime minister justin and several members of the cabinet field the questions on the government's response and the impact of the virus on the trade with the