which seems like a trivial thing that we all engage in in ordinary life except for the fact that it canan have real impact how we do things like structure our finances, how we think about putting money away from the future versus spending money now. how we think about giving money to different people for what it means to receive money, allowances, pin money, walk away money. the ststash-- and i can't swear because we're on television, but the stash of f-u money. we go live now to the floor of the u.s. senate and members taking up judicial nominations for district courts of alabama and oklahoma. this is live covage of the senate on c-span2. the chaplain: let us pray. heavenly father, today restore in our lawmakers faith in the ultimate triumph of your plan

for our nation and world. help them to realize that the power of your providence will enable them to navigate through every challenge and tragedy. trusting in your might, may they embrace your promise to do more for them than they can ask or imagine. lord, inspite of difficulties, disappointments, as despair, reassure them that you are still in control. remind us all that in everything, you are working for the good of those who love you

who are the called according to your purposes. we pray in your loving 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 e 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 ask permission to speak for one minute in morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. grassley: journalists as we all know serve as the watchdog for accountability, particularly to keep government responsible. these journalists inform and investigate issues important to the readersrom human interest to public interest. right now a lot of focus is upon covid-19 pandemic. the university of iowa's independent newspaper, "the dailyowan ," has been named the best all-around daily student newspaper by the society of professional journalists. this prestigious honor follows its recognition as the 2020 nepaper of the year by the

iowa newspaper association. so i come to the floor to commend the team of collegiate journalists in the stunt-run newsroom at "the daily iowan." these awards show that the staff's hard work and commitment to your craft rise above the rest. you are cream of the crop. congratulations and keep up the good work. i yield the floor.

mr. mcconnell: madam president? the presiding officer: the majority leader is recognized. mr. mcconnell: week after week this capitol has been a study in contrast. call it the tale off two chambers. over here in the u.s. senate, open, a we're working for theare american people. all month we've been in session passing national security legislation, confirming key nominees, and holding hearings on the coronavirus crisis and the effectiveness of the

historic rescue package the senate wrote and the senate passed. we're heeding medicaluidance and taking new precautions, but we're showing up and getting things done. and over across the rotunda in the house, crickets. crickets. their lights are off. their doors are locked. the people's house has shown up for a grand total of two legislative session days since marc well, two days in eight weeks, a blistering pace. last week they flew into town to pass speaker pelosi's latest 1,800-page liberal wish list, diversity and inclusion in the marijuana industry wasn't going to study itself, after all. that had to be an a-1 priority during the crisis. the speaker's proposal was so

unserious and so far left, it could not even ute her own conference, even after a two-month sabbatical, house democrats could not contribute anything serious. but they did find the time to keep fishing for another impeachment. more thahan a year after the mueller report thoroughly debunked the conclusion conspiracy theory, democrats are still, still pursuing the administration in court over that document. in a new supreme court brief the day before yesterday, house democrats said they had the right to continue because -- now listen to this -- the president's impeachment did not actually end with his acquittal. didn't end with h acquittal. the house democrats are now claiming the impeachmement that ended in february is not really over. their brief says they are weighing, quote, whether to recommend new articles of

impeachment and referring to chairman nadler's judiciary committee, quote, the committee's investigation did not cease with the conclusion of the impeachment trial. ththat's chaman nadler's argument in a court case. perpetual investigation,l impea. if only someone could have predicted this, if only someone, anyoyone had warned the house democrats opening the pandora's box of weak impeachments would affect our country into the future. of course, senate and house republicans warned precisely that. and here we are. it's a suitable complement to the other ongoing incident where a federal drop. these are fascinating legal standards, madam president. investigates are no longer in when a jury acquits someone and prosecutions no longer end when

charges are dropped. the house democrats would rather spend a fourth consecutive year trying to cram their politics into the legal system that actually govern the country -- than actually govern the country during a pandemic. so fortunately, as i laid out, the senate is up to the job. every single day the historic cares act that we wrote and passed to fight this pandemic continues to come online. direct payments hit family accounts, support for major industries help prevent mass layoffs, resources for dock fors, -- doctors, nurses, hospital, and health care providers helped stabilize the system from coast to coast and the paycheck protection program has saved tens of millions of jobs for american workers from big cities to small towns, to industrial suburbs to farm country. senate republicans' bold program is turning potential pink slips into paychecks every single day. to be sure, the program is

imperfect. that was guaranteed when banks had to cram multiple years worth of lending into a few weeks. yesterday we saw a glaring example of that imperfection. the legislation we passed contains specific eligibility requirements. one rule said affiliates of national nonprofits could not pose as small nonprofits and ask for money. but because time was and is of the essence, the legislation set up a process of initial self-certification with review to follow. rather than lengthy vetting upfront that would have slowed the emergency money for rightful recipients. and we learned yesterday that the nation's largest abortion provider planned parenthood abused this emergency process and grabbed tens of millions of dollars of taxpayer money for which they were completely, completely ineligible.

this is the organization that fired its new president last year because she was too focused on broader health issues and not sufficiently fixated on abortion above all else. disrespecting human life is their central mission, and they just took advantage of a national crisis and helped themselves to tens of millions of taxpayer dollars they were clearly, clearly forbidden from taking. it goes without saying the money must be sent back immediately, right now. as we shine a light on planned parenthood's misrepresentations, we cannot let their actions jeopardize this important program for the tens of millions of americans who are benefiting from it rightly. remember the p.p.p. has pushed $500 billion into the economy across more than four million loans. the average loan size is just $118,000.

paychecks instead of pink slips for tens of millions of americans. my hometown of louisville, kentucky is home to the baseball bat factory that made the famous louisville slugger. for few months the bat factory was a temporary casualty of covid-19 but this month the fferrer secured a p.p.p. loan, 171 employees were pulled off furlough and put right back on the payroll. 171 family stories went from pain and chaos back to stability because of this program. and that is just one business in one city in one state. there's also an automotive parts supplier and shop in michigan, a fresh flower shop in arizona, a burger joint in north carolina and on and on and on. four million loans across all 50 states and new loans are still being issued as we speak.

this is what serious legislation, madam president, looks like. this is what serious solutions can accomplish. every day the senate's work is paying dividends to working families all across our country. now the pandemic is not all we are working on. the senate is also staying on top of foreign relations, national security, and the personnel business. yesterday the intelligence committee reported out the nomination of the next director of national intelligence. and the armed services committee reported out nominations for secretary of the navy, chief of staff to the air force, and deputy under secretary of defense for policy. i hope our democratic colleagues will not block the senate from filling these key national security vacancies before we adjourn later this week. now, madam president, on a completely different subject, throughout this health crisis, the senate, its members, and our

staffs have been lucky to have the steady leadership of dr. brian monahan in our corner. our attending physician has responded with the same ability and professionalism that have benefited congress and the supreme court for more than a decade. his continued guidance is making it possible for the senate to smartly and safely fulfill our constitutional duty to the american people. the last time our nation faced a pandemic on this scale, the 1918 spanish flu, the attending physician's office was still more than a decade away from even existing. dr. monahan has had to break unprecedented ground in his crucial role on multiple levels. but true to form, he's adopted on the fly to serve his country. dr. monahan has developed detailed advice for members and committees. his team is working around the clock to answer questions and to keep us healthy.

expertise and attention to detail are nothing new from our attending physician. who has spent a proud career in military service. the senate is is lucky the public service of this decorated admiral has brought him to us. we certainly are grateful to him and his entire team. now i'm happy to report that we aren't the only ones taking notice. so as a measure of our collective gratitude, madam president, i ask unanimous consent that this recent "new york times" feature profile of dr. monahan be printed in the record. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: and we thank the good doctor for all he does for this institution and for his country. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the leap time is reserved. morning business is closed. morningunder the previous ordere

senate will proceed to executive session. the clerk: the judiciary, anna m.manasco of alabama to be united states district judge for the northern district of alabama. mr. mcconnell: i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

mr. durbin: madam president? the presiding officer: the democratic whip is recognized. mr. durbin: madam president, i ask consent that the quorum call be suspended. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: thank you, madam president. madam president, we are going to complete three weeks -- three weeks of senate activity, called together by senator mcconnell, at a time when the house of representatives under the guidance of dr. monahan, who was just praised, and i join in that praise, the house of representatives was not in session, the senate can a i am to session. i said at the time that it's our responsibility to be here. that's why we ran for office. important things need to be decided and we need to be part of it, for the good of the nation. but we're about to complete

three straight weeks without one measure on the floor of the united states senate relating to the national public health emergency that we face, not one. three weeks, not one. hearings in some committees, yes. activity on the floor of the senate, no. no bill brought to the floor. in fact, an attempt yesterday, a resolution which said the united states should be involved in the global international effort to find a vaccine was objected to on the republican side. the reason that the senator objected to it is that he wants to take up the measure in his committee at some later today. i think encourage that senator to do it quickly. i think there's a sense of urgency across america in terms of this national health emergency that we face, but there's not a sense of urgency on the republican side of the aisle. despite the fact that for three weeks we have not considered one measure on the floor relating to

this covid virus 19 circumstance is unexplainable and indefensible. senator mcconnell of kentucky has told us that he doesn't sense the urgency for us to take up the measure passed last week by the house of representatives. this was a measure, a bipartisan measure, that was brought to the floor of the united states house of representatives which attempted to move us forward from the original cares act, the $3 trillion of cumulative spending, that we have focused on the economy on the public health crisis facing our nation. is there any urgency to it? with i sense that urgency -- well, i sense that urgency ever time i pick up the phone or read the newspaper in my state of illinois. i'm on conference call with groups across my state that are concerned about economic issues as well as public health issues. there is truly a sense of urgency where i live. i cannot believe that senator

mcconnell doesn't sense it in his own state of kentucky. kentucky hospitals and health care providers have received $900 million in cares act funding. i don't question whether they were deserving or needed it. we received funds as well in the state of illinois. but the kentucky hospital association tells us that the hospitals in kentucky are expected to lose $1.3 billion in march and april alone. you know, we are next door to kentucky, and my hospitals in down-straight southern illinois right next to kentucky have told me the same thing. they're losing money right and left. do they think this is an urgent problem in illinois? you bet that do. i bet the hospitals in kentucky do as well. listen to what carl hurd said. quote, since there's no clear path to recoup these losses,

hospitals are left with no choice but to look at their own operations to cut as much cost as they possibly can, close quote. the university of kentucky is projecting a $160 million loss for its health care system. it has furloughed 1,500 employees. jenny stewart health in hopkinsville, kentucky, has furloughed 248 members. appalachian health will if you are 0 foe 500. another 300. pikeville medical center furloughed 200. is there a sense of urgency in these communities when many of these are the largest employers in town and hundreds of people are being furloughed because of the covid virus, because they cannot resume ordinary hospital operations with this shadow of infection hanging over them? the bill that passed the house of representatives last week,

which we did not consider or even discuss, to my knowledge, in the senate this week, the heroes act called for more than $100 billion more in relief to hospitals. how important is that? i know how important it is in illinois. i can tell you flat out, as a downstater, when you take a look at the rural and small-town hospitals in my state, they are struggling. one hospital administrator told me she had scheduled four elective surgeries last monday you a week ago, and only one patient showed up. the other three called up and said they were too frightened to show up and run the risk of being exposed to the covid-19 virus. i cannot imagine that that is not the same thing going on in ken company. isn't there a sense of urgency in kentucky to help us move quickly before they furlough more people and ultimately

closure, something we want to urgently avoid? state and local governments are struggling to pay teachers, first responders, and health care workers as they face record revenue losses and increased costs fighting the virus. the measure that passed the house of representatives last week had almost $1 trillion to help these state and local governments, not just in illinois but in every state. including the commonwealth of kentucky. in states around the country, red and blue, the center for budget and policy priorities estimates the states are losing $650 billion in revenues by next summer. by the end of the year, kentucky is expected to lose between 10% and 17% of its annual revenues. without help from the federal government, kentucky's governor announced that kentucky's recession will be longer or its unemployment will be greater. congress appropriated $150 billion in funding for state and local governments in the

original cares act, but that fund something not enough to make up for the enormous losses that are being faced by state and local governments across the united states. these governors, these mayors, these leaders have a sense of urgency in making up this revenue. they face the reality of cutbacks in police, firefighters, first responders, paramedics, nurses, doctors, teachers. the heroes act that passed the house of representatives last week that has not been considered this week that the senate included $875 billion in fiscal relief for state and localities to help cover the shortfall and make sure communities can continue to pay frontline essential workers. what about the unemployment situation in understand the deadlines that were built into the cares act. the first deadline, june 30, that's the date by which small

businesses that borrowed money under the payroll protection part of that act need to have spent the money in order to have the loan forgiven. june 30. who believes -- who among us believes that small businesses will be in a position to recover and be back to business as usual by june 30? i pray that's the case, but i know better in my home state and i'll bet you in the state of kentucky as well. how about unemployment? we chemistry through in the cares -- we came through in the cares act and did something unprecedented. we said that we were going to give an extra payment, a federal payment, to those who were unemployed so that they could weather in storm as their families try to adjust to no breadwinner in the house. $600 a week on top of whatever the state benefit of unemployment might be. for some families, it was just enough to get by. understand, though, that that

benefit, that unemployment benefit of $600 from the federal government each week, is going to end at the end of july. that's not that far away, you know. we're talking about ten weeks at the most. do we honestly believe the unemployment crisis with 36 million unemployed americans will be behind us by the end of july? i wish that were the case. but we know better. in my state of illinois, i know better. we're hoping to start reopening the economy in a safe and responsible and careful way and to give these small businesses a fighting chance to open their doors again and survive. but it's going to be a struggle and many of them won't make. earlier this month, 69,000 people filed new unemployment claims in kentucky, a 4,000% increase from last year. do those families who are now unemployed feel that this response, this federal assistance and unemployment

benefits, is urgent? well, you bet it is. how many in illinois or kentucky believe that they won't need this help after the end of july in this year? july, the same month the $600-per-week unemployment benefits expire, the unemployment rate in kentucky has projected to be 16.3%, the tenth highest in the nation. and yet the republican leader says, there's no sense of urgency in moving on this measure that was considered by the house of representatives and passed last week. the i.r.s. has sent out almost two million economic impact statements to that state of kentucky worth more than $3 billion helping families put food on the table and keep paying their rent and their mortgage. when you take a look at that economic impact payment, understand the measure which passed the house, which we did not bring to the floor in the senate this week, calls for

$1,200 more for each adult and $1,200 more for each child. do families need it in illinois? , but they do, even though it was originally proposed by president trump, politics had nothing to do with the support that it received from both political parties and the support this measure that just passed the house should receive from both parties here in the senate as well. there is a sense of urgency when it comes to these cash payments for people who are vulling l to make ends meet. the bill that passed the house includes a second round of these critical payments and makes sure we extend the unemployment benefits beyond the end of july. according to the kentucky center for economic policy, tens of thousands of kentuckians have lost their health insurance as a result of this pandemic. what a moment in life to lose your health insurance. in the midst of a pandemic with people facing hospitalizations, treatment, in and out of the hospital and in some cases i.c.

u.s., to think that you'd be without health insurance. the measure that passed the house of representatives last week, which was not brought to the floor by the republicans this week in the senate, includes a provision to ensure that people who lost their health insurance as a result of becoming unemployed can remain on their employer health care plan without paying any premiums. in other words, we want to make sure that people have health insurance rather than lose it. was that brought up this week for debate and consideration in the senate? no. no, it wasn't. is it a matter of urgency if you're facing the loss of health insurance in the middle of this coronavirus epidemic? of course it is. the paycheck protection program still has funding left in the it to provide some loans, but businesses have to spend the money within eight weeks of receiving the loan or it won't be forgiven. many small business owners

across the united states are facing a june 8 deadline struggling to spend the money due to the fact that they still haven't been able to open their doors. the heroes act which passed the house of representatives and was not brought up for consideration in the national this week, which it should have been, would extend the deadline an additional 16 weeks, providing small businesses 24 weeks to spend the money that they were loaned by the s.b.a. and it would authorize the paycheck protection program to the end of the year to ensure that we can continue to help small businesses through this difficult time. is the is there a sense of urgency in small businesses in my state to extend this period that you can spend the money as a small business and have your loan frinch? of course there's a sense of urgency in illinois, in north carolina, in georgia, in kentucky, across the united states. why the senate republican leader does not feel a sense of urgency on this measure which ultimately

ends on june 30 is beyond me. i've heard from farmers across my state struggling to survive, asking for help. i've heard from the census bureau, the need to push back its response deadline to october 31, measures also included, also included in the heroes act that passed the house of representatives. three weeks have ended here on the floor of the united states senate, and but for a few speeches on this floor, if you read the record of legislative activity, you'd wonder if the leaders in the united states senate even realize we're facing a pandemic. we spend our time on nomination after nomination. we spend our time in hearings on friends and those who pass political muster who want lifetime appointments to the federal court. but somehow we've managed to miss the biggest story in america, the pandemic. i'd say to senator mcconnell and the republican leadership, we have wasted an opportunity,

a three-week opportunity to move forward, and we have particularly wasted this week when we could have taken up the measure that passed the house of representatives last week. are we prepared to negotiate a compromise? of course we are. we've done that every time we brought up a measure related to the pandemic. it should be bipartisan in the end. but to say it's, quote, dead on arrival and there's no sense of urgency among the republicans in the senate to take up this measure is to ignore the obvious. whether it's $1,200 payments to american citizens who are struggling to get by, whether it's increased period of time for qualification to receive unemployment insurance, whether it's loans to small businesses so they can survive, these are the urgent needs of america. when we have hospitals furloughing employees in illinois, in kentucky, and around the nation, we run the risk of losing these great hospitals that are needed for the future. is it urgent that we take up this matter? of course it is.

and yet this week we've done nothing. zero when it comes to this measure. we're going to leave now for the memorial day week, which means it will be about two weeks before we return. i can just about guarantee that the sense of urgency across america will be palpable at that time. the question is whether there will be a sense of urgency felt by the republican leader from the state of kentucky. yesterday on a similar issue, my friend and colleague from texas, senator cornyn, came to the floor, as he has before, to discuss the issue of liability and immunity as part of the conversation of the next measure of relief and rescue for our economy. for weeks senator mcconnell and senator cornyn have said that unless congress gives broad legal immunity to corporations, they will block emergency aid to help states and local governments avoid massive layoffs of policemen,

firefighters, and teachers. the logic behind this position is hard to fathom. there has been no flood of covid-19 lawsuits. there's a website that tracks all the lawsuits filed in america, and they look for cases based on covid-19. senator mcconnell has cited this tracking. that tracker updated its numbers as of yesterday. it reported that out of 1.5 million confirmed covid-19 cases and 90,000 deaths, there have been two -- two -- covid-19 medical malpractice cases filed in the united states in over 1,000 complaints that have been filed. and 26 cases alleging workplace exposure to covid-19. the senator from kentucky has called this a tidal wave of lawsuits, a windfall for trial

lawyers. two cases of medical malpractice, 26 cases for workplace exposure. and the other cases that mention covid-19 that relate to prisoners in prisons and jails, who are questioning whether their rights are being violated because of the circumstances, the health circumstances in the prisons, there are lawsuits against insurance companies as to whether or not the policy covers a business that has suffered losses because of covid virus. there have been lawsuits as well between businesses as to responsibility for it. but this notion of a tidal wave of lawsuits being filed, two medical malpractice cases across the united states of america, 26 workplace exposure cases. and keep in mind that if you do get sick and you want to file a lawsuit, a good lawyer will advise you, be careful. proving where you were infected

is not an easy thing. and he also looked at the standard of conduct of the business or individual who could be the defendant. did they act reasonably? we had a hearing in the senate judiciary committee last week on liability during the covid-19 pandemic. i've quoted this before, but it's worth repeating. one of the witnesses called by the republicans was a very good man, very thoughtful. his name is kevin smart. he's a chief executive officer and president of quick check foods in bottom, texas. he went through the litany of things that he had done in his workplace to make it safer not just for his employees, but also for the customers that came in. it was impressive. if the statements he made to us were accurate -- and i believe they were -- he is doing his part to try to make his workplace safer. but here's what he said -- this was a challenge because the guidance provided by the c.d.c., the occupational safety

and health administration as well as state and local governments often conflicted with one another in addition to being vague and difficult to follow. yet despite many uncertainties including the constantly fluctuating public health guidelines, we began to adjust to the pandemic. the point i'm making is this -- and i see our democratic leader on the floor. i'm going to wrap it up quickly. the point i'm making is this -- we should establish reasonable standards through the centers for disease control and osha so that conscientious businesses can in good faith know what needs to be done to protect their employees and their customers. and when they follow those guidelines, i believe they've absolved themselves of liability. they have certainly a valid defense to any claims of wrongdoing. but this notion that comes before us on the floor from the republican side goes to an extreme. asking for government immunity from the conduct of businesses in the midst of this pandemic without holding them to any

standards. we are still waiting for an explanation. why would we allow the workplace to be more dangerous for employees? why would we allow the business place to be more dangerous for customers? if the owner is willing to live up to reasonable standards established based on science and health, in my mind that's a good defense. and that's the way it should be. to do otherwise is to give a green light to businesses that don't follow standards, endangering their workers and their employees. it means more people are going to get infected and sick in america, the last thing we need. madam president, i yield the floor. mr. schumer: madam president. the presiding officer: the democratic leader is recognized. mr. schumer: thank you, madam president. now first, i want to thank my friend and colleague, the senior senator from the state of

illinois. he is always on the money, pushing this country to do what its better angels recommend. and i hope america listens to his floor speech today and on every day, because what he is doing would make america a better, stronger, more unified, more humane and more compassionate place. now as the covid-19 pandemic continues to afflict our country, businesses are suffering, families are struggling to pay the rent, millions of americans are filing for unemployment every single week, and tens of thousands of americans are dying. every aspect of american society has been changed by this crisis except perhaps the republican senate. here it's business as usual. leader mcconnell has spent three weeks of the senate's time largely on nominations, only one of whom is directly related to covid-19. not one bill on the floor of the

senate having to do with covid in the entire month of may. the leader has put none on the floor. democrats have had to relentlessly pressure our colleagues to hold even the most routine and needed oversight hearings on the coronavirus. coronavirus is raging. people are upset about how the administration is implementing it, and we don't have hearings until we push, push, push for them, and then they happen few, far between, and too late. it would be one thing if the republican majority were doing this other business while negotiating with democrats on the next phase of emergency relief, but republicans are not negotiating about the next phase of emergency relief. many of my colleagues on the other side have said that more relief just isn't necessary. the republican leader rejected legislation from the house of representatives before the bill was even drafted.

a knee-jerk partisan response at a time when we should be working together to help our suffering constituents. for the life of me, i don't know why it's been so difficult to get our friends on the other side to focus on an ongoing national crisis. and it appears that the lack of focus, the lack of urgency, the lack of compassion from the republican majority is about to get even worse. today in the homeland security committee, the republican chairman has convened a hearing that slanders the family of the president's political opponent. believe it or not, this powerful senate committee, with broad jurisdiction over so many aspects of the government's response to the ongoing pandemic, is prioritizing yet another attempt to smear vice president biden. the committee could be holding a hearing today with the fema administrator to discuss

disaster assistance, but no, the highest priority of senate republicans lies in promoting conspiracy theories that have already been discredited on numerous occasions. conspiracy theories which, by the way, are known to be part of the russian disinformation campaigns. our republican majority is using russian propaganda to try and damage a political opponent. is that a disgrace? is that a disgrace? the republican chairman is pressing forward without members even receiving a briefing from the intelligence community. even more shameful, the company my colleague from wisconsin wants to subpoena is cooperating with the committee and providing documents. it appears the subpoena is just for show, a way to create the false impression of wrongdoing. it's like in a third world

dictatorship, a show trial with no basis in fact, with no due process, with no reality. not to be outdone, the republican chairman of the judiciary committee has asked members of his committee to consider subpoenas related to yet another conspiracy theory pushed by president trump, a theory that attempts to rewrite the history of russian interference in the 2016 election to match the fiction in president trump's head. it seems republicans want to dive into the deepest muck of right-wing conspiracy to invent scapegoats for the president to use in his reelection campaign. madam president, the conspiracy caucus is back. it reared its ugly head in december and has been on a simmer ever since. now it's boiling over once again shamefully in the middle of a public health crisis and economic disaster that requires

all of us to focus on the problems at hand. but senate republicans aren't drafting legislation to help the unemployed. they're holding sham hearings about the family of the president's political rival. senate republicans aren't debating measures to increase testing. they're turning senate committee rooms into the studio of fox and friends. senate republicans are not just ignoring the coronavirus, they're practically sprinting towards a partisan election, making this chamber part of a reelection campaign, not what it was ever intended to be by the founding fathers or anyone else until this fever to bow down to president trump's wild conspiracy theories has overtaken just about every senate republican. here's what chairman graham said about his, quote, investigation, unquote,

yesterday. up-or-down vote, here's wheaf said -- quote, here's what he said. i want to get all the information out there. i want to do it before the election. well, there's the republican intention right there. do it before the election. leader mcconnell says that republicans have not felt the urgency yet to act on the coronavirus, but it sure sounds like there's some urgency to get these phony investigations going before november. a fever is raging in the conspiracy caucus. they're worried about the outcome of the election. they're worried that president trump they know has done a very poor job in dealing with this crisis so they turned to wild conspiracy theories and turned the senate which should be debating, discussing coronavirus relief into sort of a partisan sham chamber. it's disgraceful.

now leader mcconnell gave a lengthy speech on the floor of the senate yesterday giving cover to many of the president's crack pot theories about what transpired in 2016. i'll just say this. leader mcconnell reportedly watered down a bipartisan warning about russia interference in the fall of 2016. he stalled for years on election security funding and still to this day is blocking election security funding. if leader mcconnell wants to look back at the history of russian interference in the 2016 election, he should look in the mirror. he might not like the way his own role is viewed. the american people should be just furious with washington republicans and so many are. more and more every day. americans are waiting in modern day bread lines, jammed into municipal buildings, cars snaked

around parking lots and city blocks. it's so sad to look at these pictures. doctors and nurses and other caregivers have been working nonstop to save american lives, often without the proper equipment. millions of american workers are sitting at home having lost their jobs through no fault of their own dreading the day the next rent payment comes due. but here in washington senate republicans feel no urgency to help these americans. they're too busy touting conspiracy theories t for the president. speaking of the president, he was here yesterday on the capitol to have lunch with senate republicans. they had a giant pep rally. they got all fired up to do nothing. that was the conclusion. on the way out of the capitol, the president was asked about the fact that the united states leads the world in confirmed cases of the coronavirus.

and here's what president trump said. amazingly, listen to this. asked about leading the world in confirmed cases of coronavirus, the president said, i don't look at that as a bad thing. i look at that in a certain respect as being a good thing because it means our testing is much better. so i view it as a badge of honor. really? first of all, our testing is not much better. states are struggling to get people tested due to confusion and a lack of national leadership. many experts believe we're far short of what we need on testing. none of these experts who actually understands testing this virus would say the president deserves a badge of honor for his work. but even more galling is the idea take lots of cases -- that lots of cases of coronavirus is a good thing. that's what the president said, having lots of cases of coronavirus is a good thing. a lot of cases is not a good thing, mr. president.

it means people are sick and people are dying. a lot of cases means more americans are in the hospital, more americans in i.c.u. struggling to breathe on ventilators. a lot of cases means americans would will die as a result of the virus. that has already claimed the lives of nearly a hundred thousand. a lot of cases means a lot more americans are seriously ill. mr. president, that is not a good thing. even your mind would seem -- which seems so wharped at times cannot believe that. there is no honor in leading the world in the number of people infected with coronavirus. the united states -- for the united states to have 1.5 million cases to celebrate -- is not something to celebrate. it's something to be ashamed of. it's sick and an insult to every american family that loses a

loved one to this evil disease. i yield the floor and note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: mr. thune: madam president? the presiding officer: the majority whip is recognized. mr. thune: i ask unanimous consent the quorum call be suspended and i ask unanimous consent that i be able to conclude my remarks before the

11:00 a.m. vote. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. thune: madam president, the internet has been a part of our daily lives for quite a while now. netflix, twitter, amazon. but the internet has taken on new importance during the coronavirus pandemic. it's become the main source of connection with friends and family. it's enabled many people to work from home to help reduce the spread of the virus. it's the main reason that schools and colleges have been able to continue teaching students. and it's drastically expanded services like telehealth which has allowed doctors and other medical professionals to provide patient care remotely. madam president, with all of this new internet traffic, of course, has come a much greater load on networks and not all countries' networks have held up to the strain. in europe networks have had to slow streaming and ask providers like netflix to diminish the quality of their videos. but here in the united states

our networks have faced very few problems. and there's a reason for that. europe and the united states have very different regulatory regimes for the internet. in europe the internet has been regulated using outdated communications rules designed for telephone monopolies. this has resulted in heavy-handed regulation which discourages companies from investing in communications infrastructure and broadband expansion. the resulting lack of reliable infrastructure is the primary reason internet performance in europe has suffered during the pandemic. the regulatory situation in the united states on the other hand has been much different. with a few exceptions like the brief imposition of so-called net neutrality regulations in 2015, our country has taken a light touch approach to internet regulation. this has encouraged companies to invest in the latest communications infrastructure and new technologies to make more efficient use of spectrum. and thanks to that investment, when coronavirus hit and internet usage soared, american

networks were ready. despite the additional burden on networks during the pandemic, americans have been able to enjoy the same high speeds and streaming quality that they typically enjoy. madam president, right now most americans are using 4g networks. but the next generation of internet, 5g is here. and 5g networks are starting to be deployed, including in my home state of south dakota. but if we want the united states to handle 5g the way we've handled 4g, if we want our 5g networks to be as successful at our 4g networks we still have some work to do. one thing that is absolutely essential is maintaining the light touch regulatory approach that has produced so much u.s. investment and innovation. despite the success of light-touch regulation, there is always a segment of the democrat party pushing for greater government regulation of the internet. and that would chill american broadband investment.

when democrats briefly succeeded in forcing through heavier government regulations in the latter part of the obama presidency, broadband infrastructure investment by u.s. companies dropped significantly. and it only rebounded when the federal communications commission under chairman pai rolled back these heavy-handed regulations. second, the united states still has more work to do to deploy the infrastructure necessary for 5g. while 4g relies on take decisional cell phone towers, 5g technology will also require small antennas called small cells that can often be attached to existing infrastructure like utility poles or buildings. last year i introduced legislation, the streamline act, to make it easier for companies to deploy these small cells so that we can get the infrastructure in place for 5g technology. we also need to update federal regulations to ensure that it doesn't take months or years to get permits for wireless infrastructure. madam president, infrastructure

is a key part of the 5g equation. the other key part is spectrum. like all internet technology, 5g relies on radio spectrum, what we commonly call the airwaves. radio spectrum is divided into bands, low band, mid band, and high band. and 5g will rely upon all three. the united states has done a good job freeing up high band spectrum for 5g, but we still need to free up more mid band spectrum to see full-scale 5g deployment. in 2018 congress passed my mobile now act which helped lay the groundwork for freeing up more mid band spectrum. and this past november senator wicker and i introduced the 5g spectrum act to require the federal communications commission to free up a critical portion of mid band spectrum commonly referred to as the c-band for 5g use. while congress did not enact our legislation at the end of february the federal communications commission announced that it would adopt a

framework similar to that outlined in our bill to make did 2 -- 280 mega hurts of c-band available for 5g. finally, madam president, we need to ensure that we have the work force in place to handle the demands of installing and maintaining 5g technology. it's estimated that deploying the necessary infrastructure for 5g will create approximately 50,000 new construction jobs each year over the build-out period. and that's just for construction. right now there simply aren't enough workers with the necessary training to meet the needs of nationwide 5g. that's why earlier this year i introduced the telecommunications skilled workforce act. my bill would help increase the number of workers enrolled in 5g training programs and identify ways to grow the telecommunications workforce to meet the demands of 5g. madam president, the coronavirus has shown us the results of robust investment in 4g infrastructure and spectrum.

strong networks that can handle a steep surge in internet traffic. we need to make sure that we are putting in the necessary work and investment to ensure that our 5g networks are just as strong. the 5g future is here. let's make sure that the united states is ready. madam president, before we vote here in just a few minutes, i wanted to just make a couple of remarks with respect to coronavirus legislation. we've heard some of our colleagues on the democrat side come down here and attack republicans for not wanting to do more legislation, more spending which is, as they know, completely not accurate. republicans are prepared to do whatever it takes to help america recover from the coronavirus effects. to deal with the health emergency which is why we've invested tens of billions of dollars in vaccines and

therapeutic antiviral therapeutics and testing, all the things that are necessary to get this health care crisis dealt with in a way that will allow americans the confidence to get back out in the economy. and secondly, madam president, dealing with the economic impacts which have been many. the bills that we passed so far and we've passed four in the combined amount of spending in those four bills is almost $3 trillion. focused on families, getting direct assistance into the hands of american families, focused on workers, keeping workers employed. this paycheck protection program has clearly been one that has allowed a lot of small businesses to continue to operate and to continue to keep their workers employed. focused on those who through no fault of their own have lost jobs, a significant plus-up in unemployment insurance cots supported at the state level but significantly increased in terms of funding from the federal government. and of course, madam president, as i said earlier, focused very

directly on those health care professionals, health care workers on the front lines to make sure they have the p.p.e., the ventilator, all the things to not only protect themselves but to care for the patients that they are entrusted to care for. and that is, as i said, madam president, investing heavily in those things that will help us fight and win and beat the coronavirus, the vaccines, the antiviral therapeutics and the testing. those are all things we've done already. now, what you saw, madam president, last week was the house of representatives blow into town for a 24-hour period to pass a massive $3 trillion bill filled up with all kinds of goodies in a gift bag for special interest groups that they care about but that have little to do with addressing the fundamental challenges facing this country with respect to the coronavirus. and i would argue, madam president, that not only do they not know what the need is because many of the dollars we've already pushed out are

still in the pipeline, haven't been used. we don't know what our state and local governments need in terms of revenue replacement. and we've got lots of dollars that are still going out to hospitals and health care providers, nursing homes, much of which hasn't been spent yet. and of course we have a paycheck protection program which is -- we're burning through fairly quickly but hasn't run out of funding yet either. and those are all the things, as i said, the almost $3 trillion that has been dispersed and distributed. so what the house of representatives did last week, they came in with an ideological, philosophical wish list, a fantasy, if you will, of all the things they'd like to do, very few of which actually deal with the crisis at hand. very much so that their bill, $3 trillion in new spending, without knowing what the effect

is of dollars that we've already spent or what the need is out there for additional spending, but included things like funding for studies on how the -- on diversity and inclusion in the marketing of cannabis. is that really something that's relevant, madam president, to fighting and battling the coronavirus? they included in there increases, tax increases for small businesses. and the one tax cut that they included in their bill dramatically cuts taxes for millionaires and billionaires. in fact, 56% of that tax cut would go to one -- the top 1% of wage earners in this country. those are the types of things that were included in this bill. it really was an ideological wish list, nothing more, nothing less. for democratic leaders to come down here and suggest for a minute that what the house did somehow ought to be something

that the senate contemplates or certification doing here -- or considers doing here is missing the point of what the american people need in this crisis, and that is certainty. they need to know that there's going to be support there for our small businesses, for our workers, for people who are unemployed, for our families, and they need to know, madam president, that we are committed to seeing that we have the vaccines in place, the tour pew particulars in place that will enable us to fight and win this battle against the coronavirus. that's what we ought to be focused on. and not this crazy wish list of things that the house in a short amount of 24 hours came in here to vote on. and as i said earlier, much of what focused on a more permanent agenda rather than the task at hand, which is addressing the crisis in front of us.

i hope our colleagues will work with us in a constructive, bipartisan way to deal with the real challenges being faced by the american people and not continue to come down here and advocate for an ideological wish list that, one, can't become law, and, two, doesn't deal with the task at hand. madam president, i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the mo motion to invoke cloture. the clerk: cloture motion: we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination of anna m. ma n.a.s. mosquito of alabama to be united states district judge for the northern district of alabama, signed by 17 senators. the presiding officer: by unanimous consent, the mandatory quorum call has been waived. the question is it, is it the sense of the senate that debate on the nomination of anna m. manasco of alabama to be united states district judge for the northern district of alabama, shall be brought to a close.

the yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule. the clerk will call the roll. vote:

vote: vote:

vote:

the presiding officer: are there any senators in the chamber wishing to vote or change their vote? if not the yeas are 7 2-rbgs the nays are 20. the motion -- 32, the nation are 20 -- 72, the nays are 20. the motion is agreed to.

mr. kennedy! mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from louisiana. mr. kennedy: thank you, mr. president.

mr. president -- the presiding officer: i have been advised by the parliamentarian that i am not to respond. mr. kennedy: we don't want to break any rules, mr. president. you will be put on double-secret probation. mr. president, i would like to talk for a few minutes about -- about china. china, as you know, sir, is a wonderful country. it's about 1.4, 1.5 billion people. by comparison a lot of times you see reported there are 1.2 billion, but they are a lot bigger than that. america only has about 320 million, 330 million folks. by land size, it's about the same size as the united states.

a lot of people think they are the biggest country by land in the world but actually russia is, as you know, and canada's number two, and china -- really china's number three by land size, but we're both close. and i love visiting china, the view times i've been there. the people of china they are -- they are wonderful people. they interesting, very smart, very hardworking, very aspirational. and i say this because when i talk today about china, i want you to understand, mr. president, and my colleagues in the senate to understand that i'm not talking about the people of china. the people of china are good people. the chinese communist party, not so much. i really regret having to say

this. i would not turn my back on the chinese communist party if they were two days dead. i don't want to have a cold war with china. i would rather see us work together for the common good of the planet earth. and we've tried but that hasn't worked out very well. we -- we admitted china to the world trade organization on december 11, 2001. now, that wasn't just our decision, but you know better than i do, mr. president, that china wouldn't have been admitted to the w.t.o. without our support. so we -- we agreed, december 11, 2001, china started cheating december 12.

they steal our intellectual property. not just ours, everyone else in the world. they steal the world's intellectual property. they subsidize substantially their state-owned companies. so other companies throughout the world that don't get state subsidies can't compete with them. for years they manipulated their currency. they're trying to control the sea lanes of the world. they started in the south china sea. they're seizing islands that don't belong to them. next step they'll try to million take rise -- militarize space. they've used their economic power as a weapon. our friends and allies in australia have asked some very reasonable questions about the origins of the coronavirus and the covid-19.

china has responded by saying we refuse to buy any more of your products. those are just the facts. now, the managerial elites told us -- by that i mean a lot of the entrenched politician, the deep thinkers of the world, the academics, many members of the media, the bureaucrats, a lot of the corporate phonies, the ones that think they're smarter and more virtuous than the rest of us in america, they told us you're wrong about china. be patient with china. be patient with them. free enterprise will change china. china has changed free enterprise. and china is on a glide path to dominance. and you know what the united

states congress has done about it? nothing. zero. stilzilch. nada. let me say it again. i love the people of china. and i'm talking about the chinese communist party. and i do not -- i do not want to get into a new cold war. all i want -- and i think all the rest of us want -- is for china to play by the rules. let me give you an example. every company in the world that goes public would like to list on united states stock exchange, the over-the-counter market, the s&p, the new york stock exhange. we're very efficient. we're excruciatingly

transparent. we like investors throughout the world to know what they are buying. we require companies to disclose. and i think our s.e.c. does an extraordinarily able job. i think chairman jay clayton has just been a rock star. we have a rule, as you know, mr. president, that if you list on our exchanges, you have to file periodic reports. once again we want investors to understand what they're investing in. and those reports have to be accurate or you get in a lot of trouble. one of the things, for example, or one of these reports that companies have to file is an annual awed dit.

but we take it -- an annual audit. but we take it a step further in the united states. there's a board underneath or within the s.e.c. called the public company accounting oversight board, pcaob. really all that board does -- i say all. it's important -- that board inspects the audits that the companies file, not because they think the companies are cheating though some do but it's like when we play poker with friends. i play poker with friends. they're my friends but i cut the cards every single time. and that's what our s.e.c. does through this board. they say we're going to double check your audits and everybody has to comply with that rule, american companies, british

companies, malaysian companies, except one. chinese companies. they just say no. they just say no, we're not going to do it. and you know what we do about it? nothing. zero. zilch. nada. and this is not a two or three-month phenomenon. this has gone on for years and years and years. and all of us in the executive branch and, yes, in congress, we huff and we puff and we strut around and we hold hearings and we press issue -- issue press releases and we do nothing. and where i come from what you allow is what will continue now i have a bill. it's very simple. it says to all the companies out

there in the world, including but not limited to china, if you want to list on an american exchange, you have to submit an audit. and the s.e.c. has the right to look at that audit and audit the audit. and if you refuse not once, not twice, but three times, if over a three-year period each of those three years the company says you cannot audit my audit, then they can no longer be listed on the american exchanges. it's very, very simple. and once again -- i've tried to be very fair in this bill as did my coauthor, senator chris van

hollen. we spent a lot of time on this. we don't want to be unfair to chinese companies. we're not changing the rules. they've just been ignoring the rules. but we're saying look, we're not going to give you just one chance. we're going to give you three chances. if you ignore the s.e.c. request to do for a chinese or any other company what they can do to all the other companies in the world, and that is audit their audits, and if you ignore the s.e.c. for three years, then you got to take your business somewhere else. you know who that is going to help the most, mr. president? the investors. the invests of america and -- the investors of america and the investors of the world. most of the companies that are pucial companies -- public companies, i believe, tell the truth but some of them don't. and this is hard-earned money

that people are investing. mr. president, the name of my bill -- strike that. the name of our bill, senator chris van hollen, the name of our bill is the holding foreign companies accountable act. as i just explained, it's very simple. for that reason, mr. president, as if in legislative session, i ask unanimous consent that the committee on banking, housing, and urban affairs be discharged from further consideration of s. 945 and the senate proceed to its immediate consideration. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: s. 945, a bill to

amend the sarbanes oxly act of to 2002 and so forth and for other purposes. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection, the committee is discharged and the senate will proceed to the measure. a senator: i ask unanimous consent that the kennedy substitute amendment at the desk be considered and agreed to, the bill as amended be considered read a third time and passed, and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. kennedy: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll.

a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from nebraska. mr. sasse: i request that the

quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. sasse: thank you, mr. president. thank you for filling in for me in the chair. i didn't plan to make a floor speech but i wanted to commend you both on your legislation and on an important point that i think you enumerated both for this body and for the americans watching. so first of all, good piece of legislation. i supported it. i wanted it to move out of the banking committee and get to the floor so it's important legislation. congratulations and thanks for your leadership. second of all, mr. president, you a you began your speech, you distinguished between the chinese people and the chinese communist party. i think many of us who are worried that the number one long-term national security threat this country faces is the technology race with the chinese communist party and the way that they use fake private sector companies to steal from u.s. public and private sector entities, and when we talk about the problems, those of us who would consider ourselves china

hawks, when we talk about this problem, we regular end up using a short hand that is china when we've all spent a lot of time in the scif and in private and wrestling and we know we mean the chinese communist party but we don't always qualify that for people entering the debate, mu to the debate or looking to politicize the debate. i think it's important that the enemy is not the 1.4 billion chinese people. our opponent here is the chinese communist party which is only about 90 million people, six or -- 6% or 7% of the population and even a lot of those people don't actually believe communist propaganda and nonsense about the fact that so many of their people and people beyond their borders are not perceived by the chinese communist party as actually having dignity. some people just join the party because they need to for local reasons to get ahead or to maintain their property or their entities. and so the chinese communist party is a tiny subset of what's

happening in china. and our battle, our fight, our problems are not with the chinese people. they are with the chinese communist party. and one of the ways i learned this lesson is by having used a shorthand for vladimir putin a few times in the past, and i said russia when i meant vladimir putin. and i think the american people stand interested not just in the future of the chinese people but also with the russian people and both of these countries are led by some really bad actors. and one time i made a speech here on the floor about some of the terrible things vladimir putin was doing to oppress his people and to meddle in our election and other elections. and after the speech which i thought covered the points i needed to cover, glaric e esparoff, the former chess champion said can i talk to you. he said if you want to fight against vladimir putin because freedom loving people in america

and russia should be opposed to putin, it would be helpful if you didn't disparage putin and -- he accidentally said to me, you accidentally referred to our problem as russia when you meant putin. so i think i've learned that lesson with regard to russia but i think a lot of us around here don't always sufficiently distinguish between china and the chinese communist party. so i just wanted to affirm and underscore your message not just good legislation that is good for americans, is good for investors in the u.s. and abroad, is good for a level-playing field, but as we oppose the bad action of the chinese communist party and their intellectual property theft and manipulation of currency and numbers and public health data and on and on and on, our opponent is not the chinese people and we should say that both so the american people understand it and so that the chinese people understand it. and so i commend you on the way you introduced your legislation today. thank you, mr. president.

madam president, as you've taken over. i would suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

mr. menendez: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from new jersey. mr. menendez: i ask that the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. menendez: madam president, i rise today to engage in a colloquy with senators cassidy, collins, and my fellow senator from new jersey, senator booker, and i ask they be acknowledged in that order and they be allowed to complete their remarks. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. menendez: as our nation grapples with the covid-19 pandemic, our state county and miew in municipal governments have been on the front lines taking the lead role. they have been squeezed on both sides of the ledger, spending billions of dollars in unforeseen costs on emergency response while watching as revenues dry up due to necessary stay-at-home orders, and the

closure of nonessential businesses. the emergency protective measures have been effective at flattening the curve and have no doubt saved thousands of lives but they also came with a cost. all revenue sources are down. sale tax revenue has plummeted with businesses closed. highway trus funds won't have the -- trust funds won't have the resource to do maintenance. building permits and municipal court fees have fallen. unless we act soon, we will see mass layoffs, devastating tax increases and a breakdown in public safety and essential services. already the bureau of labor statistics reported that state and local governments have laid off one million public employees in april. and this challenge is true for

every state, county, city, and town in the country. the state of municipal assistance for response and transition, or smart act, is the bold, bipartisan, and commonsense solution we need to give our communities a fighting chance and stop the economy from free falling. it provides $500 billion in flexible dollars that will help our communities expand the testing and contract tracing we need to contain the virus, a necessary step in restoring consumer confidence and restore the economy. it will help stave off massive layoffs, tax hikes and deep, painful cuts to essential services. it will keep our police officers, firefighters, public health workers, teachers, and the other essential please on the job during this critical time. because i.t. not just -- because it's not just about defeating covid-19. we still need to keep our

streets safe, our children learning, the trash picked up, the roads maintained, the buses and trains running on time. i hear some of my colleagues speak on this floor calling not for unity but for division. they cal -- callously believe that their communities are immune to the fiscal armageddon facing our communities. let me be clear, when your revenues drop 30% overnight, it really doesn't matter how fiscally responsible for conservative your state budget is. no one can prepare for that. moody's just reported that states like ohio and arizona are facing a fiscal shock of losing 20% of their entire budget. west virginia, 40%. this is not a red state or blue state issue. this is a red, white, and blue issue.

it's an american priority. in december of 1862, during the height of the civil war, president lincoln wrote the followings message to congress. in times like the present, men should utter nothing for which they would not be responsible through time and eternity at this moment i believe that history will look kindly upon those who stood for unity and compromise over demagoguery. those who put the well-being of the country over scoring partisan points, those who took a political risk for no other reason than it was the right thing to do. i'm proud of the bipartisan coalition we've built and i want to thank each of my colleagues for your work and your commitment 0 to rebuilding our communities. to senator cassidy, who has led this issue with me, to senator hyde-smith, senator collins.

i yield to my partner in crafting this legislation and building this coalition over the past month, senator cassidy. mr. cassidy: thank you, senator menendez. we've worked through a lot of issues to the find a bill that can pass on a bipartisan basis and in both chambers. so i thank senator menendez for working with me on that. madam president, the title of this bill is the smart act, but in retrospect, i wish we had named it the thin blue line act because this is about helping cities and states preserve essential services such as police, fire, education for the reopening of our economy. let's just kind of review. the federal government asks that states and local governments shuttle down their economy in order to control the coronavirus and just like those small businesses closed at the behest of the government authority, so state and local governments closed, if you will, at the behest of the federal authority.

what that did is it devastated tax bases. moody's, the independent agency which looks at the finances of cities and states, has said that if your state is dependent upon income tax, upon sales tax, upon tourism, upon proceeds from energy, you've been hammered. your tax base has fallen dramatically, and with the dramatic fall of that tax base becomes a dramatic fall in the ability to support the thin blue line, the educators, the firefighters, the you name it, the essential services essential to the reopening of our economy when we come out of the back side of this epidemic. now, it's already happening. moody's predicts that three million of these essential workers will be laid o i of -- off. i'm told that the one million already have been. let's go back to the thin blue

line. the city of shreveport, louisiana, just put out a budget in which there is a ads 20 million to their city overall, $3.9 million was unfortunately laid upon law enforcement, 54 positions eliminated. i am a told that some federal dollars came through and allowed the restoration of some of those positions which is is a proof in concept that if there's help from the federal taxpayer to the state and local taxpayer, then these essential services can be preserved and we know that if those police positions are preserved, then that downtown in shreveport is more likely to safely reopen for commerce. now, we talked about moody's predicting loss of revenue. louisiana is predicted to lose 45% of its revenue, but there's other states affected -- nother, maine, florida, oklahoma, michigan, alaska, arizona,

illinois, all predicted to lose large sums of tax revenue. let me speak specifically about the smart act, as i would call it the thin blue line bill. it is a reasonable, bipartisan, this is how we go forward in both chambers. now, we picked $500 billion. some would say, well, that's too much. actually, that is the amount of money that moody's predicts state and local governments will lack over the next year and a half. so we actually kind of nail where the independent agency puts the need for our state and our local government. and it's targeted. one, there's been a lot of concern that this would be used to bail out states, quote-unquote. that those who've a large uncredited liability in their pension funds would use that money for those pension funds. we specifically do not allow

that. so that has been addressed. but what do we do? well, first, a third of the dollars can go out now, because it's based upon population. this recognizes that if california has 31 million people and wyoming has 500,000, then there needs to be some accommodation. the next third will go out at the end of the june, based upon how hard a state was hit in terms of health from the coronavirus. so if your state was slammed from coronavirus -- louisiana was, nother was, other states have been -- then that's where you get the help. frankly, it is unfortunate that you're getting the help. it would be a lot better if your state had not been impacted. but if it has, it is there is to support your state through the health aspect of this crisis. the last third will go out at the end of this calendar year. that is based upon the financial hit that your state has taken.

and so if your state's tax base has been -- decreased by 459%, then you would d. by 45%, then you will get additional money. at the end of this calendar year is almost beyond the fiscal year for most states. that would place the dollars at the states' disposal for the next fiscal year. in that way we cover this period that mooteddies say that states and local governments will be out. there's one more concern -- that is, whether or not all this money will go to a governor's office and none will go to counties or pair issues in louisiana and -- parishes in louisiana. one-third will about go directly to municipalities and counties, those local governments that are on the forefront of providing services to those who are being affected by the coronavirus epidemic. so we think that we've got

something which balances the needs of stakeholders. the most important stakeholder being the american citizen. that both addresses the need for fiscal accountability but the need to preserve those essential government services to get our economy going once more. so again i'm going to ask all my colleagues to support the thin blue line bill, otherwise known as the smartage of i think it is the smart way to go forward to make shoe h. -- make sure we don't slip into a recession but return with as robust a economy as we had before entering the crisis. with that, i yield to my colleague from maine. ms. collins: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from maine. ms. collins: i am pleased to be a cosponsor of the smart act and i want to commend senator menendez and senator cassidy for their tremendous leadership. our bill would help us set the collapse of state and local

revenues resulting from the covid-19 pandemic. the coronavirus has already claimed the lives of more than 90,000 americans, and the -- as the virus damages our health and deprives us of our loved ones, it is also -- it has also devastated our communities and our economy. as of last week, nearly 20% of maine's total civilian workforce had filed for unemployment. the tourism sector has been particularly hard hit, and this is so important to my state. but the fact is the that no industrial sector has been immune from this disease. restaurants and hotels in southern maine face uncertainty

not knowing when or even if they will ever reopen. as a result of having to cancel nonessential surgeries, many hospitals are struggling to stay open. lobstermen and fishermen have lost major markets. potato farmers may be unable to sell more than $22 million worth of their 2019 crop. the motorcoach industry has been devastated. in short, madam president, working families and communities across the state of maine have been hit hard. moody's forecast that maine may face one of the worst impacts in the entire country in terms of lost revenues. 85% of maine's state revenues

are from income and sales taxes. they have plummeted. gas tax revenues have tanked. these projected shortfalls threaten vital state and local services. madam president, one in six mainers is employed in the public sector. these are the individuals who keep our communities and our citizens safety -- the police officers, the firefighters, the e.m.s. personnel. they provide health care and education. they maintain our roads and our bridges. when i visited the oronoke fire department recently, the town manager told me that the decline in excise taxes has been devastating for this town. maine communities tell me that

they will have no choice but to either increase property taxes at the worst possible time for working families or eliminate first responder jobs and slash education funding, if they do not receive help. the smart act would help avoid the worst of these consequences by providing $500 billion in federal relief to state, local, and tribal governments. unlike the cares act, where only big cities were eligible for assistance, under our bill, every county and every community would be eligible for funding. maine would receive at least $2 billion, including about $330 million for counties and $330 million for communities. and the $1.25 billion that we

already appropriated for assistance to state governments under the cares act would be made much more flexible, so it could be used to offset these dramatic revenue shortfalls. madam president, the follow-out from the coronavirus is unprecedented. congress has a tremendous responsibility to hope mitigate the impact of this crisis on our states and our local communities and on the families they serve. we must not wait. we should act now. thank you, madam president. mr. booker: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from nother. mr. mr. booker: thank you,

mr. president. i want to thank the senators for leading on this bill. and the broad bipartisan support it has. i know senator menendez and i have both been mayors. when there is no crisis, we know intimately the challenges that so many of our public servants face in times where we do not see pandemics, our firefighters put their lives on the line. our police officers put , and our teachessers -- teachers are strong because of these dedicated public workers. in a time of crisis, we see that our teachers are rising to the challenge working to keep our students engaged even though though are now miles apart. i hear stories of teachers riding around, visiting students, keeping their distance but ensuring their students are getting the assistance they need. our firefighters are out there

now putting their lives at even more of a risk, putting themselves on the line to help their communities. police officers answering calls without hesitation despite the great risk it puts on themselves and their families when they go home and so many of our other public servants who are working diligently to keep our communities running, to keep our states strong, to meet a crisis to try to help folks stay healthy, stay safe. without hesitation across new jersey, across all of our 50 states, we are seeing more clearly the heroic actions of people who are leading in a time of crisis. but as was said by my colleagues, across the country states are being hit by significantly declining revenues and extraordinarily increasing costs. we are already seeing early pro

exes as it was discuss -- projections as it was discussed by my colleagues and independent rating agencies like moody's is looking about hundreds of billions of dollars in deficits for state and local governments. my own governor estimated that the projected gap by the extremely rising costs to be somewhere between $20 billion and $30 billion. due to these shortfalls, without immediate action from congress, state and local governments will be forced to make deep cuts to public services, including laying off folks who are not just essential in word but make the difference often between life or death, safety or crisis in our communities. these will be the workers that would be laid off at the time that we need them the most. not only do these vital public

servants do a job protecting our communities from educating our kids to supporting our neighbors but cuts like these actually will aggravate and deepen the overall economic crisis facing our country. independent rating agencies and others say that cuts like these will actually prolong our economic crisis and the time needed for recovery. this is not the time for half measures. this is the time to act at the scale that the crisis demands. the federal government needs to be providing a robust, accurately tailored response to this crisis by funding our state and local governments in a way that prioritizes those areas that have been hit the hardest. the smart act does exactly that. did is a bipartisan bill.

it is thoughtful, it is tailored narrowly to fit this crisis. the smart act is a commonsense approach that will make sure that the help is going to where it's needed most, to our hardest hit communities and states and will help to ensure that those workers that we hail with our words, firefighters, police officers, and teachers, that we support them with our actions as well for they are out there right now supporting us. no state should go bankrupt fighting this virus because of this virus. no state should go bankrupt because we refuse at the federal government to support them. no essential public workers should lose their job because of this crisis because congress was not stepping up to lead through it. there's no time to waste.

as was said by my colleague, we have folks in my state that are putting together their budgets right now. as we saw from my colleague from louisiana, they are already accounting for the need to cut. we've already seen hundreds of thousands of public workers being laid off. the delay has costs, and when you're talking about first responders, the delays could have costs, they are hard to imagine. i encourage my colleagues to see this as what it is. it is the accurately tailored response. it is a bipartisan bill. it is what our nation needs right now. i encourage my colleagues in the senate to work to get this to the floor so that we can vote on it, pass on it and get it to congress and the president's desk so we can avoid these layoffs and help to endure the storm that we're in and ultimately overcome the severity of its ravages. thank you, madam president.

mrs. loeffler: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from georgia. mrs. loeffler: i ask unanimous consent to complete my remarks before the 12:30 p.m. vote. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. loeffler: madam president, eight weeks ago today the senate passed the cares act, an unprecedented $2.2 trillion package as our country responded to the threat of covid-19. previously we passed legislation for free access to paid leave and to support the federal agencies leading our pandemic response. the cares act was designed to support the help of our citizens and of the economy. it included direct payments to american families, grants to hospitals and the paycheck protection program, forgivable loans to small businesses to keep their employees on the payroll. the program was so successful that a month later congress approved the additional $310 pl

for -- billion for p.p.p. loans and $25 billion for testing. georgia hospitals has received over $1.7 billion, including -- the presiding officer: the senate will be in order. mrs. loeffler: under the cares act. the presiding officer: the senate will be in order. the senator from georgia can proceed. mrs. loeffler: i worked to include provisions in the cares act to improve telehealth programs our state has received more than $800,000 from these programs that are helping georgians across our state stay connected with their doctors from the safety of their own homes. in addition, our state and local governments have received $5.8 billion to help schools adjust to online working, provide assistance to lost their jobs or homes and to keep our airports running to keep our communities responding to serve in this challenging moment. the action congress took has helped meet immediate

challenges, but it is clear the pandemic has caused staggering economic losses. in the last two months, i heard from hundreds suffering the effect of this outbreak and response. first responders, doctors, and nurses and small business owners and farmers, families who suffered job losses and children who are out of school, food banks who have seen an unprecedented surge in demand. before this pandemic, americans were enjoying a thriving economy with the lowest unemployment rate in 50 years and the leadership of the trump administration more families were on their way to living the american dream. then in late march, the day after the senate passed the cares act, we learned a record 3.3 million workers had applied for initial unemployment benefits in a single week. the total is now a staggering 36.5 million americans who filed initial jobless claims.

this is more than the combined populations of georgia, pennsylvania, and ohio. in my state more than one in three georgians have lost their job. watching this unfold, despite the relief under the cares act, i recognize that it is time to look beyond the immediate response and to focus on our recovery. as a member of the president's opening up america again congressional working group, i am putting my nearly three decades of experience in building companies and creating jobs and opportunity to work for georgians. with my experience and the conversations i've had with georgians, i developed the u.s.a. restoring and igniting the strength of our economy plan or u.s.a. rise to bring back our thriving economy. the four bill arrest of the -- pillars of the plan are made in the u.s.a., grown in the u.s.a., hiring in the u.s.a. and families in the u.s.a. i started to introduce proposals to incentivize companies to

invest in america, grow jobs, and to help families. i'd like to highlight one of those pillars today, families in the u.s.a. first, we mourn the loss of those to covid-19, the toll of this has devastated thousands of families. it is also clear that with economic damage comes societal damage. our country needed to take dramatic actions to flatten the curve, but those steps meant most americans were confined to their homes. this meant work from home, school from home, but also in too many instances, lost jobs, isolation, depression, suicide, domestic, substance, and child abuse. it is timely that may is mental health awareness month. in a recent atlanta journal constitution op-ed, the carter center members wrote, isolation is one of the cruelest components of the outbreak. that's week i -- last week i spent with a mental health treatment center in georgia, they are seeing a significant

spike in those reaching out for help. the wait list is growing and the demand for help is rising rappedly. an emergency hotline run by the substance abuse and mental health services at h.h.s. saw a 1,000% increase in calls in just one month. that was in april compared to last april. i've spoken to local law enforcement officials who have seen a serious spike in domestic abuse calls. the crisis line has seen a 70% increase in textings related to domestic violence across our country. the millions of americans who lost their job or business are suffering. tiffany, a mother of three from college park, georgia, was furloughed from her steady job stocking store shelves. she said it is overwhelming when you have rent, when you have children to take care of. when a parent loses their job, they lose much more, they lose their ability to put food on the table, pay rent, and the uncertainty grows for children.

it is vital to help families weather this crisis. and we know americans who have a steady paycheck are more likely to have stable, secure families and children from stable families are more likely to do well in school. that's why i designed the u.s.a. rise plan as an economic framework that takes the coronavirus into account, helping families and job creation today will allow parents to get back to work and reduce the fallout from this pandemic from permanently impacting an entire generation. importantly, this does not mean we should expand the grip of the federal government. an american enterprise institute report on achieving the american dream states, and i quote, the power of community has become all the more poignant as we retreated more to isolated lives required by social distancing, oftentimes local institutions and neighborhoods have a greater influence on economic outcomes than what is occurring at the

federal level. and being in washington, working on behalf of our state, i see that local impact first hand. often these organizations are at the heart of our communities. it's where people turn for help for a sense of belonging. churches and other nonprofits are doing amazing work during this very difficult time they've been providing child care, meals, and other support for family and children. for example, ymca's are the largest provider of child care entergeorgia. many have stepped up it to provide child care for essential workers. they are providing thousands of meals each week to help out needy families and that's why last week i introduced legislation, the limiting infant fatality and empowering nonprofit organization workforce act or the life now act. it allows larger nonprofits access to the paycheck protection program loans. these loans will help them keep their doors open and continue to serve their communities while ensuring that no taxpayer

dollars go to abortion providers. and yesterday i introduced the working families child care access act. this will give more working families more flexibility allowing parents to contribute to their employer-sponsored dependent care flexible spending account or f.s.a. if a family doesn't use all of their funds in one year, any leftover funds can be rolled over to the following year and this will help families make plans for child care as they begin to go back to work. i am continuing to work on additional legislation to provide families with targeted relief. for example, a bill to codify the trump administration's regulations to help americans who have recently lost their job and their health insurance. the trump administration expanded short-term limited duration plans after president obama substantially restricd those plans -- prestrict --

restricted those plans before he left office. they are an affordable option for americans who are in between jobs or who have been laid off. the dramatic economic numbers alone do not convey the full cost of this pandemic. the futures impacted, the isolation, the domestic abuse, substance abuse and suicide. as our country begins to look forward amid the coronavirus pandemic, we must look forward to families to build strong futures. i'll introduce a plan aimed at incentivizing the united states helping small business and farmers and to ensure that america is the best place in the world to do business. while i continue to do all i can to fight covid-19, i'll also continue to do all i can to help georgia families and employers recover and prosper. i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the motion to invoke cloture.

the clerk: cloture motion, we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination of john f. heil iii of oklahoma to be united states district judge for the northern, eastern, and western districts of oklahoma signed by 17 senators. the presiding officer: by unanimous consent, the mandatory quorum call has been waived. the question is is on john f. heil iii of oklahoma to be the united states district judge for the northern, eastern, and western districts of oklahoma shall be brought to a close. 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 76, the nays are 16. the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: the judiciary, john f. heil iii of oklahoma to be united states district judge for the northern, eastern, and western districts of oklahoma.

a senator: madam president. proich the senator from missouri is recognized. mr. hawley: madam president, we have come to the middle hour of our struggle against this epidemic, against a disease unleashed on the world by the failures and falsehoods of the government in beijing. this epidemic has brought devastation in its wake, lost jobs, lost lives, fear, isolation, and it is shaking old institutions and challenging old ways. the international order as we have known it for 30 years is breaking. now empeelerrist china -- i imperialist china seeks to bend

the global economy to its own will, and we face a moment of truth. will we acquiesce? are we in this nation willing to witness the slow undoing of the free world? are we willing to watch our own way of life, our own liberties and livelihoods grow dependent on the policy of beijing? already we hear a chorus of voices telling us that america must accept a narrower future. we must live with slower economic growth. we must expect lower wages, we must accommodate ourselves to the rise of china. well i for one am not willing to settle for less. i am not willing to see blue-collar workers go without work for months or years on end as their jobs are shipped overseas. i am not willing to watch wages flat line and fall. i am not willing to see families

struggle for food and middle-class neighborhoods disappear. mr. president, neither the american people. the nation that sent a man to the moon and defeated german and soviet oppression in the space of 50 years will not be content to take second place to the imperialists in beijing. we will not be content with a small future. and so now, as in times past, this nation must again take control of our own destiny and leave the free world to a better day. the free nations again confront a common threat, the chinese communist party is a menace to all free peoples. it seeks nothing less than domination. it wants nothing less than world power. this is china's policy, to control asia and to rule the

pacific. from there, the chinese government wants to spread its influence to africa, to europe, to south america, a master of home and abroad. and they are well on their way. for decades now china has bent and abused and broken the rules of the international economic system to its own benefit. they have stolen our intellectual property and forced our companies to transfer sensitive trade secrets and technology. they have manipulated their currency and cheated time and again on their trade commitments. they have been complicit in the trafficking of persons and relied on a forced labor of religious minorities. and america has suffered. since beijing won most favored nation status and joined the world trade organization in 2001, we have lost over three million jobs to china.

during the past two decades, as we fought war after war in the middle east, the chinese government systematically built its military on the backs of the american middle class. we were promised that things would be different. we were told that giving china access to our markets and allowing them power in the w.t.o. would reform their behavior, it would make them more liberal. we were told it would be good for america and good for the world. well, the only nation it was good for was china, and we cannot afford inaction any longer. the threat of china to the free world grows by the day. with -- if the coronavirus pandc doesn't make that clear, nothing will. what should be equally clear is now the united states must reform the global economy itself to rebuild our strength and prevent china's bid for

domination. the economy has become the principal arena for great power contests in this new century. economic policy is now security policy. and china understands that. china has integrated its economic and security strategies for the last two decades, systematically weaponizing the institutions and procedures of the global economy for its own benefit. it's the united states that has been slow to respond. now we must recognize that the economic system designed by western policymakers at the end of the cold war does not serve our purposes in this new era and it does not meet our needs in this new day. and we should admit that multiple of its founding premises were in error. the economic system of the last 30 years is nothing sacred. it's not inevitable. it was a choice. and now we have the power to

choose again, to choose differently and for the better. you know, it didn't start out this way. decades ago in the aftermath of the second world war, the united states and its allies created a series of economic partnerships and institutions that aimed to strengthen the free world and check soviet expansion. these agreements encouraged partnerships in trade among free nations as sovereign equals, and trade in congress did increase and barriers did come down. but nations remained in control of their own economies and their own destinies. important sectors were protected. capital flows controlled, and workers had a place to rise. but when the soviet union fell, ambitious policymakers in this country and other western nations saw the opportunity to create something new, something

in the spirit of woodrow wilson, a dream to remake the world. these western leaders wanted a truly global economy, one that would include all nations like-minded or not, to be governed by multilateral niewtions rather than -- institutions rather than nation states, to operate by a single set of rules to promote the flow of goods and capital across borders. they wanted a single liberal market to support a single liberal international order, one that was supposed to bring peace in our time. well, that peace never arrived. instead these new wilsonians embroiled the united states in conflict after conflict, war after war for decades, and the null global -- the new global market they championed flat lined and shifted american workers overseas all while

national corporations reaped the gains. one of the wilsonians new institutions particularly typified these trends. i'm talking about the world trade organization. it was established in 1995 as a successor to the cold war era general agreement on tariffs and trade. the idea was for the w.t.o. to help harmonize trading rules the world over and have the teeth to enforce them. the w.t.o. would have its own court. i was part of the design. a dispute resolution body that would interpret trade agreements and settle the differences between nations over trade. the effect was to make trade disputes, take them out of the hands of elected national leaders and commit them to the control of international lawyers in geneva. it worked in the sense that the w.t.o.'s court increasingly set trade policy for the world. the old system, the gatt, had allowed for national policy

needs to come first, our workers and our industries. but the w.t.o. reversed these priorities. now global concerns reigned supreme, which meant the priorities of multinational corporations and global capital. and not surprisingly, the w.t.o. lawyers have not been kind to america. the w.t.o.'s dispute resolution process has systematically disfavored the united states, a complaint that presidents of both parties have made for years. the united states has lost 90% of the cases brought against it, hurting industries across our nation, from steel workers in the rustbelt to cotton farmers in states like my own. meanwhile, the w.t.o. dispute resolution body has systematically expanded its own jurisdiction, going beyond the text of the actual trade agreements and citing itself as

authority. that's not all. the w.t.o. permitted china to claim special status as a developing country from the moment china entered the organization, even though china was already the sixth richest nation in the world by g.d.p. in the year 2000. and china jealously guards that sweetheart deal even today, allowing it to defer its obligations to skirt the rules that we follow, and to continue to amass power at our expense. i could go on. the w.t.o. places strict limits on the support we can provide our farmers and ranchers, even as other nations refuse to comply with w.t.o. rulings in favor of our producers. it's clear that the w.t.o. is deeply flawed. the institution's design makes it nearly impossible to reform, as we saw during the failed round, and it remains

completely unequipped to deal with forced technology transfer and intellectual property theft like we've seen from china for decades. the american people, they get the idea. no trade regime can last when it no longer serves the people of the countries who are part of it. and the truth is our interests and those of the w.t.o. diverged many years ago. the w.t.o. is a symbol of an economic order whose ambitions have cost this country dearly enabling and empowering the rise of an impeer illist china and -- imperialist china. and now american leadership is required. it is essential to chart a new course. this nation has never been content to linger in the rear while others lead the way and we will not begin now. we will lead. we will act. and i call on this body to do its part by taking a vote to

withdraw from the w.t.o. the agreement by which we joined that organization expressly affords us this right. it commits to congress, both houses, the right to debate the w.t.o.'s workings and the right to continue in the w.t.o. or withdraw. this is a right, it's a responsibility really, that the senate has never exercised since 1995, not one time. we are past due. we should take up our responsibility and debate this issue, critical to the future of our country, and we should vote to leave. to begin a new era we must end the old so let us vote and let us be a new beginning and let the work begin in earnest to forge a new way forward. thinking of that future, madam president, i offer two

principles to guide our policy. first, as a member of the world economy, we must never privilege the preferences of other nations or multilateral institutions over the needs of our own people and our own workers. and as the leader of the free world, we must empower other countries to resist chinese imperialism at every turn whether on their own or standing together with us as a coalition. now to put these principles into action, we must leave the w.t.o. and construct a new trade system that helps the united states grow strong. this new system should retain and deepen the principle of reciprocity. it should encourage cooperation and market access, but without compromising nation's economic sovereignty and their internal control of their own economies. we in america cannot compromise our sovereign right to protect

the american people and their livelihoods. so we must replace an empire of lawyers with a confederation of truly mutual trade. and mutual trade will require a new approach to dispute resolution, one that will offer nations flexibility and choice. allow countries to litigate trade disputes like a private contract through third-party arbitration chosen by the parties on a case-by-case basis, with ground rules agreed upon by both sides and subject to provisions as circumstances warrant or allow countries to set up enforcement procedures within the trade agreements themselves like we have done in our phase one negotiations with china. on either approach, choices over trade will be made and policies will be set, as they should be, by elected leaders who are accountable to the people, not

by a court sitting in geneva. but reform should not stop at trade. we must also think seriously about what occurs upstream from trade, and that means global capital. there's a reason why wall street loves the status quo. there is a reason why they will object to leaving the w.t.o. and resist major reforms to our global economic and order. that's because they are on a gravy train of foreign capital flows that keep their check books fat. but this foreign money pouring into our country has a distorting effect. we get asset bubbles that can spur recessions and our exporters have trouble selling abroad. our farmers and producers know this problem all too well. so now we must work for new agreements and better-managed capital markets to stop currency manipulators and protect this nation's producers by moderating

these flows of foreign money we can help give a much-needed boost to our producers at home and finally reverse our massive trade deficit with china and with the world. finally, madam president, actions at home are only part of the solution. trade and currency policy, after all, are not made in a vacuum. the world is changing. and if we are to halt china's bid for hi hegemony, we must work with our allies to do it. it is in our interest to see other free nations grow strong and work together to deter and defeat chinese economic coercion. we benefit if countries that share our opposition to chinese imperialism, countries like india and japan, vietnam, australia, and taiwan are

economically independent of china and standing shoulder to shoulder with us. so we should actively pursue new networks of mutual trade with key asian and european partners like the economic prosperity network recently mentioned by secretary pompeo. and we should offer partner nations new incentives to support the purchase of our products made here in america by american workers. a new system of export financing and loan guarantees would serve as a powerful counterweight to china's expanding belt and road initiative and it would boost demand for our products, raising wages and creating good jobs along the way. here again our aim must be to build networks of strong partners able to stand tall against chinese aggression while strengthening our workers and fostering our industries.

madam president, a new departure is upon us. whether we like it or not, the old order is giving way. the future need not be limited, however, not for this country. this moment is full of promise if we he t courage to lead. we can build a future that looks beyond pandemic to prosperity, a prosperity shared by all americans from the rural towns of our country to the urban core. we can build a future that looks passed a failed consensus to meet the national security needs of this new century. we can build a future that transcends the narrow thinking of the washington beltway and that gives confidence to american workers, to the communities they call home. with a global economy that better suits our interests, that better protects our people, we can find the strength and purpose to counter the gravest

danger to the american nation in a century and to unleash again the promise of our unique and marvelous way of life. to my colleagues in the united states senate, i say it is time to lead. thank you, madam president. i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from iowa is recognized. mr. grassley: i rise for two reasons. one for a very short comment on political prisoners in foreign lands and the other one on how the cares act is developing and the reaction to it. first of all, our country's now hopefully recovering from covid-19 so i want to take this opportunity to address the plight of an extremely

vulnerable population, political prisoners abroad. in turkey, syria, china, and a lot of other countries, political prisoners remain locked away in crowded prisons without adequate medical care. the spread of covid-19 among this population dramatically increases the risk of serious medical consequences or even death. thor authoritarian regiming risk further stabilization of countries by jailing the innocent. political prisoners ought to be released and they ought to be released now. at the beginning of march we worked to get ahead of the covid pandemic, an amazing thing happened. congress came together quickly

and developed a broad package of measures to provide relief to families, workers, and businesses to weather the covid-19 event and the crisis that it is. coronavirus aid relief and economic security, those words make up the cares act, included a broad range of tools, direct payments to individuals and families. secondly, expanded unemployment insurance benefits for the unemployed. third, landing programs for businesses of all sizes, and, fourth, targeted tax relief to help businesses continue operations and keep workers on the payroll. our objective for the tax provisions in the cares act was

twofold. first, to help individual families and businesses weather the storms caused by the stay at home governmental decisions, and secondly, lay as much of a foundation as possible for restarting the economy once businesses could start to reopen and americans could get back to work. the cares act came together through a bipartisan process and that took -- and that process took place over eight short days and ultimately, and amazingly, passed the senate 96-0 on march 25. the house passed it by voice vote two days later and president trump signed it into law that same day. as chairman of the finance

committee, my approach for tax relief was to provide as much liquidity as possible and as quickly as possible. for individuals that meant providing treasury department with authority to issue nearly $300 billion in economic impact payments to families across the nation. this economic impact payment was $1,200 for an individual, $2,400 for a couple, and $500 for each child that went out in checks or direct deposit. it also meant giving individuals access to cash and retirement accounts, suspending required distributions from requirement accounts already hit by steep declines in the stock market, and giving employers more flexibility to help employees with student loan payments. many of these tools are similar

to ones made available to help families recover from natural disasters in recent years so we were not reinventing policy for this pandemic. we were taking use of things we always tried before. now these changes i just mentioned, each of these changes are tools that can be implemented very quickly to help families access the cash that they need to get through these difficult times. now, going to the business tax relief measures our approach was to modify existing provisions of the tax code, easing limits and restrictions so that businesses could apply for these -- this help easily and quickly. the key was for businesses to keep cash on hand if they hadn't

already filed or get refunds to give them the liquidity to keep the doors open, the machinery running, and most importantly, employees paid at least to the greatest extent possible. most of these tax measures have been employed in previous economic crises and natural disasters. again, these policies were not reinventing the wheel. we were taking advantage of things that had worked in the past. in particular we expanded the ability of businesses to use net operating losses or as we call them in tax jargon, n.o.l.'s, just like congress did in 2002 after 9/11 and in 2005 for taxpayers affected by hurricane

katrina, and again in 2009 after the financial crisis. those were actually bipartisan relief efforts, just like the cares act. and these provisions are temporary. they're designed to terminate after the recovery is in full force. while it seems longer, you have to remember the cares act was enacted just over seven weeks ago. in that time treasury has distributed economic impact payments far faster than expected. americans have received approximately $140 million economic impact payments worth $240 billion. over three and four tenths million small businesses have been approved for $500 billion in loans under the