in a situation now where mcconnell is really admitting that there may be 20 members of his conference won't vote for much of anything. there is of the 50 plus senate republicans there is at least a third, may be up to a half, who think enough have been done in terms of economic relief related to covid-19 and when you are in that box mcconnell has less leverage because ultimately not even just to getn over a filibuster or even because there are 60 votes but frankly mcconnell leads or needs democratic votes just to get to the simple majority. >> host: one more thing, this is from the lead editorial of "the new york times" this morning. >> we leave this year to keep our commission to bringing you live gavel to gavel coverage of congress. the senate is about to come and they will be debating the nomination of the deputy energy

secretary with the procedural vote later this afternoon. off the floor negotiations are continuing on a coronavirus aid package. now to live senate coverage here on c-span2. the president pro tempore: the senate will come to order. the chaplain, dr. black, will open the senate in prayer. the chaplain: let us pray. our father, as we think of those so desperately in need of legislative action, give our lawmakers the wisdom and courage needed for these challenging times. use them to empower all

americans, particularly those on life's margins. lord, help our senators today to discern your voice, as they seek your will in all they do. give them the ability to differentiate your guidance from all others, permitting you to lead them to your desired destination. speak to them through your word, guide them with your spirit, and sustain them with your might. we pray in your great name. amen.

the president pro tempore: please join me in the pledge. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. mr. grassley: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from iowa. mr. grassley: i ask permission one minute for morning business. the presiding officer: without objection.

mr. grassley: everybody in the senate now remembers senator hatch. i want to tell you how he is still on the job, reminding americans of our traditions. recently, my friend from utah, former senator orrin hatch, wrote about american academia and our so-called cancel culture. i encourage all americans to read his essay published in "the wall street journal." senator hatch calls for, quote, a renewed commitment to intellectual diversity, and another quote, for a radical overhaul of campus culture, end of quote. i agree with senator hatch. our institutions of higher learning need to wake up and welcome the open exchange of ideas in the classrooms and across the campus, and if that isn't what universities and

colleges are for, i don't know what they're for. silencing or shaming students from sharing divergent views are antithetical to the american way. our next generation of leaders deserves better as colleges begin the school year, they should focus on keeping their students safe from the virus. but -- and a big but -- they shouldn't worry one bit about keeping students safe from the free exchange of ideas or prevent professors from teaching different schools of thought. herd mentality limits intellectual curiosity, and that's bad for freedom. particularly academic freedom. i yield the floor. mr. mcconnell: mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: the senate mourns the tragedy that we now

know took place thursday off the coast of southern california. according to official reports, nine american service members, eight marines and one sailor, died during a training exercise. these young service members were all between the ages of 19 and 23. it is absolutely heart breaking. the units involved are among our most unique and specialized amphibious forces. their training is what allows them to deploy at a moment's notice, under the harshest conditions in the most remote and unsupported locations. as the kevin for survivors turn into a recovery mission, the nation was reminded that even what our men and women in uniform may consider routine still involves serious risk and personal sacrifice. i extend the senate's sympathies

to the families of those lost and our gratitude to the marine corps, navy, and coast guard personnel who are searching to bring their comrades home. now, mr. president, on an entirely different matter, this week, officials from the intelligence community, the f.b.i., and the department of homeland security will brief us on foreign efforts to influence our politics and elections and how the administration is defending us. every one of our colleagues should attend one of these sessions, sharing sensitive threat information with congress is just one of the ways this administration has outperformed its predecessor. the intelligence community has kept congress much more closely informed about those threats in 2018 and 2020 than it did in the runup to 2016. i'm sure these briefings will contain details that might seem ripe for cherry picking and partisan leaks from both sides, but it is essential that

congress remain a place where the word classified actually means something. leaking intelligence jeopardizes sources and methods, and if we have learned anything from studying russian interference in 2016, it's that our adversaries' ultimate objective is to leave america more divided and less confident in our institutions. members of congress must take special care not to do putin's work for him. foreign adversaries have long sought to interfere in our politics and elections. that didn't start in 2016, and it won't end in 2020, but this administration has put us in a far, far better position than in 2016. there is simply no comparison. the intelligence community is better aware of the threat. government agencies are more transparent with congress. the state and local jurisdictions that actually run elections, the private sector, and the public.

in 2016, the obama-biden administration had to lean on congressional leadership to act as a bridge for the states because the states so distrusted their department of homeland security. over the last four years, this administration's d.h.s. has developed its own deep relationship with state officials. in 2016, only 14 state or local jurisdictions had received high-tech alert sensors to alert them to cyber intrusions. today they are deployed in all 50 states. 14 states had them in 2016. today every state has them. it was this administration that stood up the new elections information sharing and analysis center with participation from more than 2,600 local jurisdictions and counting. this administration has imposed real hard costs on election

interference and russia's other misdeeds, shuttering the kremlin's consulates in san francisco and seattle, kicking out intelligence officers, sanctioning oligarchs, helping european partners defend their own elections against russia, and sending weapons to ukraine and georgia which the obama-biden administration did not supply. this administration has also confronted china for what the state department described as massive espionage and influence operations, including closing beijing's consulate in houston. as the democratic vice chairman on the senate intelligence committee has stated in 2016, quote, we were caught flatfoot flatfooted. not anymore. congress has provided more than $800 million for states and localities to shore up election security and have passed a number of targeted new laws. and since foreign political

interference is so often aimed at private sector platforms like social media sites, we have encouraged these businesses to step up vigilance as well. through all of this, mr. president, we have also carefully avoided things that look like quick fixes but which would undermine our own institutions. in the united states of america, it is states and localities, states and localities, not the federal government, who run elections, period. and our lack of a one-size-fits-all national system isn't just constitutionally appropriate. it also acts as a further safeguard. we lack a single point of failure. so in closing, mr. president, i urge all our colleagues to attend these important briefings with an eye toward our real adversaries, not our fellow americans, but the foreign agents who love to see us at one another's throats. in fact, during the impeachment trial, a leading house democrat

asserted that if president trump wins reelection, the people's vote would be presumptively invalid. just a few days ago, it was reported a leading democratic strategist who was war-gaming this election decided to experiment with what would happen if vice president biden lost the election but simply failed to concede. once again, this kind of recklessness achieves our adversaries' missions for them. so i would urge my colleagues to listen listen to civil servants who are defending our democracy. let's stay united, focus on the real dangers posed by foreign intelligence, and resist the urge to politicize these vital subjects. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved. under the previous order, the senate will proceed to executive

session to resume -- mr. mcconnell: i am not quite finished yet. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: now, on one final matter, last week, the senate democratic leader brought an end to the additional federal benefit for unemployed workers. republicans tried multiple times to extend the money, including at the same dollar level that our colleague himself said he wanted. the democratic leader blocked it all. this is the dynamic on the democratic side that killed the subject of police reform back in june, and it has now jeopardized more coronavirus relief as well. the democratic leaders insist publicly they want an outcome. but they work alone behind closed doors to ensure a

bipartisan agreement is actually not reached. we are about a week into the speaker's and the democratic leader's discussions with the administration, a week into the democratic leadership cutting out all their members, all of them cutting out all of their committees and saying that only they can participate. so how is it going? well, the democratic leader is still refusing to let struggling americans get another dime unless he gets a massive tax cut for wealthy people in blue states that has nothing to do with the coronavirus. i'm not kidding. this is his position. nothing for schools, nothing for kids, nothing for the p.p.p., nothing for the health care fight, nobody gets a dime unless the democratic leader gets a massive tax cut for rich people in new york and california. that's what he's saying. the speaker of the house and the

democratic leader are continuing to say our way or the highway. with a massive wish list for left-wing lobbyists that was slopped together a few weeks ago called a coronavirus bill. stimulus checks for illegal immigrants. diversity studies for the legal pot industry. and on and on. when they have put out this proposal, even the media and their fellow democrats pronounced this thing dead on arrival. here was one reporter. quote, neither this bill nor anything resembling it will ever become law. it's a democratic wish list filled up with all the parties' favorite policies. and remember house speaker pelosi's own members felt about this absurd proposal. quote, privately, several house members concede their latest bill feels like little more than an effort to appease the most

liberal members of the caucus. even democrats knew speaker pelosi's bill was unserious. but now with the additional unemployment benefit disappearing, with families still struggle beings, they're going back to this unserious position and refusing to budge. i can't imagine this is how democratic colleagues want this to play out. in march, we built the cares act by republicans and democrats working together at the committee level. this time again republicans introduced a serious proposal written by our own chairman and our own members. but this time the democratic leader has cut senate democrats out entirely. he's forbidden their committees from even talking to republicans. he's digging in on a house messaging bill written with no input from his own members, that

even house democrats themselves called absurd. these are not the tactics that would build a bipartisan result. these are not the tactics that will get more cash in americans' pockets, more help to the unemployed, more assistance for schools to reopen. it's time for the democratic leadership to get serious about making a law -- making a law for the american people. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved. under the previous order, the senate will proceed to executive session to resume consideration of the following nomination, which the clerk will report. the clerk: nomination, department of energy, mark wesley menezes of virginia to be deputy secretary.

mr. mcconnell: i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call:

mr. schumer: mr. president. the presiding officer: the democratic leader. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent the quorum be dispensed with.

the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, i just heard the republican leader speak out on the floor. leader mcconnell is busy giving partisan speeches while for the last two and a half hours speaker pelosi, myself, secretary of treasury mnuchin and chief of staff meadows were sitting in a room, working hard, trying to narrow our differences and come to an agreement. we all want to come to an agreement. we know the gravity of the situation demands it. and we will continue to work and work at it. we had a productive meeting. we narrowed some differences. frankly, there are many that remain. but we must, we must not give up. we must not resort to start partisanship. we must come together and find a solution. if i to characterize the major difference between our side and the republican side, we believe

the gravity of the situation, the economic problems, the health problems demand a bold, strong, vigorous solution by the federal government. we believe we must meet those needs, and it will cost money. but mark my words, if we don't spend -- if we spend less money now, it will cost us more money later. we hear from our schools. they very much want to open. we hear from the parents of children. they very much want their kids to go back to school, but they want to do it only safely. it costs a lot of dollars to make a school safe in this covid crisis. not only the money for masks and p.p.e., but you can't sit two kids next to each other on a bus, so there have to be many more bus routes. because some of the distance learning will be distant -- some of the learning will be

distance you need hot spots and a lot of kids don't have them in their homes. you may need new ventilating systems because covid demands it for a healthy classroom. you may need to convert gym nayd cafeterias into new classrooms and teachers may need to teach longer and you may need more teachers. they demand real dollars. as we sat in the room today, we each discussed our views as to how many dollars are needed. same thing with food safety. we democrats believe that during this crisis, children and adults should not go hungry, and we've proposed some money to make sure that the snap benefit increases. that's helping people feed themselves. that there's enough money to feed the kids who used to get school lunches and school

breakfasts, that there's enough money for unemployed people at food banks so they can feed their families. that costs money. the senate republican proposal here proposed a tax break it for a three-martini lunch and slush fund for big agribusiness, but no money for these kids who need to be fed. that's a significant difference. there are many. there are many. we democrats believe strongly that we have to have free and fair elections, that the mail must be delivered in a timely way because so many more people are going to vote by mail. so many more polling places need to be set up. because of covid, you can't be close together. there's a long list of things that are needed. and the good news is our republican colleagues agree with a few of them, but some they don't agree with, and we are discussing why we think they need them, and they'll counter with us in the room, mnuchin

and meadows. but the discussion is necessary. the discussion is productive, and we will continue it. but again, the anomaly of the republican leader making a partisan speech on the floor while we -- speaker pelosi, myself, mnuchin, and meadows -- are trying to negotiate and move forward is really the contrast that i think most people see. so let's keep moving forward. there's a real crisis here. there are people who are unemployed. they don't deserve a pay cut as they go forward. there are small businesses who need help desperately. there are schools that have to help. there are state and local governments that must have funding, and this is not an abstract concept. these are firefighters and these

are teachers and these are health care workers and these are bus drivers and these are sanitation men and women. if the state and local governments don't get money, they're going to get laid off and services are going to be much worse. again, we have a wide disparity on what kind of dollars and how to deal with treatment. it's our belief this administration's program on treatment has been a failure, that we don't have enough treatment and that we have to redouble our efforts to put more money in treatment. so these discussions are continuing. it gives me hope that we can reach an agreement. we will keep at it and at it and at it, because the nation demands a solution, a bold, comprehensive solution that will slay this awful virus and its consequences once and for all. i yield the floor. and i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call:

quorum call:

quorum call:

mr. cornyn: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from text h. texas. mr. cornyn: are we in a quorum call? the presiding officer: yes, we are. mr. cornyn: i would ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection.

mr. cornyn: madam president, one year ago a gunman stormed an el paso walmart and opened fire. 46 people were shot, 23 tragically died, and the devastation in this night -- tight-knit community was beyond imagination. the heartbreak and confusion quickly turned to rage when we learned that this out-of-town shooter was a white supremacist whose crime could only be described as domestic terrorism. as my good friend, el paso mayor dee margo has said many times over the past year, we will not let this evil define us. he wrote in an op-ed this weekend, el paso will not be known for tragedy but for our strength and grace in the midst of tragedy. that strength comes to mind when i reflect on this terrible

anniversary. when i visited el paso the day after the shooting, i saw the makeshift memorial that was created to honor those who had died. on that first day, the collection of photos, flowers, and momentos was relatively small. but by the time i came back a few days later, it had grown to over half a mile. this massive memorial, the long line of folks waiting to donate blood, the generous donations made to support the victims and their families, these were the real reminders of the power and resilience of the el paso community. as we remember this anniversary amidst a pandemic, there won't be groups of strangers hugging, crying, our holding hands like i witnessed in the days following the shooting. instead, we'll have socially distanced memorials like the vigil held yesterday that will allow el paso ans once again to

prove that hate will not win. together we remember the 23 lives that were lost one year ago as well as those who were wounded, and we stand in solidarity with el paso, a border community that has looked hate in the eye and unequivocally chosen strength, grace, and love for one another. madam president, with august here and the start of school just around the corner, school districts, colleges, and universities in texas, in iowa and everywhere else are in the process of making very difficult decisions about how to begin the school year. they're trying to determine -- the teachers, the professors, the faculty, the administration of these schools, trying to figure the best way to keep their students safe. but at the same time provide

them with a quality education for all their students. as we've seen, there is no one-size-fits-all to the coronavirus when it comes to public health. our nation is very diversified. some highly concentrated populations with multigenerational families in an international travel hub like new york city. and then there are more rural areas where we fortunately have not seen the same sort of impact as we have in some of these concentrated areas. so in a country as big and diverse as ours, there has been no one-size-fits-all handbook or rubber stamp response. with covid-19 surging in some parts of the state, my state, and declining in others, decisions i think should continue to be made flexibly, which means they should be made locally. each school districts or college knows their challenges, their

needs, their capabilities, and their risks better than anyone else from the outside, certainly from washington, d.c., and they should be the ones at the local level to make the decisions on how best to safely proceed. whether the school year kicks off with in-person, online or with some combination of the two, one thing that has become abundantly clear is that additional federal support is needed so that she is schools can safely re-- so that these schools can safely reopen with the proper protections in place. congress has already provided $30 billion in emergency relief for education, including more than $2.6 billion for texas alone, which has helped our school districts, colleges, and universities prepare for the start of the new year while filling some holes left by gaps in tuition that has not been collected because students have not been in person studying. now, this funding can be used to

support things like cleaning services and equipment to protect students and staff returning to the classroom. it can be used for laptops or virtual hotspots for virtual learning. what we really need is a restoration of confidence that people can continue to get on with their lives as we all have learned to do by socially distancing, masking, hand washing, and staying home if you're sick. that's what each of us can do as individual americans. and that's what students can do in their classroom, as deemed appropriate by local authorities and parents. well, we had a strong start in the response to the coronavirus with the legislation we passed, the repeated bills we passed on a bipartisan basis, virtually unanimously, but now is not the time to take our foot off the gas. the senate must move quickly to pass additional relief, not only for our students and teachers

but for the workers and industries hit hardest. think about our health care heroes. these were the truly essential workers that didn't have the choice to work remotely. they had to be on the front line treating the people with the virus. we have unemployed workers, people who through no fault of their own continue to not earn a paycheck, and small businesses that are struggling. maybe they had a p.p.p. loan and grant, but now they continue to see their businesses harmed by lack of customers. and then there are farmers and ranchers and other producers, so many of whom need us to act and act quickly. now, congress is not known for acting with speed and dispatch, and at most times that's actually probably a good thing because you make mistakes when you get in a big hurry. but there's no reason we can't come together and reach an agreement this week and get

relief on the way to those who immediate it most. -- who need it most madam president, the senate should not recess. we should not go home for the august break until the next coronavirus bill is complete. so we really have a choice. we can do this the hard way, or we can do it the commonsense and easier way, which is simply sit down, come together, and work our way through our differences. we know how to do it because we do it all the time, and it's the only way anything gets done. so we need to put the grandstanding and the posturing and the rhetoric and the politicalization of this pandemic on the shelf for the time-being. there's plenty of time for elections -- the election is 93 days off from today. but what is urgent and what is needed most is for us to demonstrate that we can lead

during a time of crisis, when our constituents, when the american people are in pain and hurting and need our help. we need to demonstrate we can work our differences out and come together and respond to that need. despite the immense challenges presented by the virus, tens of millions of essential workers have continued to go to work each day because their communities depend on them. we all depend on them. right now our country is depending on us to do our job, and we cannot let them down. as school leaders make tough decisions today and continue to assess the situation, we need to ensure that they have the resources they need to keep their students healthy and their education on track. this is not a zero-sum game. it's not one or the other. we have to do both. the heals act that was fused by

a number of colleagues on had this -- that was introduced by a number of colleagues on this side of the aisle more than tripled the investment made in the cares act, which we passed late in march. the majority of that funding goes through k-12 schools and will support safety measures for students and also provide better access to those studying remotely at home. it will bolster the higher education emergency relief fund, with an additional $29 billion to ensure that colleges and universities can make the accommodations for learning not only on campus but also the living, eating and a range of other activities that occur on university campuses. at least 10% of that funding is dedicated to the historically black colleges and universities and minority-serving institutions. keeping texas children healthy and their education on track is a top priority. it should be a top priority here and for all of us. and the next relief bill must

provide the funding for our students and teachers that they need as they head into this new territory this fall. in addition to supporting our children going back to school, another issue that has reared its head is child care. many parents simply if their children are not studying in classrooms, they're studying at home, and they need supervision, and many parents who would like to go back to work, if they can do so safely, need to have child care available for them to be able to do so. in 2018, 60% of texas children under the age of six had all their available parents in the workforce. 60%. and prior to covid-19, many of these working parents relied on day care so they could go to work. of course, the pandemic has

changed child apparatuses for many families -- arrangements for many families. many have pulled double dutiing as employees and caregivers at the same time. and those who unfortunately lost their jobs or were laid off have stayed home with children until they've been able to return to, would. but really child care will be a limiting factor for many people who want to and can safely return to work. now that more businesses are reopening, parents are increasingly in need of safe and reliable child care. and congress needs to step up and provide relief to child care providers. the heals act authorizes short-term assistance to help them so they can safely reopen their doors and parents can safely return to work. this is, i believe, a key toest going more people back to -- this is, i believe, a key to getting more people back to work so we can recover and begin to

rebuild our economy. this legislation builds on another provision in the cares act that provided student loan relief for the more than 43 million americans with student loan debt. it allowed students to deferred student loan payments for up to six months with no penalty. and i've gotten a lot of positive feedback on that provision from texans across nearly every part of the state. with so much economic uncertainty, we can't allow that provision to expire. student loan debt is a real and growing problem in our country, and families should never be in the situation where they're sacrificing their basic needs just to make those student loan payments, especially during a time of a global emergency. as we try to find consensus on the next coronavirus response package, there's no room to compromise on support for our children and teachers. another critical provision supporting our schools is

liability protections. as i mentioned, schools are weighing whether or not to reopen, and they go through a long list of considerations. a number of cases of coronavirus in their community, new case trends, the risks to student health and teachers, the ability to implement relevant health guidelines. school leaders are weighing all of these factors and more in remain didding whether or not to reopen their doors. even if a school is prepared to take every precalks and make a good-faith effort to protect the health and safety of students and staff, they could still face a mountain of lawsuits. let's say a district carefully considered all of these factors and made the decision to reopen, they're prepared to implement the c.d.c. guidelines and mitigation strategies, things like social distancing, masks, reduce class sizes and cohorting students. they made changes to the bus routes, classroom seating and

lunch schedules to accommodate social distancing. they talked to parents about how to identify the symptoms of covid-19 and have planned for what they should do if a student or staff member tests positive. but despite every precaution and closely following guidelines, the schools can still be sued for covid-19 exposure. if the child contracts the virus, a parent could file a lawsuit blaming the school, even though it would be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to prove the school is at fault, the district could be drawn into costly court battles to defend itself taking money and time away from classrooms needed to teach our children. in arizona, in has arisen as a major issue. the largest insurer for schools announced it will not provide liability coverage for covid-19 claims. and without action from congress, many schools may choose not to reopen their doors

because the risk and expense of litigation is simply too high. and, madam president, it's not just litigating and losing that is such a burden. by litigating, you actually can lose even if you win the case because of the costs associated with defending these cases and the time and energy it takes that could be expended on indicating our children. that's why the legislation i've introduced known as the safe act, which is included in the heals act, is so important. it will prevent schools that make a good-faith effort to safely reopen from facing a wave of opportunistic litigation. it doesn't provide blanket immunity. it actually incentivizes following public health guidelines and says only those who engage in willful or grossly negligent conduct can be sued

and a recovery sought. but it does spell out in black and white that k-12 schools, colleges, and universities will be protected from covid-19 exposure claims as long as they make a good-faith effort to comply with mandatory public health guidelines. this is the targeted and temporary provision. it expires in 2024. this is not an attempt to permanently change the tort laws that apply across the board, but only a targeted provision that applies to this pandemic. our schools need to know and have confidence that if they're operating in good faith and obeying guidelines, they will not spend the next years in court fighting lawsuits. in order for our country to recover, these workers and institutions need to be able to open their doors and to do their jobs with confidence, and that's precisely what this legislation will provide for. i hope our colleagues on both

sides of the aisle will join us in providing this critical funding and protections our schools need at such a crucial time. madam president, i yield the floor. a senator: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from arkansas.

mr. boozman: thank you, madam president. i would like to take this opportunity to recognize and congratulate two of my favorite people. david general l. goldfein and chief master sergeant kalif o wright for their retirement from the air force a combined 68 years of with distinguished military service to our great nation. general goldfield's outstanding 37-year career has culminated as the 21st chief of staff of the air force. in this role, he's been responsible for the organization, training, and equipping of 685,000 active-duty, guard, reserve and civilian forces serving all over the world. hehas been crucial to strengthening our national security and led the effort on shaping the air force and joint force of the future. general goldfield launched his

career at the air force academy, graduated in 1983 and continued his training at the united states air force weapons school. he would go on to urban his command pilot -- to earn his command pilot rating accumulating more than 4,200 flying hours in various aircraft such as the t-37, t-38, f-16, f-117, mq-9 and mc-12. he flew combat missions in operation desert shield, desert storm, allied force and enduring freedom. on may 2, 1999, while flying a night mission during operation allied force, then-lieutenant colonel goldfine found himself in the skies above serbia in his f-16 fighter jet. his mission was to bomb targets designed to force serbian dictator milosevic to withdraw

his troops from kosovo. things changed rapidly. when a surface-to-air missile exploded near the belly of his aircraft forcing him to eject and parachute into enemy territory. he was quickly rescued in kosovo by the air force's elite combat search and rescue team. his ability to make sound decisions under this extreme pressure and many other actions throughout his career are why he was the right person to serve as chief of staff for the past four years. general goldfine epitomizes the finest qualities of a military leader. his passion for the air force, the airmen and their families -- and this certainly is a family affair -- are unparalleled. and the country owes him a debt of gratitude for his sacrifice

and for his service. i would also like to recognize chief master sergeant of the air force wright for his exceptional 31-year career in the united states air force. for the past three and a half years he has served as the senior enlisted advisor to the air force chief of staff and secretary of the air force on all issues regarding the welfare, the readiness, the morale and proper utilization and progress of the enlisted force. after enlisting in the air force in 1989, chief wright would go on to serve in various duties in the dental career field. he deployed in support of operations desert shield, desert storm and enduring freedom and completed overseas tours in south korea, japan, germany, and alaska. as the 18th chief master sergeant of the air force, his

transparent leadership, character and natural charisma built a never-before-seen trust with the 410,000 enlisted members. under his leadership, improvements were made to the enlisted professional and military education system, enlisted promotion system, physical training, testing and the enlisted evaluation system. his passion for building a resilient force, suicide prevention, and diversity and inclusion will have lasting positive impacts on his service, the airmen and their families. fittingly chief wright will continue to advocate for an airman as the next c.e.o. of the air force society. as cochair of the senate air force caucus and chairman of the appropriations subcommittee responsible for ensuring our armed forces and their families have the infrastructure and

facilities to support their needs. i met with these air force leaders on numerous occasions during their service as they encouraged congressional support to strengthen air force priorities and military readiness. airmen can be proud of their advocacy and leadership to ensure the united states maintains our air superiority. on behalf of the united states senate, the senate air force caucus and a grateful nation, i extend my deepest appreciation to general goldfein, chief master sergeant wright and their families for their many, many years of exemplary military service and sacrifice. we all wish them nothing but the very best in the future. and with that, madam chairman, i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

the presiding officer: the senator from mississippi. a senator: i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call bees dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection.

mr. wicker: thank you, madam president. for almost 25 years the internet has r grown and thrived under the light touch regulatory framework established by the communications decency act. i hope we can continue that, but i think some changes need to be made. passed in 1996, is this, the law that the communications decency act is a part of helped create the internet. section 230 of that law gives broad liability protections to interactive computer services such as facebook, twitter, and other social media platforms. this provision protects online platforms from being held liable for content posted by their users. this is a unique protection for online platforms and not everyone in our country enjoys those protections. for example, newspapers do not

enjoy this important protection, but we've done this for internet platforms. at the same time section 230 of the communications decency act allows online platforms to censor content that they, the platforms, consider obscene, lewd, harassing along with several other categories, including the term otherwise objectionable. mr. president, i'm concerned that this term otherwise objectionable is too broad and ends up protecting online platforms when they remove contents that they simply disagree with or dislike or find distasteful personally. i fear section 230 has enabled big tech companies to censor conservative views and voices,

and i'm joined by a lot of americans in that view. as such, this provision has become a loophole for censoring free speech and risks negating the values at the very heart of our first amendment. in the last few years reports of online censorship of conservative viewpoints have grown more frequent. in early 2018, for example, an undercover report exposed twitter for systematically shadow banning conservative profiles. meaning users were blocked from the platform without being notified. more recently, google threatened to demonitize the conservative news site the federalist for not removing content in their content section. based upon information i

received, the comments may indeed have been derogatory and unacceptable, but what is noteworthy is that google's threat toward the federalist was hyperselective and a bit hypocritical. google held the federalist accountable for comments made by the federalist readers, but google does not want to be held accountable -- held responsible for the post or comments by users on google's platforms, including youtube, a double standard imposed by google itself. this selective scrutiny reveals what most americans already believe, that tech companies are politically biased. according to a 2018 pugh study, seven out of ten americans believe social media companies

censor political viewpoints that they find objectionable. that was two years ago. it's only worsened in the two years since then of the these concerns come at a time when tech companies wield unprecedented power -- unprecedented power within our economy and our culture at large, and no one can deny that. a bipartisan chorus of committee members from the other body pointed this out just last week, mr. president. more and more of our daily business is taking place online and that trend is only accelerating during the current pandemic. as we near the 2020 election, americans have serious concerns about whether online platforms will treat campaigns on both sides of the aisle fairly and equally and those concerns are warranted. i have knows concerns.

americans are -- i have those concerns. americans have the right to worry about interference by politically homogenius stwai over political discourse. mr. president, after 24 years, it's time for congress to revisit section 230 of the communications decency act and perhaps defining and n.r.a.oing the scope of -- n.r.a.oing the scope of what is subject to censoring. there may be other forms that would be better, but it's time for congress and the committee which i chair to revisit this section of the law. last week the commerce subcommittee on technology, innovations, and the internet held a hearing to consider exactly this issue and it was a very good hearing. as chairman of the full commerce

committee, i intend to pursue this matter truly and ee -- through thoroughly. congress needs to ensure that the internet remains a forum for a true diversity of political discourse, which promotes competition and innovation. thank you, mr. president. i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

mrs. blackburn: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from tennessee. mrs. blackburn: thank you, mr. president. are we in a quorum call? the presiding officer: yes. mrs. blackburn: i ask that we dispense with the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. blackburn: thank you. last week journalists at espn had an article about human rights violations at nba training academies in china. when you think about a basketball camp, you think of drills or running spirits, but these camps looked different. the investigation focused on

training camps in china and has achieved level of notoriety for the violence the government officials inflict on the weaker muslim minority. and so it's no surprise that the stories told by trainers, coaches, and other nba employees who helped run these camps employ disturbing and familiar imagery. according to the espn investigation, one former league employee compared the atmosphere at the xinjiang camp to world war ii germany. an american coach who worked at a similar facility described it as a sweat camp for athletes. now, according to the investigation, almost

immediately after the nba launched this program back in 2016, multiple coaches staffing the camps reported to high-ranking organization officials that they had witnessed chinese coaches beating and berating student athletes. bear in mind, mr. president, the reports were made in 2016. they also reported that the chinese communist party officials in charge of the camp were denying students an education. now, in coming to this elite camp, they were to receive both an education and elevated sports training. but the reports going back into

2016, 2016 said the children were being abused, beaten, berated, and denying -- denied the education. so why then did the nba maintain these programs? money. communist china plays host to an estimated $4 billion nba market. they say that china is basketball obsessed, and nba execs have used every avenue they can to take advantage of that. and they jealously protect these relationships. last october, when houston rockets general manager darryl morey treated and supported the hong kong freedom fighters'

multiple league all stars, stakeholders, and well-connected employees lashed out in a panic, terrified of retaliation from beijing. team owner and ali baba co-founder joe sai not only sided with the chinese communist party as it retaliated against the entire league, he characterized the hong kong protesters as leading a separatist movement. their over the top reactions are proof enough of how fragile the nba's relationship with china actually is and who is really in control of this relationship. mr. president, the control is not with the nba. in june, i sent a letter to the nba expressing my concerns about the training camps in xinjiang

and the league's entanglement with the comeans communist partt party. in their response, they announced they had closed their facilities in the region and that they had severed their ties to any programs there. the problem is this -- and it is that the espn report i referenced previously disputes that assertion. i am reaching out for clarification on that matter, but in their response, i hope nba officials express clarity regarding all, each and every one, all of their business relationships with china. because the nba and other organizations that maintain close ties to the chinese communist party believe that they are merely taking advantage of a growing consumer market.

or that's what they say. to them, it's a smart, savvy play. that's what they believe. but in reality, what they are doing is giving the ball away. they are playing right into beijing's hands, and those hands are controlled by the chinese communist party. since 2013, the c.c.p. has operated under a grand strategy to stretch their influence across europe, africa, and asia. this strategy is known quite elegantly, they think, as the belt and road initiative. it involves making interlinked investments over land and sea, which has formed the beginnings of a modern-day silk road.

the chinese communist party uses energy and transportation infrastructure development, as well as access to investment capital and trade opportunities to force their way into the good graces of comparatively poor and still-developing nations. i've seen this influence and its effects firsthand. last year, i traveled to the horn of africa and spent some time in djibouti, a country that welcomed china and the belt and road initiative investments with open arms. china now holds somewhere in the neighborhood of 80% of that country's national debt. 80% of their debt is held by communist china. the government in djibouti in

turn agreed to accommodate china's first overseas military outpost, grant access to a crucial sea lane, and implement the orwellian smart cities program. now, i will tell you if i asked you to picture a modern-day surveillance state, chances are the picture that popped into your head would come pretty close to what is happening right now in djibouti city. but the other thing i saw while in djibouti was its vital strategic importance to the united states. our military relationship is one that exists on the front lines of great power competition, and it is essential to continue american commitment to and investment in african partners like djibouti. wherever african headquarters are located, we must not lose

sight of the importance of resourcing the african american continent for great power competition. this is the combat and command that consistently proves it can do the most with the least, and it is a front where we can play offense, not defense against two of our major adversaries, china and russia. the way china does business makes maintaining these relationships incredibly important. the b.r.i. functions behind a veil of secrecy to the tune of somewhere between $1 trillion and $8 trillion in foreign investment. now, think about this. china invests their dollars in the united states. currently, china holds over

$1.1 trillion in u.s. debt. they do that, mr. president, because congress has the power of the purse, but congress seems to think print more money. we can issue some debt. we can afford it. all the while, china is making money off of our debt. and then, with those profits, what are they doing? they are investing in countries around the globe. as i said, now what we know about the belt and road initiative, the digital silk road, their push in great power competition, they have now spent somewhere between $1 trillion and $8 trillion around the

globe. some of these countries like djibouti, they are holding 80% of the debt in exchange for locating a military post, for having a naval base, for building out their spy network globally. this is what they are up to. and these low interest loans they offer lead these countries into unsustainable debt burdens. some countries' overall debt to china is well above 20% of their g.d.p. many of these loan recipients exist on the brink of a debt crisis. and when you get in the debt crisis, when your debt is more than your income, what happens? the person holding your debt does what, mr. president?

we know. they own you. they own you. so in short, china has set a series of debt traps for smaller struggling countries to just go tumbling over the cliff. but for china, everything is going right according to plan because that dependency translates to control over key strategic positions all over the globe. and yet, for some reason, organizations take the nba, the national basketball association, the nba. pretty soon if they are not careful, they will be the national beijing association. what are they doing? they are ignoring this. why are they ignoring it? because it's convenient. why is it convenient? the profits look good.

they're making money. china, they are basketball obsessed. do we really think that makes it okay? i've got to say it's not okay. what the nba is doing is ignoring horrific human rights abuses, absolutely horrific. they're ignoring speech regression. they're ignoring political violence. they're ignoring religious persecution. they're doing it all in the name of finding their next basketball superstar. and they remain willfully blind to the manipulation tactics china uses to hide these abuses, whether we're talking about debt diplomacy or enthusiastic access to a willing market, all of it

is offered up by the chinese communist party as a distraction. so i have said repeatedly that the united states must take immediate steps to unravel our relationships with china. the rapid and unnecessary spread of covid-19 caused by the chinese communist party's reckless attitude in the early days of the pandemic is proof enough of how dangerously vulnerable we are to the chinese influence. but this unraveling cannot occur if governments and organizations alike refuse to acknowledge what the american people know to be true, that we had a real chance to keep china in check, but we missed the opportunity. the only way that we can retake control of our interactions with

beijing is to retake control of our economy and set our own parameters for engagement with what has become one of the most dangerous and powerful nations on the planet. mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the previously referenced article from espn dated july 29, 2020, be submitted into the record. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. blackburn: thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor and note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call:

ms. murkowski: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from alaska. ms. murkowski: mr. president, i ask that proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. murkowski: thank you, mr. president. i come to the floor this afternoon to encourage senators

to support the nomination that's now pending before us. this is for mark menezes to be the deputy secretary of the department of energy. plenty of opportunity to be working with mr. menezes of recent, as he has been within the department of energy for quite some time. he originally hails from louisiana. he earned his undergrade and law grease from indiana state university. he has considerable experience in the energy sector and here on capitol hill. he previously served as chief counsel for energy and environment on the house energy and commerce committee, so he has been around for a period of time. but more recently for the past three years now, mr. menezes has served as the department's under secretary of energy. and in that role, he has been responsible for many programs that help drive the innovation within the department, including

for renewable energy as well as nuclear energy. mr. menezes also helped create the department's cybersecurity office, which is dedicated to protecting our energy infrastructure from what has become very sophisticated and near-constant threats. as members may recall, the senate confirmed mr. menezes to his current role by voice vote. i believe he has excelled as the under secretary of energy. he's helped to set the policy direction of the department. he's worked with many of us on issues that are important to our states and to the country as a whole. i'm also confident that mr. menezes will be a great second in command for secretary

briette. this was our first hearing that we had held after several months, lost due to the pandemic. mr. menezes did very, very well, he demonstrated his none of the issues, showed us that he understands what it takes to lead the department and that enabled us toss report his nomination to the full senate with overwhelming bipartisan support. so we're sitting here now -- it's been nearly a two-month delay -- and i'm very pleased that we're about to vote on mr. menezes' nomination. it is very key. it is very important that secretary brouillette have his leadership team in place and mr. menezes has demonstrated that he has the knowledge and experience needed to succeed as dependency secretary. so -- as deputy secretary. i appreciate and i shared this with mr. menezes. i appreciate his willingness to serve our country in a new and higher capacity, particularly as we seek to harness the

department's capabilities to overcome and recover from the covid-19 pandemic. i thank the majority leader for bringing up his nomination. i would urge every member to vote in favor of it, on cloture today and on confirmation tomorrow. mr. president, before i yield the floor to my friend and colleague, the ranking member on the energy and natural resources committee, i want to just take just a very, very, very brief moment and urge us at this moment on the 3rd of august as we are commencing this workweek here, where the expectation from people from alaska to west virginia and all points in between, the expectation is that this congress is going to come together to be responsive to the needs of the most vulnerable in this country right now. the vulnerability that has come about because of a global health pandemic and the ensuing

economic crisis that we see now. i spent the weekend back home in alaska. i heard the concerns and the fears of so many for whom things are not getting better, things are looking worse, and it's bleak. as of today, in the state's largest city, the mayor has recognized that with the numbers increasing as they are, we need to go back to the hunker-down mode. so restaurants and bars are shutting down again, just after they thought with some level of optimism they'd be able to bring folks back into work. they had aide be able to fill up the -- they'd be able to fill up the freezers and get the produce and get the great salmon that's coming in out of the streams. that's not happening. so that economic picture in our largest community is bleaker and bleaker.

and for those who wake up and know that today is the day that they have to pay the mortgage, they have to pay the rent, and they don't know what level of assistance is going to be coming from their congress, they do know, though, that the unemployment benefits that they had received -- the plussed-up amount -- that that is not on the horizon for them. they do know that school is opening up in 20 days, and the uncertainty with how the schools are going to safely open up for the children and for the faculty, the teachers, the janitors, how they're going to make that work -- and, oh, by the way, if this is a schedule where the kids are only in class for a couple of days a week for a shorter time period, how do i

deal with the struggles and the challenges of child care? the folks at the food bank that i met with over the weekend who are so concerned about the food security issues, for them recognizing that a plus-up in snap may be what gets that family through from week to week. mr. president, this is not -- this is not the time for us to figure out what every one of us wants because this is the must-pass bill in this congress. it is a must-pass bill. but we have to recognize that this can't be about what we need, what i might need from for my -- for my election or what i might want to advance as a legacy piece. this needs to be about those for whom the anxiety and the -- just

the awful place that they are in right now, that they know that we have been responsive to them, that we're addressing the immediacy of now. and so whether it is what we do with unemployment insurance, whether it is what we do with food security, child care, a longer-term p.p.p. program that will help our businesses, the short-term assistances, but understanding what it means for the longer term, mr. president, the delay -- the delay here only hurts the most vulnerable. so i am urging all of us, let's come together. let's work with our colleagues on the other side of the aisle. let's work with our colleagues over in the house. because people in my state are hurting, and they're expecting us to respond. and with that, mr. president, i know that senator manchin wished to speak to the nomination of

mr. menezes. i appreciate his good work on the committee. mr. paul: i ask unanimous consent that the following unterns in my office be granted privileges until august 8. rachel carpenter, brett abbott, rachel altman, mattie martin, jacob lambert, jackson berryman and duke aachina. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. manchin: mr. president, i ask permission to be able to complete my remarks. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. manchin: i rise today in support of mark menezes' nomination to be a deputy secretary of energy. i agree wholeheartedly with our chairmanwoman for energy and natural resources. we have a great working relationship and a great friendship. that means more than anything to me. basically, every now and then you get a person that comes before you that you know they're there for the good of the public. they're truly public servants, now for private service. so this person comes across with

so much -- so much expertise. that's going to play an important role in our national defense and our energy and economic security and our science and research and even in fighting the ongoing covid-19 pandemic and helping to rebuild our economy. the deputy secretary plays central role in all of these efforts, and i believe that mr. menezes is up to the task. the deputy secretary is the second highest-ranging officer in the department of energy. he is responsible for managing the wide-ranging mission and a budget of over $35 billion. $35 billion budget. d.o.e. can play a vital role in research and development needed in rebuilding our economy. the department is responsible for maintaining the nation's nuclear weapons stockpile, overseeing the marketing administrations and ensuring our energy security and president bushing the energy sector from cyberattacks as well as other things. as the second-highest-ranking

officer, the deputy secretary necessarily plays a critical role in all of these functions. mr. menezes brings an impressive background to the job. he was counsel to our former colleague, senator john breaux. 15 years ago he was chief counsel to the chief counsel in energy and commerce. he held senior posts at the american electric power company, the hunt and williams firm. for the past three years he has served as the under secretary of energy. as the under secretary of energy, he has shown that he is up to the task and capable of handling the job of deputy secretary of the i think that he truly, clearly demonstrates his knowledge and firm grasp of the wide range of important issues before the department during the confirmation hearing, i'm happy to support his nomination in a most bipartisan way. i'd like to make a few comments on what my good friend, senator

murkowski from alaska -- people are depending on us. this is no time to have political battles. people are hurting in west virginia, arkansas, all over. we have to make sure that we understand this is a health crisis. a health crisis needs to have its attention. we can't be closing hospitals in the middle of a health crisis. i have three rural hospitals have closed. we've got to make sure they're able to stay open to fight the fight. also on top of that, the uncertainty of unemployment. unemployment is not going to come back full force until people know that they have a vaccine or antibiotic that will protect them from a fatal disease. they're concerned and worried about that. with that being said, right now they're asking us to continue on for the next five months. we don't have connectivity. you talk about telework. you talk about distant learning. you talk about telehealth. you can't have any of this if you can't connect. so we have to make sure that one major infrastructure project has

to be connectivity. broadband, high speed. we've been working on hot spots to get us through these five months. there's things we agree on. democrats and republicans are coming together as americans. we agree. there is arguments over what amounts, this and that. the bottom line is we have to agree on what we can agree on and get the needs to the people on the front lines. that's the most important thing. i wholeheartedly engage in any type of bipartisan cooperation, bipartisan talks that we can move along to show people that we can put the needs of the public above the partisan divide that we have here and have had for a long time, since i've been here for a decade. with that, i yield the floor, mr. president, and i'm happy to support mr. menezes, and i appreciate the bipartisan support we have for him. thank you. the presiding officer: rp p r the motion -- 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 mark wesley menezes of virginia to be deputy secretary of energy, signed by 17 senators. the presiding officer: by unanimous consent, the mandatory quorum call has been waived. the question is, is it the sense of the senate that debate on the nomination of mark wesley menezes of virginia to be deputy secretary of energy shall be brought to a close. the yeas and nays be mandatory under the rule. the clerk will call the roll. vote:

vote:

vote:

the presiding officer: any senators wishing to vote or change their vote? if not, the yeas are 78, the nays are 14. the motion is agreed to. mr. mcconnell: mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to legislative session for a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak therein for up to ten minutes

each. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i have one request for a committee to meet during today's session of the senate. it has the approval of the majority and minority leaders. the presiding officer: duly noted. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the finance committee be discharged from further consideration of s. 4323 and the bill be referred to the committee on homeland security and governmental affairs. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. mcconnell: now, mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 10:00 a.m. tuesday, august 4. further, that following the prayer and pledge, the morning business be deemed expired, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and morning business be closed. further, following leader remarks, the senate proceed to executive session to resume consideration of executive calendar 711. i further ask that notwithstanding the provisions of rule 22, the postcloture time expire at 11:30 a.m. on tuesday. further, if confirmed, the motion to reconsider be

considered made and laid upon the table, and the president be immediately notified of the senate's action. finally, that the senate recess from 12:30 until 2:15 to allow for the weekly conference meetings. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. mcconnell: so if there is no further business to come before the senate, i ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order. the presiding officer: the the presiding officer: the while the senate gambling out, lawmakers have been working on the nomination to be deputy energy secretary. negotiations continuing to coronavirus case package which we could see debate later this week. live coverage on "c-span2". tonight on the communicators, ohio republican congressman, bob latta on the need for better mast predict internet access to

be delivered to underserved rural areas. >> really good things that would happen is that they admitted, we do have a problem. we put money out there to help get these maps correct . legislation. i was part of it from the get-go. it is important that we get it done. if they aren't right, we are going out there to get to have the dollars other when we need to have them. and in some cases might be putting some money into places that are underserved areas in need to be served areas. >> tided eight eastern, on the communicators. on "c-span2". we will spendto the next 45 minutes talking campaign 2020 politics. editor-in-chief of the national journa