quorum call: a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from missouri. mr. blunt: mr. president, i want to talk about two topics today -- the presiding officer: the senate is in a quorum call. mr. blunt: i move that we vitiate the quorum. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. blunt: i want to talk about two topics today. one i was reminded of when i was in st. joseph, missouri, in kansas city, missouri and springfield and joplin over the weekend talking to health care providers and volunteers, frankly, of all kinds who are trying to do what they can to help us emerge from this pandemic stronger than we were to start with. certainly first comes to mind

are the health care workers themselves, the medical workers themselves, the doctors, the nurses, the support staff who we've relied on from the very first moments that we began to realize that this virus was bigger than any health issue we've dealt with in a long time. we're still depending on it today. at some point you run out of some of the capacity and steam that you had to do the job that needs to be done. but we see these heroes continue to step up. some giving their lives. in bill in birmingham and kansas city was an emergency medical technician. he was with the kansas city fire department and he died of coronavirus in april. his son described billy as selfless. he said billy had decided he wanted to find new ways to help people and so he reinvented himself as an e.m.t. when he was

in his 40's so he could help others and then he was an e.m.t. for about 22 years. we see the emergency medical technicians, the first responders out there saving lives, bringing people in a desperate situation to the hospital as infections, as many of them can be, sort of the height of the suffering that they've had and unable to do much to help you help them, but we see that happening. lots of sacrifice in the community that we are benefited by, people like heather black at the truman -- harry s. truman memorial hospital in colombia. she donated 623 hand-sewy masks for her colleagues and veterans

at the facility, the veterans they take care of. she brought her sewing machine to work so in free time she could make masks before her shift and after her shift and during her breaks. one of her colleagues said you have to be just literally awed by somebody that dedicated to helping people who remember in between the breaks where she's making masks, she's helping care for the patients at the veterans hospital. we see people finding different ways to be heroes in their community. dozens of people in cape jarado in may put a parade together for residents of the veterans home who weren't able to have visitors. the veterans got to the windows and dozens of people came by doing would they could to present maybe a memorial day kind of parade. or the groups in st. louis and other places but particularly

the one i was thinking about in st. louis where they went around and collected food and personal care items. and they took those to people who had lost their jobs, who were suffering from the pandemic, who were isolated in their efforts. i talked today to a number of people in the behavioral health area who understand that moments like this people who have behavioral health issues have logical reasons for those issues to begin to pile up on them. you're isolated. you're sick or somebody in your family is sick. you've lost a job or somebody you know has lost a job and those issues get bigger. and then we see businesses who figure out how to use their unique set of resources, whatever that might be, to make things happen. when we have it hard, find it hard to get hand sanitizers, a

number of distilleries went into the hand sanitizer business. anheuser-busch used its brewery facilities to produce more than half a million bottles of hand sanitizer, and then they used their distribution system to get those half a million bottles in the communities and places around the country where they would do the most good. the bass pro shops in my hometown springfield, missouri donated one million face masks to health care workers on the front lines. from delivering truckloads of critical supplies to simply checking on our neighbors, there are thousands of stories to tell in towns across missouri and, mr. president, in towns in georgia where you live. people doing all they can to make this terrible situation less terrible, this challenging

situation less challenging. and we are grateful to them. i know a number of people have come to the floor today to talk about those heroes and how they serve us. mr. president, the second topic i wanted to talk about as we spend lots of time discussing what to do in this next phase of doling with -- dealing with coronavirus legislation, i want to talk about something we did earlier and the results that it's produced. in april senator alexander and i proposed that the national institutes of health create a shark tank, a shark tank program for scientists to develop new technologies for covid-19 testing. n.i.h. set that up very quickly. we gave them the authority and the money to do it, but they in a week did what they normally would have done in six months. they've been working overtime

ever since with the private sector and with bar ta, the bibio-- biomedical research authority to quick the needs for earlier tests. we talked about this just the other day, that the president's right in his view that some of these tests only tell us information that gives us more data. we need tests that are quicker and have an immediate response. if you get a test and you don't have a response for five days, that really doesn't do anybody a whole lot of good. you've been moving around for five days maybe without symptoms, but you don't know that you're continuing to spread the virus but you are. if you'd known in five minutes or 15 minutes what it took you five days to find out, how many less people would have gotten the disease if you'd have known

what you needed to know when you need to know it. we need tests that give you an accurate result in minutes that are easy to take and inexpensi inexpensive, tests that cost from a dollar to $5 or $6 that give you an immediate response. so this is a program that we've asked n.i.h., the national institutes of health, to work on, to put together scientists and researchers and engineers to come up with their boldest ideas. and so far since april 29, 650 applications have been submitted of ideas from single individuals or businesses deciding i think this would work, would be sort of the starting point. by the way, a lot more people than 650 had an i think this will work idea. but when they sat down to think about it, you had 650 people,

units of some kind, make a proposal that they thought needed a careful look. 31 of those projects have already gone into phase one testing where they go through a process of validation, seeing if the likelihood that this will work was as great as the scientists, the engineers, the technologists that were looking at populating the shark tank thought it would be. n.i.h. scientists hope to be able to select at least one of these to consider even more quickly and in fact just last week announced seven companies to start scaling up production of their technology. we're investing, taxpayers are investing about $250 million to help those tests get out there quickly. these are tests that could be available as early as next month. some of them are the type of

rapid test that gives a result on site. one test uses a hand-held device that can detect the virus within for minutes. another test companies developed a way to speed up lab testing so that labs that now handle hundreds could handle tens of thousands in the same period of time. these kinds of technologies and others are essential if we want to get our society fully reopened. in early april there was an average of 145,000 tests a day. today we're running about 800,000 tests but often they're not the kind of tests we need and they're not the numbers we need. we need tests that millions of people can take the test dozens of times. we need tests where every person who walks into an office or a

factory or a nursing home or a school or a child care center has the confidence to know that they're not bringing a virus into that center that they don't know about. it's a high hurdle, but i think it's one we're going to clear. the heals act includes another $16 billion for testing to help in our priorities which are nursing homes and day care centers, child care centers. elementary and secondary schools, colleges and universities. those are things where we think the government itself has an extraordinary obligation to make the difference. that $16 billion added with $9 billion of money for this purpose that hadn't been spent up until now means that we'd have that kind of big investment to see that people have tests that work for them and work quickly. for these things to happen, we

have -- congress has to act. congress has to move. we have to be supportive of efforts that get our society back to school, back to work, back to child care, and back to better health. and with that, mr. president, i'd yield the floor. ms. murkowski: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from alaska.

ms. murkowski: thank you, mr. president. i appreciate the remarks of my colleague, senator blunt, the effort that he has made to really focus in on how we can ensure that there are appropriate levels of testing as we respond to this covid pandemic. we recognize it's these technologies, it's the treatments, it's the vaccines that will get us there. in the meantime, there are many men and women across the country that are doing extraordinary work. are responding on the health side as well as responding as we deal with the economic impact, the economic fallout due to the covid-19 pandemic. lots of challenges, incredible challenges all over the country. challenges to the health sector, to our economy, and really to our everyday life. i think it's probably fair to say that the last six months

have just been emotionally exhausting for people. we've heard this before. we're all ready for covid-19 to be over but the virus is not ready to be over with us. we are adjusting to a new normal and as we deal with this, i think it is important to acknowledge the individuals, really the heroes in so many of our communities who have saved lives and really provided a level of care and compassion throughout it all. like all states in the nation, alaska has been severely impacted by this pandemic. last week was a pretty rough week for us. we were included among the states with the fastest growing numbers of -- in terms of the rate of transmission.

fortunately, that seems to be tapering a little bit right now, but only with very aggressive measures. in my hometown of anchorage, our mayor has resumed the hunker down mode for us in terms of restaurants and bars being closed to indoor dining or a recognition that many of the advances that we had been able to move forward on are now being ratcheted back. additional travel restrictions. it is for us a time of year when our communities all over the state would be welcoming droves of tourists, all coming to enjoy the best of alaska. but this year our season is all but eliminated.

, almost nonexistent and certainly when it comes to recognizing the volume of tourists that the cruise industry provides to alaska, those are all but canceled. the flights people would make to the state have been made more difficult by mandatory quarantine for our travelers. it's not just impacted the tourist sector, it's impacted the oil industry, the service industry, our fisheries. but as i mentioned, as difficult as these economic times are, the most important thing that we all need to be focused on is the health and safety of our people. and i have tremendous appreciation and gratitude for all the health care workers and the individuals who work to protect alaskans on a daily basis. in alaska, we are extremely fortunate to have our covid-19 health response led by dr. ann zinc. she is our state's chief medical

officer, and she along with her team at the division of public health had been doing a great job under governor dunn -- dun leavey's leadership to implement clear guidelines iewrg this unpredictable event. dr. zink, if you have an opportunity to meet her, she projects calm, she projects confidence, she projects assurance and she has absolutely earned the trust of agriculture l yafer l. the presiding officer: she has

taken to a new level as she teleworks from a year outside of her family home in palmer she was able to take a small group of alaskans to their remote villages in the state at a time when people were were trying not to transmit the virus. she led an example of self-quarantine for 14 days to ensure that anything that she might have been exposed to was not going to be shared with those that she loved. her priority has been and continues to be flattening that curve, slowing the spread. we know that in our state,

we're just a little more isolated, we're more separate, we're more remote, but we know that we are not immune from any disease of this type and that is surely evidenced by our history. in 1918 when the spanish flu, the last global pandemic hit our state, more people died per per capita in alaska than almost anywhere else in the world. many of our small native villages, you had 70%, 80% of the population that was wiped out literally in a few-day period. it's hard not to think about that when we face this current pandemic. in fact, alaska was one of the first states in the country to put together a coordinated response to the challenges presented by covid. this was back in january. january 28 there was a chartered plane carrying u.s. consulate

personnel and citizens from an area of china that had been at the center of the outbreak and that plane landed in anchorage. the passengers had to debark the plane in order to refuel. they were moving to california. but we had a situation where it was a pretty quick scramble, and dr. zink led her team. they were able to mobilize really quickly and very efficiently to ensure a safe operation that was successful in ensuring the protection and the health and safety of all that were involved. they opened up a terminal there at ted stevens international airport. they created a quarantine unit that delivered not one, but p two health screenings to over 200 passengers and crew members. it was a pretty, it was a pretty extraordinary event that they were able to put together in very, very short orders.

they said that dr. zink's comment on this effort really reflect her strong leadership, those who were part of that. dr. z ink said it's easy to stay focused on all wield to do in a short period of time to prepare and respond. at the end of the day this is about people, about american citizens, some of whom are working to serve our country. it was about families. it was about helping each other in a time of need. dr. zink has been doing extraordinary work as we have dealt with challenging issues as they relate to quarantine after travel, travel restrictions around the states that have extraordinarily limiting. she has, she has worked with her team to put together plans of operation and protocols so that our fisheries can be successfully prosecuted, and they have been a mark of success

in terms of being able to identify and then isolate and keep the virus from transmitting she is also now very, very, very focused on how we safely return our kids back to school. i had a long conversation with her a few days back, and she says this is the ultimate challenge. for it's not just how do we reopen schools, how do we keep our schools open after that. that's our challenge. and she shared with me, i thought -- she says i thought that putting together the plans and the protocols for the seafood process was going to be challenging and difficult in these remote communities where they have limited health care in the event that you have the virus spread. she says that was difficult. but she said getting our schools open and keeping them open safely, this is the biggest challenge. and she said schools are now her

new seafood processer. she's taking up the challenge aggressively. about dr. zink reminds us that at the end of the day what we do, what we have to stay focused on is keeping people safe, keeping our families, keeping our workers safe. this is a moment about all of us and how we respond during this great time of need. i am extraordinarily thankful for dr. zink's leadership both out in front and behind the scenes, as she works with the many extraordinary alaskans that are seeking to make a difference as we take on the daily challenges and battles that face us with covid-19 response. with that, mr. president, i yield the floor.

a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from north dakota. mr. hoeven: mr. president, i rise to join my colleagues in honoring those who help their communities to overcome challenges during the covid-19 pandemic. there are many everyday heroes who deserve recognition. we've seen the efforts of our first responders, law enforcement, teachers, postal and delivery employees, and store workers, among others, who have continued providing essential services in spite of the challenges brought on by the coronavirus. as chairman of the senate ag aprops committee, i've spoken many times about the critically important work of our farmers and ranchers. i see we're jointed floor by -- joined on the floor by our ag committee chairman and i know he has been down here as well pointing out how our farmers and ranchers are continuing to provide food, fuel and fiber for our nation during this pandemic. we are working to help and

support them during this challenging time. but every american benefits every day from the work of those farmers and ranchers who provide the highest quality low-cost food supply in the world in tough times and even in times when we face something like a pandemic. today i'd like to recognize the valiant efforts of our health care professionals in my state and across this country and highlight some of the work that our north dakotans are doing, whether they're doctors, nurses, and many others working in hospitals and clinics across our state. north dakota's health care professionals have been working around the clock to prevent the spread of this virus and treat those affected by covid-19. one example is dr. chris tribula, graduate of the north dakota medical school who worked with a team to set up the covid care unit at sanford hospital in fargo. he was on duty when the first

covid patient arrived at the hospital and remained on duty for the next 18 days straight to make sure that staff and patients had everything that they need. over the past several months i held a number of roundtables with health care professionals in north dakota. and as we discussed issues and challenges, one thing is clear. our health care providers are diligent and dedicated in their efforts to prepare for and prevent the spread of coronavirus and to provide patients with the best possible care. another individual highlighted by his colleagues is dr. dr. kremens, a critical care physician who intubated and managed many multiple critically ill patients at once. he is one of the physicians who fought on the front lines of the pandemic and continue to do so. we're grateful for the dedicated service of the many health care professionals in north dakota and recognize that they and

their loved ones have made many sacrifices during this health emergency. we've worked to provide our health providers with much-needed support in the first three phases of the coronavirus relief legislation. for example, under the cares act, north dakota rural hospitals and providers received $135 million to help with their efforts to combat covid-19. as negotiations continue on the next phase of relief, health care remains a top priority. our health providers have been working diligently, i would also like to recognize how members of the community, from our communities have stepped up to help our medical professionals as well. an example of the community stepping up to meet the challenge during the pandemic is proof artesian distillers, a small craft distillery in fargo, north dakota. back in march they responded to

the community needs, working with ethanol in castleton, they began using sanitizer for highway patrols from four neighboring states. proof artisan distillery president joel kath relayed this story, quote, during our second day of production, i answered a frantic call from a supply director of a large medicare group. they were virtually out of sanitizer and would not be resupplied through their normal channels for many weeks. the caller broke down with emotion when i confirmed that we could easily supply their needs. it's a response i will never forget and a constant reminder of the importance of our task at hand, end quote. another example from my home state is infinite leap, a company founded by air force veteran mark roll that is using technology to help health care

providers offer virtual waiting rooms. infinite leap's technology helps eliminate registration lines, reduce congestion inning waiting areas and decrease patient waiting times. not only is this technology being utilized by health care providers to help maintain social distancing, the technology is also helping other industries including restaurants and manufacturing plants to safely reopen. these are just a few examples of the individuals and organizations who have stepped up and helped their communities to meet the challenges during this health emergency. again i want to thank our health care providers for their dedicated effort to fight this virus. we recognize the challenges they face, and we're truly grateful for their hard work. they are in fact truly everyday heroes. with that, mr. president, i yield the floor.

a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from kansas. mr. roberts: thank you, mr. president. i rise today to join my many colleagues familiar with agriculture -- the farmers, ranchers, growers, everybody in the food chain -- and my thanks to senator ernst for really starting this, making a great speech last week, and then we are all trying to follow up with the same message to shine a spotlight on our nation's covid-19 heroes. we've heard the term hero a lot during this pandemic. i believe the title is warranted to describe many kansans. and for that matter all americans who are doing extraordinary work and making great sacrifices to make this country safer and healthier. today i want to talk about the heroes, the special heroes in

agriculture, our farmers, our ranchers, our growers. the sun comes out every day. a lot of us are in safe places. we have decided that that's the best opportunity -- or the best alternative for us, so we have a lot of shutdowns. not in farm country. farmers, ranchers, growers, they don't have that option. they have to do what they have to do in terms of planting their crop, harvesting their crop, taking care of that every crops. they work long hours, day in, day out to produce the food on our dinner tables and make sure our supermarket shelves are stocked. these producers are facing low prices, regulatory overreach, a challenging trade environment, and drastic and sudden changes in demand for their crops and animals. to top it off, net farm income is estimated to drop by nearly $20 billion as of this year. and despite all these challenges, they have continued to produce even more with less.

american farmers and ranchers are so efficient at their jobs that we are able to enjoy the most affordable food of any country in the world and the most -- and the most safe. we also have the safest and most ample food supply. that's why i consider -- as well as all of my colleagues on the agriculture committee and others who are privileged to represent farmers, ranchers, and growers -- they are true heroes. so producing food for a troubled and hungry world is what farmers do day in, day out, but especially at times like this, it is nothing short of heroic. we have taken steps to address the needs of our nation's farmers and ranchers, mr. president, and in recent months -- in march, unanimously we passed the cares act. i might say that that would be a goal that we might want to achieve with the heroes act scaled down whatever we want to

call -- oh, and also the heals act. but at any rate, it was unanimous back then. it funded the department of agriculture to address the needs related to the pandemic, among a lot of other things. we included $9.5 billion for agriculture secretary sonny perdue to deliver emergency support for those in agriculture and the food industry who suffered losses due to the pandemic. and we included $14 billion partial replenishment for the department of agriculture's commodity credit corporation to provide additional assistance to effective producers. this legislation ensured the continued complementation of our 2018 farm bill programs, which do provide certainty and predictability at a time when both are scarce. we also provided additional resources for telemedicine, broadband connectivity, as well as business and industry loans. the cares act also supplied the department with the resources to

continue mandatory inspection services to ensure our food safety and minimize the potential interruption in the food supply chain. covid-19 created a ripple effect that has been felt from the farm to the supermarket. the agriculture and food sector, along with the administration, the c.d.c., observer shah, have all -- osha have all implemented practices that enhance safety in our processing plants. keeping america's meat system was imperative. it was difficult. but the we are making progress, as was boosting worker protection and safety in these plants. now we must take the lessons we have learned in the past few months and build upon this progress. i am pleased to be the chairman of the committee. i have worked on the role of addressing americas' part of the

covid-19 relief. this week we're considering legislation with the hopes of a bipartisan solution. we all know -- we anticipate this process will go through several twists and turns before a final agreement is reached. but we must provide solutions. the entire country is truly counting on us. in closing, i want to again thank our farmers, ranchers, growers all across the country who have continued to do their job during these very difficult times. and i want them to know that we're continuing to work to make sure that they have the tools needed to continue not only our country but a very troubled and hungry world. thank you, mr. president. ms. hyde-smith: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from mississippi. ms. hyde-smith: thank you, mr. president. as we debate the need for

additional coronavirus relief funding, i am pleased to join my colleagues in commending the millions of americans who have gone above and beyond to help others during this pandemic. throughout our nation's history, every everyday heroes emerge to aid their neighbors in so many ways. the covid-19 pandemic is no exception. in every corner of my state, mississippi's first responders and health care providers are historically stepping into harm's way to provide care to patients affected by the virus. let me first honor the life of william david martin, a paramedic with american medical response of southwest mississippi, serving on the front lines of mississippi's health care as covid-19 began to spread. sadly, in april he passed away from complications due to the virus. mr. martin is a true hero, and

one example of the extent to which first responder and health care workers are working to overcome this national emergency. rural hospitals like king's daughter's medical center in my hometown have always been the backbone of health care in mississippi. the work of the staff at these rural hospitals, the pandemic has been remarkable. dedicated nurses like my friend, lou lambert, tammy livingston, christina miller and their coworkers taught every day to care for patients and their families. they are lifesavers and they are best friends to total strangers. they take on extra shifts and duties while doing what they can to keep morale up. they are health care heroes who are enduring extreme conditions.

doctors like dr. jeff ross are working through both physical and mental exhaustion. yet they continue to do their job selflessly managing the care of their fellow mississippians. in the heavily affected jackson metropolitan area, the university of mississippi medical center has brought its unique capabilities to bear. in the early days of the pandemic, its research labs raced to create its own in-house covid test. at the u.m.c. telehealth center quickly ramped up triage for testing and provided socially distanced care. i've greatly admired their work on best telemedicine practices during the pandemic. u.m.c. researchers and health care providers have stood up eight cutting-edge covid clinical trials in their new

clinical trials unit. our health care providers aren't the only ones who've been working to protect the health of mississippians. industries across the state have quickly pivoted to provide needed supplies to fight covid-19. for example, the stories like pat head in jackson and lacy magnolia made the quick decision to begin producing hand sanitizers early in the pandemic. furniture companies like comfortaire in tupelo, which stepped up to produce needed p.p.p. for the medical center and our local schools, and mississippi prison industries, a nonprofit that gives incarcerated individuals the opportunity to be employed and gain work experience, is producing up to 15,000 masks and 7,000 isolation government shutdowns per day. mr. president, since the start

of this pandemic, i recognize that we are dealing with two emergencies. there's a health care emergency and the economic emergency. i am proud of the many ways in which mississippians are helping each other weather these difficult economic times. mississippi bankers worked around the clock seven days a week to help small businesses, to help them access the paycheck protection program loans. my friend brad jones at the bank of franklin in maple, mississippi, was so helpful in keeping me abreast of the needs of our local business owners. because of their efforts, mississippi ranked number one in the entire in addition in p.p.p. loans with nearly 50,000 loans produced. this tireless work in helping small businesses stay open with their employees at work, ensuring mississippians have access to food has been a challenge. a mississippian who's been a

godsend to many families is andy mersere, who leads merchant's food service in hattiesburg. his 800 employees have remained on the payroll and worked to provide more than 100,000 gallons of milk and nearly half a million food produce boxes to those in need. these usda farmers-to-families boxes filled with food products have sustained families and helped our hardhit agriculture industry. in addition to efforts in the private sector, our churches and nonprofits across our states are also working tirelessly for mississippians. st. james united methodist church in columbus coordinated with a delta catfish producer to distribute five tons of mississippi farm-raised catfish to those in need in the golden triangle region. finally, i could not stand up here today and fail to mention

our mississippi teachers, especially as so many schools across our state are beginning the new academic year this month. last spring our teachers accepted the challenge and quickly transitioned their classrooms to a new kind of learning through technology and other socioly distanced means -- socially distanced means. while those challenges continue, as schools navigate how best to serve students this fall, each and every one of our teachers will be in my prayers. mr. president, in every facet of our society, we've had heroes stand up to help their neighbors during unprecedented challenges. to all of the health care workers and first responders on the front lines against this virus, to all of the researchers racing to test treatments and develop protocols, to all of the people making hand sanitizers, p.p.p. to help prevent the spread of this virus, to all the bankers and small businesses working to keep people on the

payroll, to all of our farmers, ranchers, food distributors, and grocery store workers keeping food on the store shelves and on our tables, to all our churches and nonprofit organizations serving our communities and our teachers who are facing challenges they could have never imagined, from the bottom of my heart i say thank you. your heroic labors are noticed and they are greatly appreciated. i yield the floor, mr. president. ms. ernst: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from iowa. ms. ernst: mr. president, i want to thank my colleagues today, the senator from mississippi, the senator from kansas, and so forth, for coming down and spending just a little bit of time talking about the wonderful heroes that we have in our home states. and we really do have so, so many of them. and while the country is anxiously awaiting washington to

come together and pass an updated covid relief package, we are truly blessed to have everyday heroes back in our 50 states who are working around the clock to help out their neighbors. essential workers haven't taken a break. they've been keeping our country running and not just during this global pandemic but every single day. i've heard it time and again, stories of iowans helping iowans. folks are volunteering their time and their at that at that r talents to ensure their communities and ensure no one feels alone during this time of social distancing. when my friend, iowa governor kim reynolds, announced that there was a shortage of face masks to protect frontline workers, iowans, including my own mother, started sewing.

deb siggins of lisbon, iowa, has made more than 400 masks that she has donated to a local hospital, her friends, and coworkers, the local fire department, grocery store employees, and elderly patients. she has even turned a tree near her home into a giving tree decorated with her homemade masks for people to take which she is constantly updating. deb plans to keep making the masks until they are no longer needed because she believes that sewing is her gift from god that she can use to help others. mary shotwell, of des moines, wanted to give back to those helping her during this pandemic, so in isolation, as

she describes it, mary sews masks for her entire neighborhood and health care workers at broadlawns medical center. but in addition to the demand for masks, there's also been an increase need for food, especially to feed our kiddos. lisa ironside who hasn't seen her students since march, now sees them when they pick up meals at feeding lunches to youth at marion and cedar rapids where she works. she says this calms her anxious mind knowing her students are fed. she said, i get to see their smiles and it helps me and i think it helps them. but it's not just our wonderful teachers.

students are doing their part too. alley studding, of princeton, iowa, who is a university of iowa student, launched an effort to mobilize her peers to serve and protect those at heightened risk. worried about the threat covid poised -- posed to her grandparents and the elderly, alley set up a network of young people called the iowa city erranders to get grocery and food and pick up prescriptions and run errands for older folks and others in need. all ley's idea has over 400 volunteers. but the story of these every day heroes continue.

to keep those from venturing out safe, ambassadors from around town are walking around des moines cleaning and sanitizing door handles, parking meters and other high-touch surfaces. julie scalburg splaind it's an effort to help folks -- explained it's an effort to help folks feel secure during what can be a very scary tame. despite the -- time. despite the risk, another downtown ambassador said it's an honor to give back to our community. folks, the actions of these and many, many others like them who are pitching in and doing their part are examples of what i like to call iowa nice much for each of them, serving others is not a chore but rather a gift greeted

with gratitude. at a time filled with immeasurable uncertainty, she's heartland heroes are bringing comfort to their communities, including complete strangers, many who are isolated and alone. defeating this virus will require the development of an effective vaccine, and iowa is helping lead the way in this effort. right now the hardworking folks at the university of iowa's medical school are working with pfizer to develop a covid-19 vaccine. and in the annual defense bill that recently passed the senate, i helped to increase funding for these types of studies and developments. the efforts of our bright, young iowa college students, combined with the work of operation warp speed and the administration provides great hope for the future development of cures, treatments, and vaccines.

and now, as we wait for the results, let's not forget the hope that the stories of our everyday covid heroes bring. it's the iowa way, stepping up and doing your part, meeting the needs of family, friends, and even strangers. folks, i said it before and i'll say it yet here once again today, we will get through these challenging times and we will do it together. thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor.

a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from iowa. ms. ernst: i would note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

mr. durbin: mr. president, i ask consent the quorum call be suspended. the presiding officer: without objection the. mr. durbin: mr. president, i come to the floor again today to speak about an obscure section of immigration law which has a direct impact on the lives of literally millions of people living and working in the united states. i'm here to speak about the plight of immigrant workers who are suffering because of a serious problem in our immigration system, known as the green card backlog. many of these immigrants are essential workers helping to lead the fight against covid-19. we just heard tributes on the floor from senators on the other side to these health care heroes, but this green card backlog, which i speak to, puts them and their families at risk of losing their immigration status and being deported from the united states. under current law, there are not nearly enough immigrant visas,

also known as green cards available each year. as a result, many immigrants are stuck in crippling backlogs for years waiting and praying for the moment when their number comes up. close to five million future americans are in line waiting for these green cards, including one million immigrant workers and their families. despite this number, five million, there are only 226,000 family green cards and 140,000 employment green cards available each year. these backlogs are really hard on families. they are caught in immigration limbo. and what happens to the children is particularly awful. children in many of these families age out while the parents are waiting for their green cards. what does that mean? they reach the age of 21 and

then these children, as adults, face deportation because they are no longer under the age of 21 by the time the green cards are available. the solution to the green card backlog is so clear, increase the number of green cards. i've introduced legislation known as the relief act with senator pat leahy and senator hirono. it would clear the number of green cards to clear the backlogs for all immigrants waiting for green cards within five years and the relief act would protect aging out children who qualify for a green card based on the parents' immigration petition. this is not new. it is based on the 2013 comprehensive immigration reform bill. i know a little bit about it. that bill was written by eight senators, and i was one of them,

four democrats, four republicans. we worked for months. we took the bill through the senate judiciary committee. we faced 200 amendments, i believe, and then brought it to the floor subject to even more amendments, and at the end of the day that bill passed with a strong bipartisan vote of 68-32 on the floor of senate. but republicans who controlled the house of representatives refused to even consider this comprehensive immigration bill. if they had, we wouldn't be here today. that bill and the provisions we added to it eliminated the green card backlog. unfortunately some of my colleagues on the republican side are still unwilling to increase the number of immigrant visas even by one. they want to keep these immigrant workers on temporary visas where they are at the risk of losing their immigration

status and being deported. the senior senator from utah, senator lee, introduced a bill, s. 386, known as the fairness for high-skilled immigrants act to address the green card backlog. i have a basic concern with senator lee's bill. s. 386 includes no -- no additional green cards. without additional green cards, s. 386 will not reduce the green card backlog. don't take it from me. listen to the nonpartisan congressional research service. here's what they say about senator lee's legislation, and i quote, s. 386 would not reduce future backlogs compared to current law. end of quote. this is not a partisan group. it is the nonpartisan congressional research service. s. 386 would not reduce future backlogs.

despite my concern about senate lee's bill, i said i was willing to sit down in good faith to see if there was something we could agree on. last december we reached an agreement, a good one. republicans object to increasing the number of green cards, and as a result, even our amendment, the amendment we agreed to, wouldn't reduce the green card backlog, but it was a good bill that we proposed. let me highlight two parts of the agreement. immigrant workers and their immediate family members would be allowed to early file for their green cards. this was a proposal from senator lee that i thought was good and willing to support. that doesn't mean they receive their green cards early, but they would be able to switch jobs and travel without losing their immigration status. that, to me, was only sensible. early filing adds a critical protection that was not in

senator lee's original bill. it prevents the children of immigrant workers from aging out of green card eligibility so they will not face deportation while they are waiting for a green card. our agreement would also crack down on the abuse of h1 temporary visas, it would prevent a company from hiring additional hb-1 workers if the company had more than 50 employees and more than 10% were part-one workers. this abuses the h1-b process. senator grassley and i introduced this years ago when this abuse became obvious. it targets the top recipients that use loopholes in the law to

exploit immigrant workers and to offshore american workers' jobs. two weeks ago i came to the floor of the senate to ask that we pass this agreement. unfortunately, at that moment, senator lee objected. instead he offered a revised version of our december agreement, including changes which are required by the trump administration. first senator lee wants to remove a provision known as the hold harmless clause. that assured immigrants already waiting for a green card, sometimes for years, that they would not lose their place in line because congress changed the rules in the middle of the game. second, senator lee wanted to delay for three years the effective date of this 50-50 rule to crack down on outsourcing companies. i don't believe we should give these companies that are outsourcing american jobs and exploiting immigrant workers a free pass for three years. third, senator lee wanted to delay for years early filing for

folks stuck in the green card backlog. any children who would age out in the meantime would lose their chance for a green card and be subject to deportation. those changes suggested by the senator from utah were unacceptable. but because there are so many lives at stake here, families at stake here -- and i know the intensity of emotion behind this issue -- i was determined to keep working to see if we could find some common ground. last tuesday, i sent senator lee another compromise offer. the senate republican leader is planning to recess the senate within a few days, so i felt it was important to come to the floor today to try to pass this proposal before the senate leaves. let me be clear. this isn't how we are supposed to make laws in the united states senate. last year i sent a letter, joined by every democrat on the senate judiciary committee, to the senior senator from texas,

none is cornyn -- john cornyn. we asked for the regular order of business in the senate, which so seldom occurs now. we asked senator cornyn, as chair of the immigration subcommittee, to hold a hearing on this complicated legislation that addresses the green card backlog. we wanted them to include in the hearing consideration of senator lee's bill and my legislation, the relief act, a hearing withens withs, a markup, a bill, a vote in the committee, a vote on the floor. it's almost like something called the united states senate used to be. this would help the senate to understand during the course of this hearing and debate the impact of each and these proposals and to pass legislation that would actually fix the backlog. that really is how the senate used to work. i know it's hard for newer members to believe t the immigration subcommittee is certainly not too busy to take

up this hearing. for this session of congress, which began a year and a half ago, the immigration subcommittee of the senate judiciary committee has held one hearing -- one. unfortunately, senator cornyn rejected our request. this leaves me no other option but to bring this proposal directly to the senate in regard. so let me explain what my amendment would do. first, it would ensure that children of immigrant workers do not age out while waiting for a green card. this provision would not increase the number of green cards. it would not provide any special benefits. it would simply allow children of immigrant workers to keep their place in line for a green card and to be protected from deportation until they can get their green card. second, my amendment would delay the bill's section that changes the distribution of green cards by one year.

this provision, which senator lee actually proposed earlier this year, would not replace the hold harmless provision. however, it would allow processing time for immigrants with pending applications to get their green card. third, my amendment would allow for immediate implementation of the 50/509 h-1b visa rule. i've been told that the purpose of delaying it for three years was to protect those currently working for these companies. so instead of a three-year delay, my amendment would exempt renewals for current h1 before employees, which give current employees the chance to apply for early filing without creating a loop mole for outsourcing firms. what i offered senator lee after months and months of deliberation and negotiation was a good faith effort to find common ground. there are so many lives at stake, so many families following this debate because it literally will decide the fate of each of these individuals

applying for their green cards and members of the their family. it is heartbreaking to meet these families who have been waits for years for a green card and to realize that the limitations of our system today make it so difficult. many of these are good, hardworking people in america doing the right thing. in my hometown of springfield, illinois, there are physicians whom i've met and talked to personally who've driven hundreds of miles to plead their case with me t this one physician brought his young daughter -- i think she was about 12 years old; i don't forget her to this day. she traveled 200 miles to peg me to try to help. that's why i came in with this amendment in an effort to protect her and to give her family a chance to be part of america's future. i will now request consent to pass my amendment. i ask unanimous consent that the judiciary committee be discharged from further consideration of h.r. 1044 and the senate proceed to its

immediate consideration. further, that the durbin substitute amendment at the desk be considered and agreed to, the bill, as amended, be considered read a third time and passed, and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: is there objection? mr. lee: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from utah. mr. lee: mr. president, reserving the right to object, i want to thank and appreciate the work done by my friend, the distinguished colleague, the senior senator from illinois. senator durbin and i have worked on many issues and we've spent a lot of time working on this particular bill. in our most recent round of negotiations, he's made a number of suggestions and we've incorporated many of those. i wish we could incorporate all of them, but the reasons i gave a couple of weeks ago when we went through this, there are some of them that i unfortunately can't agree to because they would result in our

inability to proceed. on that basis, i object. the presiding officer: objection is heard. the senator from utah. mr. lee: mr. president, we're living in some really unprecedentialed times -- unprecedented times. the economic impact of this global pandemic on our nation, our people, and our communities has been nothing short of devastating. within weeks of the start of this pandemic, we went from being one of the best economies that the world has ever seen to some of the deepest levels of unemployment we've ever seen. while the unemployment rate improves each month, countless americans are still suffering -- from business closures, from lay jobs, and from furloughs. ultimately you the best economic stimulus we can offer in this hour of need is to foster opportunities for americans to

find meaningful work and achieved economic independence. we have to ensure that our immigration system does not punitively disadvantage our own citizens from working in their chosen field, does not create unnecessary obstacles to achieving economic independence, and that it does not unnaturally depress wages. i echo president trump's bold wall -- put america's interests first, as we work toward economic recovery. during this economic crisis, the tennessee valley authority -- a federally owned entity -- made the decision to furlough its american workers and replace them with contractors, contractors who rely on work base immigrant labor. many of these companies are able to conduct business for far less money because they pay immigrant

workers for far less wages and require them to work in some conditions under terrible conditions. it was never the intention to crowd out american workers in this way or to allow for the exploitation of legal imgrant workers, and i fully support president trump in making that clear in his actions earlier this week. and met me be clear -- and let me be clear. this legislation, s. 386, the fairness for high-skilled immigrant act, does not bring an additional green card or visa to the current numbers. it only lifts the per-country cap on applications for green cards for immigrants who are already here. though it doesn't add to the number, it just lifts this artificial arbitrary per-country cap. if in times of high unemployment we need to reform our work-based immigration programs that protect american workers, let's dot it.

if we need to end the optional practical training program to ease the burden on american graduates entering the economy, let's do it. if we need to reform the 41b programs and make -- the h-1b programs and make improvements to the programs for immigrants that come into this country, let's talk about that. i support these reforms and that's why i worked with senators grassley and durbin, among so many others in this body, to add significant reforms to the h-1b program, to the fairness for high-skilled immigrants act. this includes a reduction in the number of high-based visas that any one company can sponsor. this reform included it at senator durbin's request is a good one and it aims to protect not only american workers but immigrants as well. by significantly curbing a system that allows for both the

exploitation of visa holders and the depression of wages for all employees in a given sector. its passage into law will increase the opportunity for americans to compete for these positions. the bill also includes provisions strengthening the department of labor's ability to enforce and investigate claims that employers are providing less than fair wages and working conditions for immigrant workers, requiring employers to disclose more information regarding their h-1b hiring provides and ensuring that employers hay not use other visas to circumvent the h-1b caps. we must put americans first. these provisions seek to do just that. and lest we're willing to completely end the work-based visa programs, we have an obligation to ensure that they're allocated and administered in the principles that we espouse as americans.

my goal in sponsoring this legislation many years ago -- nearly a decade ago, in fact -- was simply to bring some equity into this system. i've always been struck by the fact that the government has conditioned a benefit -- in this case, a green card and a pathway to citizen give than this is an immigrant visa, a series of immigrant visa programs at issue -- based solely on the applicant's country of origin. now, there may have been some legitimate reason years -- many decades ago in fact for this. i almost can't think of what those legitimate reasons might have been, but regardless, this has led to a system that largely discriminates against green card applicants from one country, and i mean literally one country. this is inconsistent with our founding principles.

this is not how we try to do things as americans, and it's not right. today if you're a work-based immigrant from india entering into the eb-2 green card application process, you will wait almost 200 years before your application is even considered solely because of where you were born. almost 200 years on a waiting list. mr. president, some people don't even live that long. our country isn't much older than that, and that's the amount of time they would have to wait based solely on the basis of the country in which they were born. if you're born anywhere else, anywhere else other than china -- let's say in ghana, sweden, i indonesia, basically any other country other than india -- your application will be considered immediately. this sort of discrimination is

plumbcy inconsistent -- is simply inconsistent with the principles of a merit-based immigration system and with our founding principles and the principles that unite us as americans. and so, mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the judiciary committee be discharged from further consideration and the senate now proceed to h.r. 1044. further, that the lee amendment at the desk be agreed to, the bill, as amended, be considered read a third time and passed, and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. mr. durbin: mr. president, reserving the right to object -- the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: mr. president, i thank the senator from utah for his response to my proposal. my staff received his amendment yesterday. we quick think reviewed the language, a understand i would like to share my reactions. senator lee does not include my provision because of objections from his side of the aisle. i am disappointed. senator lee's amendment would

modify my proposal, allowing for immediate implementation of the 50/50 rule so the rule would not go into effect -- would go into effect after 180 days. senator lee would also provide that current h-1b employees may continue to change employers. the purpose of my 50/50 provision would be to prevent employers from hiring new h-1b employees. senator lee's language would not allow these dops import new h-1b workers to exploit. so that is not objectionable to me. senator lee's amendment also accepts my proposal to delay by one year the bill's section changing the distribution of green cards to allow processing time for pending applications. to sum it up, the amendment currently being considered for which unanimous consent has been asked includes several key provisions i've advocated for that were not in senator lee's original bill, including

recallly filing to protect immigrant workers and their families stuck in the backlog, and annual green card set-aside for those ineligible because they're oversea, a one-year delay to section 2 of the bill to protect pending green card applications, and the 50/50 rule to protect american jocks and workers and to prevent the exploitation of immigrant workers that helped create the green card backlog. therefore, i'm prepared to accept this in the spirit of bipartisan compromise, i will not object to senator lee's request. the presiding officer: is there objection? the senator from florida. mr. scott: reserving the right to object. i appreciate the hard work that my colleagues have put in this measure. florida is an immigration state and we value our diversity. we need to fix our immigration system that makes sense. that starts with securing our borders. this bill impacts so many people

in my state, including those who came to florida from latin america. we also have to help those escape communist -- we should not consider an un -- for the nations that are the largest drivers of the employment-based visa backlog. i know my colleagues share my desire to preserve the diversity of our nation and look forward to them accepting my amendment. i ask that the senator from utah modify his request to include my amendment to the lee amendment at the desk. the amendment be considered and agreed, the lee amendment be agreed to and the bill, as amended, be read and passed and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: does the senator from utah so modify his request? mr. lee: mr. president,

reserving the right to object. senator scott's proposed amendment would, to be clear, create a carve out for people based on the language that they speak. now, to be very clear, unless their language skills are somehow part of the analysis determining whether or not they qualify for an employment-based immigrant visa, i do not see that making a carve-out for particular languages would be consistent with our immigration goals or with principles of fairness or ect. amendment -- equity. amendments like this purport to carve out groups of people based on their ethnicity or languages that are antithetical to the type of change we've been pursuing with this bill for

years and so when we look at this, it operates quite broadly. he's trying to create a carve-out for people who are native speakers of tie which i if these, or who obtained a master's degree or higher in the aforementioned languages or for spouses and children of people in the aforementioned list. that's a lot of people who have been identified there. interestingly enough, this doesn't include other lange waibltion and -- language, and i haven't heard any principled basis upon we can differentiate the two. in fixing one problem, if we reinsert this amendment in there giving perchtional treatment -- prefer rengsal people who speak

languages that are common in india, i don't distinguish the difference between these language speakers and others. this undermines the fundamental purpose of this legislation, which is regardless of what other factors you might take into account, when you decide how to allocate employment-based green cards, the one thing that we shouldn't look to and that no longer makes any sense to look to, to the extent it ever made sense to beginning to look to, which it probably didn't, is the country of origin. this makes no sense and it's wrong and i therefore cannot support the amendment offered by my colleague senator scott and object to its adoption. the presiding officer: is there

objection to the original request? the senator from florida. mr. scott: reserving the right to object. clearly i'm disappointed my colleague is unwilling to accept my amendment. my goal is to be fair to the many wonderful and skilled people that want to build a life in our great country. i've also spoken to the white house about the bill and agree we need more time to review the proposal. i hope my colleagues want to continue to work together. i hope we can find a path forward to address the current visa backlog, therefore, i respectfully object. the presiding officer: objection is heard. the senator from utah. mr. lee: mr. president, i go back to the question i asked rhetorically a moment ago. what is it about the speakers of these languages mentioned by my friend and distinguished colleague, the junior senator from florida, that is to native speakers or speakers who hold a

degree in the languages of spanish, portuguese, cantonese, what is it about the speakers of those languages that make them more deserving of an allocation of an employment-based immigrant visa than speakers of hi ndi or any of the languages spoken in india? as i mentioned a moment ago, you've got a real problem, a real inequity, overwhelmingly the per country cap punishes would-be immigrants from india in a way that it doesn't affect any others accept maybe some from china, and, by the way, he covers some of the language groups spoken in and around china, including cantonese and

including taiwanese, so why not mandarin and if mandarin, why not any of the languages spoken in india? it cuts to the heart of why we need this reform and why we have an elvis era out moated, unwise and fundamentally inequitable immigration code, one that is at odds with the way our immigration system works. so if you imagine two otherwise identical applicants for a visa, they are exactly the same in all respects, in their academic degrees that they earned, in their employment experience, in their background check, in their family status, earning potential, job commitment,

professional certifications, they are identical in every single respect except for one, immigrant a happens to hail from sweden, immigrant b happens to have been born in india. immigrant a will be eligible to have an employment-based immigrant visa application considered immediately. immigrant b, simply by virtue of having come from india will, in many circumstances, have to be on a waiting list for 200 years. this is wrong. i really would like one day for someone, anyone, to explain to me why it makes any sense to leave this law on the books. they can't. they won't because there is no good reason for doing so. and if they can't and if they won't, why on earth would you want to weaken something and dilute something to create

special privileges to one group of would-be employment-based green card holders simply because they happen to come from yet another preferred country over the nonpreferred discriminated against country? this is wrong. we've got to get this thing passed. i'm so grateful to dick durbin and the work he's done with me on this, i'm grateful to my colleagues on both sides of the aisle who put together this bipartisan bill. i believe we're close. i believe we're very close. i intend and plan and fully commit in the coming days, i'm going to keep pushing this. this issue isn't going away. we're going to get this passed. thank you, mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: mr. president, i'm disappointed. all all of these months of negotiation, emotion, intensity, and feelings that we share for the people who are caught in

this backlog, it is a real disappointment that at the last moment the senator from florida exercised his right as a senator to object to our unanimous consent request, a request which i was prepared to accept. may i suggest this is an illustration of the bottom line that i raised in my statement. stuck with 140,000 limit on the green cards for employment visas and country caps for that 140,000 limit, we will continue to run into the problem illustrated by the senator from florida. there will be those who want to create an exception to the overall quota or the country caps, and there will be compelling personal and family reasons for them to ask for it. and time and again they'll find that if they get a privilege, it

will be at the expense of someone else and there will be an objection. the only rational answer is to raise the cap on the green card quotas. 140,000 employment-based visas a year might have made sense 30 or 40 years ago. it makes no sense today in the world that we live in. we are talking about people in the united states working who are trying to make a life here of a more permanent nature. they love this country enough to want to bring their families here to relocate and live. they are working here and contributing in the computer industry, in health care, in so many different areas. they are valuable and important to the future of america. i sincerely hope that we can resolve the issue that was brought up on the floor today, but equally important, if not more important, i hope that we will have the will on a

bipartisan basis to tackle a comprehensive immigration reform. we did it seven years ago. we passed it seven years ago. it can be done with senators of good faith and goodwill who work together. but it means that you have to accept the premise, that there may be one additional new immigrant coming to america. some people cannot stomach that and he object to any efforts to change immigration laws that might result in an additional immigrant. this son of an immigrant who happens to be a united states senator believes that immigration defines this country. our diversity defines this country. and bringing people here who are willing to sacrifice and risk everything to be a part of america's future is part of the reason why we have prospered as a nation. i hope that senators of both sides of the aisle will have the good sense to come to that conclusion and that at another time with another congress and perhaps another president we can

have a meaningful and fair-minded conversation. in the meantime i will work with senator lee to resolve the differences that we have, which are now down to only a handful. i believe we have made dramatic progress, as evidenced today. we are disappointed with the result but we are not giving up. i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from texas. mr. cornyn: mr. president, as our nation's war against the coronavirus wages on, negotiations on the next relief package seem to remain at a at a standstill. the bolstered unemployment benefits provided by the cares act have expired. principals and teachers and parents, i might add, are preparing to begin the school year out adequate funding for the protective measures they

need. and additional investments in vaccines and treatments are desperately needed. i believe the senate should stay in session until we're able to pass another coronavirus relief bill. but speaker pelosi and senate minority leader schumer seem to have zero sense of urgency in delivering the support our country needs, including their own constituents. and they have zero interest, apparently, at least so far, in a bipartisan compromise. despite the less than enthusiastic interest from their own members and a flat out veto threat from the white house, they continue to push the more than $3 trillion heroes act as a solution to the crisis. remember, this is legislation that was so unpopular among democrats that it barely managed to ps the house -- pass the house earlier this summer and it includes extraneous items like tax breaks for millionaires and

billionaires that live in blue states and diversity studies for the marijuana industry. it doesn't take a policy expert to see these portions of the bill have absolutely nothing to do with the crisis at hand and they demonstrate how unserious speaker pelosi and democrats in the house have been and unfortunately now joined by some of our colleagues here in the senate how unserious they are about actually solving this problem to the best of our ability. they even go so far as to call that particular piece of legislation, the heroes act, a messaging document. well, a messaging document helps absolutely zero people. it's a wish list, a pipe dream, and it's an effort to try to apiece the most radical -- appease the most radical members of the democratic caucus. though speaker pelosi says the title of this legislation is a tribute to our health care

workers, it's really a cruel joke. the bill itself does nothing to protect them from one of the biggest threats lurking around the corner. we're already beginning to see evidence that the coronavirus pandemic is moving from hospitals to court rooms. as lawyers have filed lawsuits against our essential health care workers and any institution that has kept its doors open throughout this crisis. this is something that's come up in my conversations with many of my constituents in texas over the last several months. health care workers, educators, nonprofits, restaurant owners, child day care centers, retailers. the list goes on and on. they're worried about the carpet bombing of opportunistic lit gaights. after all these -- litigation. after all these are some of the very same people we've said must show up for work, must continue

to provide essential goods and services to their communities during this crisis. now they're worried that we're going to -- we're going to throw them under the bus and make them subject to lawsuits for doing the best they can under very difficult circumstances. we can already see the commercials on tv or the billboards soliciting these lawsuits. the trial bar is prepared to file lawsuits against doctors, nurses, teachers, small business owners, anyone and everyone who might be able to pay a judgment or more likely who has an insurance policy. according to the law firm hundredton, andrews, kerth, more than 4,000 claims have been filed, more than 275 in texas. we're also talking about circumstances under which the statute of limitations is two years. so two years from the claimed

incident you could file a lawsuit. so this is just the tip of the iceberg. as our economy begins to reopen, so will the floodgates, and we need to take action now to prevent this title wave of litigation -- tidal wave of litigation from wiping out the very workers, businesses, and institutions we have been fighting to keep afloat. leader mcconnell and i have introduced the safe to work act to address this issue and to prevent this trial lawyer bonanza from bringing even more harm to our country and to our economy. unlike the unserious heroes act, this would give our health care workers exactly the kind of support they need. but i want to make clear what this legislation does and does not do. first, it's not a blanket shield of liability -- from liability.

it will not prevent bad actors from being held accountable. it will not prevent people from filing coronavirus lawsuits and it won't give anyone a get out of free jail card. in case of negligence or willful misconduct where applicable public health guidelines were ignored, the person bringing the claim has every right to sue and to be made whole and we're not suggesting any change to that. what we do need to do, though, is put some safeguards in place to help those who are operating in good faith under uncertain circumstances, under sometimes changing guidance and direction, even though they were trying to follow all of the relevant guidelines. that includes protections for nonprofits that have gone above and beyond to support their communities as the demand for their services has skyrocketed. it includes the schools, the colleges, the universities that are preparing to take every

conceivable precaution to keep students and teachers safe this fall. it includes the hospitals who have been on the front lines and have fought significant headwinds to keep their staff, their patients, and the communities safe. and of course it includes protections for our incredible health care workers who have been on the front lines of this crisis for months. amid rapidly changing gietd lines, staff -- guidelines, staffing shoreddages and scarce supplies of personal equipment, they have continued to adapt and deliver the best possible care to their patients. just to give you one example of how rapidly the guidelines are changing, in march the texas health and human services commission provided a manual to nursing homes with guidance on managing and preventing a covid-19 break. the manual was 28 pages long. since then it's nearly tripled in length.

as we've learned more about this virus, guidelines have evolved as you would hope they would to ensure that our health care workers know the most effective ways to quarantine, test, and treat patients. that's an unequivocally good thing. it's strengthen our response and it's helping us slow the spread of the virus and it's saving lives. but it's also created a host of challenges for the health care workers who are the very ones complying with these rapidly changing guidelines, doing the best they can under difficult circumstances. i learned about an elderly patient who arrived at a hospital emergency room during the early stages of the pandemic with a fever but no other covid-19 symptoms. at that point testing supplies were constrained and the applicable c.d.c. protocol was to limit testing only to patients that met the strict

criteria that had symptoms, and with only a fever this patient did not meet those criteria so he was not tested. the health care workers identified an infection site that could have been causing his fever so they treated him and discharged him with instructions to return if his condition worsened. several days later, unfortunately his condition did worsen and he went to a different hospital where he was given a covid-19 test. the result came back positive and ultimately he was admitted to the intensive care unit. then several days later he tragically passed away from coronavirus-related symptoms. for the man's family, i know this raises questions of how things might have been different today if he'd been tested on that initial visit in the emergency room. they've said they may file a lawsuit against the physician and the hospital for not performing a test and admitting the man to the hospital on the first visit.

but the doctors there were simply following the best advice that they had at the time and were constrained by the number of tests available. only to test patients when they had symptoms of the virus. and unfortunately, this man's symptoms did not qualify. if the doctor and the hospital did the best they could following those guidelines, they should not be subjected to these types of litigation. now, as i've said, the legislation would not provide blanket immunity. nothing is arguing for that. but we do need clear guard rails to ensure the dedicated health care workers and other essential workers who were acting in good faith will not be drained dry by the trial bar. this legislation sets a willful misconduct or gross negligence standard to ensure that only bonified, legitimate claims are brought against these health

care workers. the patients subjected to that type of treatment have every right to sue and to be made whole and this will preserve that basic right. it will also make sure the hardworking doctors, nurses, emergency medical technicians and other medical professionals who have acted in good faith are not pulled into litigation that could send them into bankruptcy. over the last several months our health care workers have navigated the dark, treacherous, and rapidly changing waters of the storm to save as many lives as possible. i should point out that i think about 30 states have at the state level provided the kind of protection to health care workers that i'm talking about here. so we need to throw them a lifeline, not feed them to the sharks. instead of naming a bill in honor of our health care heroes, it does absolutely nothing to help them as the house has done. let's pass a bill that will honor them.

if our friends across the aisle want to help the health care workers and thank them for their immeasurable sacrifices they've made, liability protection would do exactly that. so i hope our colleagues are prepared to acknowledge the widely known truth, that the heroes act is an unserious piece of legislation that has zero chance of becoming law. it's time to stop playing games and get serious about what our country needs at this critical moment. as negotiations on the next relief package continue, i would ask our colleagues to set aside the completely unrelated priorities in the heroes act and focus on the changes that need to be made to keep our health care and other essential workers safe but also to protect them from frivolous litigation. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the

senator from minnesota. ms. klobuchar: mr. president, i rise today to talk about a focus subject which is access to broadband. i will say that i know the negotiations between the house and the senate and the white house are continuing. i think it is very important for the american people that we do this in good faith. i disagree with my colleague from texas on a few of the descriptions of the bill that came over from the house which, you know, i think the fact that the bill that was first introduced here in the senate had only 20% of the funding for testing, that the house bill had is very concerning. when you look at people waiting to get test results. the fact that there was no money to keep our elections safe. you can just go through line by line so the issues and differences in the bill. but my interest today is not actually emphasizing those differences. it is how can we come together, would are the things we can

agree on and the fact we cannot just pass a band aid for the american people when we have learned that the g.d.p. annualize is going to be down 30%. when we've learned so many people are losing their homes, being evicted and so many are filing for unemployment, that this is the time for action. broadband. broadband, i would say, has been an issue especially in rural america for a long time. and having once traveled to iceland and seen how the icelanders have high-speed internet every corner of their country despite the fact that they are a country of lava and volcanos and volcanic ash, we can certainly do better. and the problems that i was hearing about for years and we tried to get at slowly but surely with access to internet have become very clear to parents who are simply trying to

make sure that their children are being able to participate remotely in school while other kids of other parents who happen to have high-speed internet are able to fully participate. others aren't. sometimes it's because of equipment but oftentimes in my state it's because of a lack of access to high-speed internet. stories of one girl in southern minnesota that had to take her biology test in a liquor store parking lot because that's where she could get the high-speed internet. the doctor, this is prepandemic who could, yes, access x-rays in the hospital but if late at night he had to help a patient in a remote area, he had to go to the mcdonald's parking lot and drive it from his home because he did not have access there. i thank senator van hollen for bringing us together this afternoon and his work in organizing this time to focus attention on the pressing education priorities in the

relief bill. access to broadband, as i just noted, has become more critical now than ever as schools and workplaces are closed in an effort to limit the spread of the coronavirus, teachers, many with preexisting conditions simply cannot put themselves at risk, and where we know going forward that we will continue to have a substantial number of kids learning remotely. as i said, even before the pandemic one study found that about 42 million americans nationwide lacked access to broadband. reports have also found that only 66% of black households, 61% of latino households and 63% of rural households have broadband at home of the quality that would allow them to work and to conduct their business and to might in school and telecommuting and health care. in rural areas in my state, about 16% of households lack access to broadband, even at

baseline speeds. that means we have 144,000 households that don't have access to the internet. one of the saddest stories i remember was a household on one of our tribal areas that got and paid for their own high speed internet and the parents looked out the window and saw all these kids in their lawn. that's because they were trying to get access to the internet at that one household to be able to do their homework. that was a store from leech lake reservation. many students have shifted online and will continue distance learning, and we need to make sure that all kids can learn. that's why i wrote a letter with senators peters and tester urging the f.c.c. to ensure all k-12 students have access to internet during the learning period and following the closing of the school in minnesota, i

worked with senator smith to urge the f.c.c. to ensure students have access to the high-speed internet. i'm grateful to ensure students have the connectivity that they need. i was proud to join him and 43 of our democratic colleagues in the senate to introduce the emergency educational connections act to establish a fund at the f.c.c. to help students and libraries provide wi-fi hot spots or other connected devices to students without home internet access. this bill in fact, as i think of the comments of my colleague from texas, this bill was included in the heroes act that was passed by the house, and it is incredibly important that we have broadband capabilities in the bill that we pass in the senate. it's not just k-12 students who need help to connect to the internet during the crisis. colleges and universities across the country have also moved

classes online, and many low-income students who are allowed on campus resources are continuing to struggle their education from home and are at serious risk from falling behind. i know for quite awhile the white house was hoping this would magically go away with false claims of improved situations and false claims of chugging bleach and the like to make it go away, but in fact i will say the president was accurate a week or two ago in one way when he publicly said this is going to get worse before it gets better. so the thought that we have allowed these disparities to continue where those households that don't have high-speed internet are at a complete disadvantage not just for a month -- that might be okay -- not just for three months, but for a year and beyond when it comes to education. kids, little kids, first grade, second grade, when they're supposed to be learning to read, they cannot be apart from teaching for that long of a

time without it having a major impact on their education. and that also includes higher education. not every kid in college or in community college can afford high-speed internet. that's why i introduced the supporting connectivity for higher education needs act in may with senators hirono, peters and rosen. that creates a fund at the national telecommunications and information administration to ensure college students with the greatest financial need can access internet speed and equipment like latops. our bill prioritizes historically black colleges and universities, tribal colleges and universities, hispanic-serving institutions and other minority-serving institutions as well as rural institutions. as we continue to confront this pandemic, ensuring that students get internet from kindergarten and preschool on

through college and the like is really important. i've spoken with small broadband providers and superintendents across my state who have been working with school districts connect students to the internet, going that extra mile to help, including providing free internet services and installing public wi-fi hot spots in their community. they've helped our kids, but we know we need better long-term solutions. that's why senator cramer and i introduced keeping critical connections act to create a fund at the f.c.c. to help small broadband providers continue to provide critical internet services. it has been my experience after many years in my state that many of these smaller providers on the ground are much quicker and do a better job of keeping their promises and building out as opposed to some of the big telephone companies where maybe they don't see this as economic to reach these rural areas. i don't think it's a surprise because so many of my colleagues

have had this same experience listening to people in rural areas of their state, that our bill now has 34 cosponsors, half democrats, half republicans. and it would put $2 billion in to work with the small providers to give them the funding that they need to expand immediately out to these areas. i don't want to hear another story like the high school student taking her biology exam in the liquor store parking lot simply because she doesn't have internet. we also need to make sure people know about existing resources that can help them connect to the internet. due to job losses or reductions in income during the pandemic, millions of americans are newly eligible for nutrition benefits and medicaid and can also get help to connect to the internet through f.c.c.'s lifeline program to help low-income people connect because some of these people have never been

low-income, and because of the pandemic they now are. according to f.c.c. commissioner starks only about seven million of the 38 million households that were eligible for the lifeline program were envolumed. that's why in april i led a letter with senator durbin and senator marsha fudge of ohio along with others encouraging the f.c.c. to work to ensure the millions of american now eligible for snap are informed about their eligibility for the f.c.c.'s lifeline program. as we work to bring high-speed internet to communities across the country, it's simply critical that we have a clear understanding of where broadband is available. my bipartisan bill with chairman wicker and senator peters and thune to improve the accuracy of the f.c.c. maps was in fact signed into law in march. not soon enough for the

pandemic, but we simply can't just hear, we have high-speed internet in our area -- which i know senators wicker and thune heard like i did, and then you go there and that isn't true at you will a. that's why having these updated maps as we look at not just what we're dealing with today but the day after tomorrow, which is a metaphor for next year, when the vaccine starts coming out, when things start going back to a place where people are out and about freely, we've got to make sure that if we have not expanded to everyone with broadband at that moment that we do it then, and to do it then we need accurate mapping. the last bill i wanted to mention is a bill that has passed the house and that is representative clyburn's investment of $100 billion to build high-speed broadband infrastructure in underserved areas, including rural areas, to expand affordable high-speed internet to everyone. i am the lead on the senate version of that bill, and given that it has passed, it is part

of another piece of legislation, it's something else we should be looking at as we move forward the next few months. we all depend on reliable broadband, and we must make sure that we get reliable broadband to all. i have always believed that when we invest in broadband, we invest in opportunity for every american. if we could bring electricity to everyone's home in the smallest farms, in the middle of areas that very little population, we can do this in the modern era. otherwise we are going to continue to have haves and have-nots. it shouldn't depend on your zip code whether or not your kid can learn to read. it shouldn't depend on where your zip code is to figure out what their homework is the next day. it shouldn't depend on where your zip code is to find out if you're going to be able to virtually visit your mom and dad

in the senior center because some places will have the high-speed access that will allow them to do that and others won't. it shouldn't depend on your zip code to figure out if you can actually have your doctor show you an x-ray instead of going in to a medical setting that maybe you don't feel comfortable going in to. all americans should have access to high-speed internet. this pandemic has put a big magnifying glass on what was a problem for many, many years, and it's time to act now. thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor, and i again thank senator van hollen for calling us together and thank senator hassan for her great leadership in this area in the state of new hampshire. ms. hassan: mr. president, i want to thank senator klobuchar for her leadership in this area for her capacity to understand

not only the policy we need to address and change but also the practical impacts it will have on not only her constituents but people all over the united states of america. and i want to thank senator van hollen as well for gathering us all this afternoon to focus as we need to on the needs of our young people, our students, their educators, and their families in these coming months. madam president, in new hampshire and all across the country, school supplies are lining the shelves of stores, but school board members, teachers, and parents are still wrestling with decisions about what exactly this school year will look like. no matter if schools open fully remote, fully in person, or a hybrid of both, we have to do all that we can to ensure that young people receive a quality education while also keeping students, school faculty, and their families safe. but just as schools are trying

to make decisions, just as administrators, educators, and families are trying to figure out what this school year will look like in their community, they have been met by a lack of resources and clear guidance from this administration and from my colleagues on the other side of the aisle. madam president, we have known for months that schools would face enormous challenges this fall, and federal delays have only made the situation more challenging across the country. for months the senate majority leader stalled action on an additional covid-19 relief package saying that he felt, quote, no urgency, close quote. but school districts across this country have felt plenty of urgency. and instead of giving them time and appropriate resources to plan, senator mcconnell kicked the can down the road. now he's released a completely inadequate and unacceptable

proposal that provides too few resources to schools and would actually withhold aid if schools don't fully reopen in person. madam president, my democratic colleagues and i have focused on an approach that would actually help schools navigate the year ahead. we've proposed $430 billion to help schools implement public health protocols, address the challenges of students who have fallen behind, and provide quality education to all students regardless of how schools reopen. and this proposal would help address some of the most pressing issues facing our students. when i talk to educators back home in new hampshire, a common theme i hear from students and educators is that they need more and better high-speed internet access to support online learning. this is a challenge both for remote and also in-person

learning. for instance, last week kevin carpenter, principal of kenneth high school in north conway, told me that part of his school's reopening plan requires expanding broadband capacity at the school. this would enable more students to access online materials in every classroom and minimize the risk of spreading covid-19 by minimizing physical transitions from class to class. other educators have noted that in many areas of our state, families are still having trouble accessing an adequate broadband connection and devices that can support online learning throughout the day at home. just as senator klobuchar referenced some of the conversations she's had in minnesota, in a discussion i had in new hampshire earlier this summer, a teacher in the gillington school district said some parents were taking their children to the parking lots of their school to do their school work from the car because it's

the only way they could access a wi-fi connection. too many students are at risk of falling behind because they lack broadband access. our proposal includes $4 billion in funding to help ensure that all k-12 students have adequate home internet connectivity and devices during the pandemic, which is a priority that i have been fighting for throughout the last several months. i urge my republican colleagues to support this proposal and to work with democrats to deliver sufficient relief without any further delay. madam president, as we approach the upcoming school year, our families and educators are facing unprecedented heart wrenching uncertainty, even in areas where the infection rates are low and schools are well resourced, the lack of testing

capacity and the lack of clear guidance from this administration, for example, on what to do if a teacher or a student tests positive for the virus, are exacerbating the effects of this awful pandemic. inaction and ineptitude are making a truly difficult set of challenges much, much worse. and at a certain point, madam president, inaction and ineptitude are indistinguishable. congress must address these needs so our educators can overcome these immense challenges and do what they do best, help our children learn and grow. thank you, madam president. i yield the floor.

a senator: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from maryland. mr. van hollen: thank you, madam president. i want to thank my colleague from new hampshire, senator hassan, for the important points she made about what's happening in new hampshire and in listening to her, i think each of us could say that that holds true for our state, certainly what she said holds true in my state of maryland. in maryland we are just weeks away from the opening day of school. in other parts of the country, schools have already reopened. i think all of us can remember back to when we were going back to school during our k-12 years. we had a mix of excitement and anxiety.

and those of us who are parents with children share the excitement and ant -- and anxiety of our children as they went off to school. this year we are facing a sense of emotions and realities that none of us have ever experienced before. and i think all of us agree that we would like all students to be able to return to actual classrooms as soon as safely possible. i hope we would all also agree that we want to make sure that in returning, we don't put those children, those students or teachers or others in the school community at risk. so we all agree that in classroom -- in-classrooms instruction provides the best learning environment for students but we should also agree that students should not be returning to their classrooms

if it's putting them at greater risk to their lives or their health or the health or lives of their teachers or others in the school community. and, madam president, we know that in order to reopen schools safely, we have to do two things. we have to reduce the spread of covid-19 in chose communities where it still exist -- in those communities where it still exists and is still spreading, and we need much more rapid testing capacity so we can quickly detect and isolate somebody who has covid-19. we need to be able to quickly detect an outbreak of covid in a school, whether that be a student or teacher, so that we can make sure that others do not get infected. and the reason in so many places like the majority of major

school systems in my state of maryland they've not been able to plan to reopen the classrooms on opening day is because that spread continues in so many areas and that we don't have rapid, comprehensive testing. that, madam president, is the result of a failed and botched policy at the highest levels, the fact that this administration, this president have not put in place a comprehensive national strategy to slow and then stop the spread and even today you have to wait days and days and days to get the results of a test. and that dramatically reduces the usefulness of that test when it comes to identifying an outbreak, doing all the following up to figure out who else has been in contact with that person and preventing the

spread. so that's why so many schools, including so many in the state of maryland, are not able to return to the classrooms opening day, not because they don't want to. of course they want to. but because they don't want to put students, teachers, and the community at risk. so that's the reality we are facing at the moment and that means that in order to ensure that our kids, our students get an education beginning on the first day of school, we need to dramatically scale up our ability to provide distance learning to those students. and it's simple common sense that distance learning for our students requires two things to happen. number one, teachers need to

have the necessary equipment and training to connect via the internet to their students. second, students need to be able to connect to the internet so they can receive the lessons from their teachers. that is simple logic and that's common sense. but right now in our country, we have a major problem, a major gap, a major inequity. and that is that millions of students, as we prepare to begin the first day of school, don't have access to the internet. and that means they will be cut off from that form of distance learning. and that's unacceptable given the fact take that's the

approach -- fact that that's the approach we have to take in many schools around the country. i think we should agree and i hope we agree that every child in our country regardless of his or her zip code or their family's income should receive a high-quality, topnotch education that allows each of those students to achieve their full potential. they can't even connect to the internet if they can't even connect to their teachers. that obviously can't happen. so, madam president, what we've seen from the coronavirus is in many ways unfortunately not anything new. it is the magnification of deep steppic inequities that existed in our country before the

outbreak of the pandemic and have been amplified since then. inequities in our health care system, inequities in various social systems, and certainly inequities in our education system. and those inequities have put student, many students at an increased disadvantaged, primarily students from lower-income families and neighborhoods and especially students of color. before the pandemic we used to refer to this distance learning gap for students as the homework gap. what do we mean by the homework gap? well, when i was in school and we were given a homework assignment, we pretty much needed our textbooks and we needed our pens and paper.

but now the overwhelming majority of homework assignment, given by teachers require access -- assignments given by teachers require access to the internet to do your assignment and to do your research. and so before the pandemic we had millions of american students who couldn't access the internet for the purposes of doing their homework. and that was a serious problem. we called that the homework gap. but now what we called the homework gap has become a full blown learning gap. it's not just a question of not being able to access the internet to do your homework assignment. these millions of students can't access the internet at all for their learning. and, madam president, this is not an isolated small problem and it's not relegated to just certain parts of the country. it's everywhere. in urban communities, 21% of

students do not have access to adequate internet. in suburban areas it's 25%. in rural areas it's 37%. and there are three reasons for this lack of access. one is lack of access to a device, a computer device. obviously you need to have a device to get on the internet. here's a letter i received when schools had to shut down earlier this spring as a result of the pandemic. i received a letter from an 11-year-old marylander who shared that his family has one computer which he needs to share with his sister who's in fourth grade while his mom who's a single parent has to work full time using that same computer. he said his family hadn't getten any other help with -- gotten any other help with additional

electronics and his mom who, quote, is the most supportive and strongest mom can only do so much. unquote. so that's just one example of a student who doesn't have access to a device. what's another reason you can't connect? well, if you don't have an internet connection either because you don't have a hot spot for your cell signal or you're not otherwise connected through a wire, then you obviously can't get the signal. and so we need to make sure that we have more hot-spot devices available for more students and do our best to build out the infrastructure to reach those who cannot be reached by hot spots. so that's a second reason. you just can't connect to the internet and get the signal. a third reason is in some places internet access is available but it's unaffordable. it just costs too much.

and we should not have any situation where a student during this pandemic can't get on the internet because his or her family cannot afford to pay for it. just to give you an idea the magnitude of this problem, in the spring 50 million k-12 students were trying to access the internet from home for their lessons. but 15 million to 16 million of those students did not have access to either high speed broadband or they did not have a device. nine million of them lacked both access to high-speed internet and did not have a device. so this is not a small problem and it's not an isolated problem and it's a problem we need to address now since schools opening in a few weeks in maryland and schools have already opened in parts of the

country. here's a note i received from an elementary schoolteacher, someone who's been in the classroom for over 20 years during the spring when they were trying to get their students connected. quote, like thousands of my colleagues, i rose to the occasion in transitioning to distance learning and engaging with all of my students who had access to devices. what was disheartening was the students whose faces i did not see. a high number of which were my african american students. this does hit communities of color disproportionately but it does hit students in every geographic area in every part of each one of our states. to give you an example of the disparity based on race and

ethnicity, you have white students 18% lack access to the internet. 26% of latinx students and 35% of native american students. so i hear some people say, well, we're going to do distance learning so that's not so expensive. why do we need to provide schools with additional help during this period of time? well, the reality is transitioning to a viable distance learning system that helps every one of our students costs money. in fact, it's an average of $500 per student. in maryland schools are already struggling to try to connect their students, trying to purchase these devices, trying to make sure that they sign up families who qualify for the lifeline service, but we are

falling short and they need help. that's the students. we also have learned that 400,000 teachers, teachers are currently unable to connect to the internet because they lack connections. school superintendents reported to us stories of teachers who are going to the school parking lots to access the school hot spots to do their teaching and provide their lessons. so, madam president, we have to act urgently to address this issue. this should not be a political matter. there should not be a debate about the need to make sure every student can get classroom instruction via distance learning during this pandemic. and that's just for starters.

we also have schools who have to make sure they provide education to the special ed students. we need to make sure that students who receive nutrition and lunches continue to be able to receive those. and we need to make sure that community schools which in many of our states provide essential wrap-around services, have the resources that they need. so, madam president, let me just end by listing that the key steps that we need to include in this next emergency package that we've been working hard to do, one, are the resources to close this distance learning gap, including the emergency education connections act, which i along with senator markey and many others have introduced. we need $4 billion to make those connections, and i see senator cortez masto on the floor, and i want to thank her for her

leadership as well as senator blumenthal and senator reed. two, we need to provide $12 billion for additional help for the program for idea program for special ed. three, continue the flexibility for school lunch programs and increase the snap by the way by 15% -- benefit by 15%. four, provide r $170 billion to help k-12 as well as community schools. and i'll end with this, child care facilities are really feeling stretched and going under. and if we want to have a safe and calibrated reopening, we need to make sure that those child care centers remain open to parents so that they are able to go back to work as they're allowed to safely and make sure that their kids are well cared for. so we've got a lot of work to do. we've been trying to have these discussions for over two and a half months since the house

passed the heroes act. this is long overdue. we hope these negotiations will conclude quickly because many of the protections that are in place right now are expiring. and as we do that, let's make sure that our kids who are going back to school in a matter of weeks in my state of maryland, that all of them can connect to the internet so all of them can learn. it's simply unacceptable that millions of american kids are going to be going back to school just like we all remember doing at one point in time, but they're not able to go in the classroom, and their only way to learn is by connecting to their teachers via the internet. we immediate to solve that problem -- we need to solve that problem and do it now. and with that, madam president, i yield my time, or i yield to the next senator who is going to speak on this issue. thank you.

mr. blumenthal: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from connecticut. mr. blumenthal: thank you, madam president. i'm proud to follow my very distinguished colleague from maryland after those very powerful and eloquent remarks, and i subscribe to really every point that he has made in representing maryland. we're joined by senators from all over the country, senator reed and senator cortez masto. this issue is truly national in scope, and it occurred to me as i was listening to senator van hollen, we would not ask students to go through an education where they had no books, where they had no desks, where they had no writing instruments, where they had no teachers. the internet is as fundamental

to education today as the basic building blocks of desks and teachers and books. they are our future. our students are our future, and the internet is part of their present and future. i want to bring this issue home to connecticut. i can be at a roundtable, as i've done in many parts of the state, in hartford a week or so ago, the superintendent of schools, the mayor of hartford hartford, and parents and community groups to talk about the digital divide, or the homework gap as it's now known so widely and colloquially. and the stories they told me

about attempting to connect during this time when their students were learning remotely were absolutely heartbreaking. students who wanted to learn and sought to participate denied that basic opportunity because either they weren't connected or they couldn't afford it or they didn't have the computer. or in some instances their parents couldn't connect, lacked the expertise. many of us have been there. so it is about connectivity written broadly, but it's also about affordability of that service. it is about the mechanical instruments, the computer necessary to do it. it's about parents having the expertise. and it's also about the learning

habits of sitting in front of a screen and absorbing knowledge in that way. not playing video games, but absorbing knowledge through distance learning. in the absence of a robust and adequate governmental response, private groups and philanthropists are filling some of the gap. and i want to cite one in particular because it arose during that meeting. the galleo foundation, specifically barbara and ray galleo along with the hartford foundation for public giving have provided computers to schools in the hartford area. in fact, barbara and ray galleo have provided thousands of computers to schools all around connecticut, filling that gap with their enormous generosity. they are people of vision who

know that students need this basic instrument of learning. it is about access to the building blocks of education. they're providing it, but private sources of funding and philanthropy go only so far, and that is why we are here today to talk about this really urgent issue. it is urgent for connecticut, but literally for every state. there should be nothing political about it. we have the wherewithal. we need the will. and it is not a red state or a blue state issue. it is the united states that has to come to the rescue of american education and provide broadband connectivity.

the covid-19 pandemic has literally exposed deep inequities. and one of them is in education, in connectivity. there are inequities in housing. redlining still exists. there are inequities in health care, which is the reason why the burden of this pandemic has fallen disproportionately on communities of color. in connecticut, if you are black, you are two and a half times more likely to die of the coronavirus. but one of the most pernicious injustices are the barriers that prevent access to virtual learning and online education. schools and communities across connecticut and the country are grappling with this unprecedented question. when is it safe to reopen?

and that answer will depend on local circumstance, the opinions of scientists, public health experts' views. listen to the epidemiologists and to the scientists, not to the politicians, and undoubtedly there will be in some cases virtual learning, in others a hybrid of virtual and physically present learning. we have to recognize that the internet is going to be essential in many, many communities in connecticut and around the country, and some communities will choose virtual learning in order to keep their students, their teachers, and their parents safe. but the digital divide will playing them, and it will plague almost every community. we have this notion that somehow

it's limited to rural areas or it's limited to some states. it is in fact endemic to almost every community in our nation, that some students are isolated and divided, and that some of our young people experience this homework gap. as my colleague, senator van hollen, said, one quarter of all students nationally are at risk of losing months of education because their homes still lack adequate home internet. we take broadband for granted. we rely on it every day in this building and in many others around the country, office buildings, and many schools. but for some parents and

children, it is absent. and that's why the measures that we have suggested are so vital. as with far too many of our americans, the weight falls disproportionately on communities of color. at least 30% of african american students lack access to broadband, as well as 35% of native americans. we're leaving behind those students who most need the help. and in this time of national reckoning over racial justice, these barriers to education opportunity are even more dramatic, more profound, and more lasting. we have to take the kind of significant steps now that we took after hurricane katrina.

the f.c.c. took sweeping action to make sure that individuals whose lives were upended by disaster were connected. within one month the f.c.c. dedicated more than $200 million to fund connectivity efforts and aggressively expanded lifeline and e-ray programs. we're not even close to matching that commitment. and remember the bold plan in that instance was from george w. bush and from the f.c.c. majority he appointed. this time again, we must take bold bipartisan action. we can help bridge this divide and close the gap. i've joined my colleagues in pushing for emergency funds for broadband access, for the lifeline program, and yet when

i ask the chairman of the f.c.c. at a most recent commerce committee hearing, he was unwilling to commit to the $1 billion program that i have suggested in various letters along with colleagues is at a minimum that we should set forth. these proposals should be a first step toward congressional action, the kind of blueprint i was proud to introduce the emergency broadband connections act with senator wyden to provide families with assistance so they can afford broadband connections and to reinforce the lifeline program. i'm also proud to work with senator markey and others on the emergency education connections act to ensure that the f.c.c.'s e-ray program can help all k-12 students obtain broadband and

devices. as a country, there have been so many sacrifices made by so many, so much heartbreak and hardship. this absence of broadband should not be one of those sacrifices that we impose on our children. we have the opportunity and the obligation to act now. i urge my republican colleagues to take this stark reality and include funding to address our homework gap within the long overdue covid-19 package. they need to take this obligation seriously. wands to seize this moment. it is a moment -- we need to seize this moment. it is a moment of reckoning. and we cannot fail to meet the challenge. thank you, madam president. i yield the floor.

the presiding officer: the senator from nevada. ms. cortez masto: thank you. in a couple weeks, students in nevada are going to begin their studies again. and i want what every parent in america wants -- a safe school year that allows schoolchildren to thrive in mind and body. to make that happen, students and parents need the flexibility to make decisions that are best for their families. they need school systems that can afford the technology, the equipment, and the resources to keep students and staff safe. and they need access to the internet and the devices that will support education as well as allow parents to work from home and supervise their kids. you know, i've been working to

bridge the digital divide for nevadans as part of my innovation state initiative, which helps nevada develop groundbreaking solutions to 21st century problems. that's why last month i held a statewide conversation about broadband. i heard local officials in rural communities talk about the challenges they faced getting high-quality internet access to their communities. a 9-year-old student told me how she struggled to do schoolwork because she only had her mother's cell phone for internet access. and i also heard stories, including ones about how libraries in my state are stepping into the digital breach through the s.e.c.'s e-rate program, which subsidizing internet access for schools and libraries. most of all, we talked about how

widespread the issue is in my state. the f.c.c.'s own figures show that half of rural nevadans and 6% of people statewide can't even get high-speed wired internet. that's not counting people who can't afford services or devices or those who can't get reliable wireless services. we're talking hundreds of thousands of people in the silver state without the ability to stay connected to one another during a time of social distancing. now, students in nevada need internet access, not just to attend class remotely but to submit homework online. between 12 million and 16 million students across the country can't complete their homework because they lack access. and it's not just families with school-aged kids who need better internet access. businesses need it, too, to reach new customers and offer new services, particularly

during a time when we are dealing with a health care crisis and asking people to shelter in place. that's why we must build on the $2 billion the cares act included for various broadband technology investments and allocate funds in this next coronavirus package to make access to broadband more affordable in every zip code. with my colleagues, i introduce the accessible, affordable internet for all act, to invest over $100 billion in things like e-rate support, including wi-fi on school buses and digital literacy train ago. that investment can fund vouchers to offset broadband costs. it can go to establishing a one-stop clearinghouse, aof federal broadband clearing information for communities and organizations that need it and

offer the ability to track funds through my bipartisan access broadband act. but fundamentally, it can help a confused high school sophomore watch a video explaining her geometry homework while her parents videoconference with colleagues in the next room and/or her little sister talks to their grandparents. you know, it is our job at the federal level to ensure that americans across this country have the resources and tools they need at local districts so that those districts can decide what's best for their communities as we move forward. to do that, we need to set aside those proposals that force schools to make decisions they're uncomfortable with. we need to listen to local teachers on the ground who know what's best for their school districts, not legislators in washington trying to mandate what schools must do. local districts are in touch with their leaders and are montanadering the actual spread

of the virus in our local communities. yet, unfortunately, some of my colleagues want to withhold two-thirds of schools' funding unless students are physically present at school. it makes no sense to make schools all over the country move in lockstep. we need to listen to local school boards, to parents, to teachers and our public health experts about the safest way to teach in our local communities. back home in nevada, i'm listening to my school districts, to my parents and teachers. i am fighting to get the resources they need so everyone can feel safe and learn in on environment that is best for them right now. i want to make sure we get our families and school districts alok the resources and -- i want to make sure we get our families and school districts alike the resources and tools they need and i want to let them do it on their terms, whether that's in person or online. but that requires congress and this senate now to ensure we're

doing everything in the next package to put funding into broadband so that we can ensure every student has access to the equal opportunity to learn and that no one is left behind. so i would encourage all of my colleagues to come together in a bipartisan way so that we can fund the necessary relief when it comes to broadband and any other relief that is necessary for our families and our students and our teachers and our staff during this health care crisis. thank you, madam president. and i yield the floor to my esteemed colleague, the senior senator from rhode island. mr. reed: thank you very much, senator, for those very, very thoughtful and illuminating remarks. madam president, 21 days -- 21 days. that is how long one florida

public schoolteacher was on a ventilator after contracting covid this spring. plasma transfusion, antiviral medication, ultimately saved her life. and now she's being asked to return to the classroom, a job she loves, teaching kids she loves. she wants to go back but is frayed to go back while the virus is -- but is frayed to go back while the virus is surging, while more people in the same community are being sent to the very same hospital. in arizona, a small school district lost a teacher to covid, despite following all the protocols. the superintendent calls a safe reopening a fantasy, saying, kids will get sick or worse. family members will die. teachers will die. yet children will be denied needed education funding unless classes are in person, according to the president.

should the majority, which has failed to take action on the house-passed heroes bill for months, should the trump administration themselves have done a better job making it safe for kids and teachers to return to school? absolutely. and the continued failure to act, to lead, to do a better job of containing covid will cost people their lives and children their education. and what is the republican plan-to-a vert this catastrophe -- and what is the republican plan to avert this catastrophe? quote -- open the schools. the president tweets it in all capital letters. the republican plan is to open the schools for in-person learning or else. open the schools, even when the transmission of the virus is not contained? open the schools, even if

testing and contact tracing is inadequate to manage the spread of the virus? open the schools, even if your facilities do not have adequate ventilation? open the schools or we will privatize the public school system? open or else? we know what happens when things reorientation when community transmission remains -- we know what happens when things reopen when community transmission remains high, when proper safety measures are not in place, when we do not have the contract tracing necessary to contain the virus. we get outbreaks. people get sick. hospitalizations and deaths increase. what is the president's response? he says, it is what it is. what has senate republican leadership prioritized?

shielding businesses from liability and being sued for negligence. in other words, if reopening too quickly results in sickness, it is what it is. this approach is appalling and unacceptable and must be rejected. school is a lifeline for children and the communities hit hardest by the pandemic and the ensuing economic fallout. the federal government must step in with a comprehensive plan and the resources to make sure that school is there for these children, the teachers, the custodians, the parents, the families. we know this school year will be like no other. school districts will need to redesign the school day and be prepared to switch to distance learning, as necessary. there will be new protocols for sanitation, transportation, and staffing.

teachers need training on how to stay safe in the classroom. you will recall, madam president, that many in this body wanted to add firearms training to the list of teacher duties. and it is disheartening note that many of the same members who wanted to equip teachers with guns and firearms training are now unwilling to provide them with basic cleaning supplies and personal protective equipment. they are denying them the resources and training they need to keep themselves and their students safe from a very clear and present danger -- covid-19. schools will have to reengineer the use of space in and around the school building and reconfigure classrooms to enshould you are that social distancing can be maintained. with the recent government accountability office report showing that over half of school districts nationwide needed to update or replace multiple

systems in their schools, such as heat eventlation, air conditioning, and plumbing, dedicated funding for infrastructure is needed as well. in fact, we need significant money for school infrastructure. we needed it before covid. we need more of it today. and more critically, schools will need to increase their capacity to support children's well-being, including nutrition, health screenings, and mental health supports, whether in-person or at a distance. the first step in any reasonable plan to reopen schools starts with robust, rapid result testing and contract tracing to contained the spread of the virus. there's no path for safe, in-person schooling without it. that's step one, and the

president has not taken that step yet. a comprehensive plan for schools will also stabilize state and local budgets, ensure equity and access to technology and broadband, enhance nutrition services, and provide support for our broader educational ecosystem, including after-school programs, museums, and libraries. for example, without a robust investment in our public libraries, we will continue to struggle to close the digital divide and the homework gap. many, many, many school systems today are beginning their classes on a remote basis. they need -- the children need an electronic device, some type of laptop, something, and they also need access to wi-fi. many families don't have that. and unless we step in with the

resources to support the localities and the states to provide those capacities, those children will be denied an education. one way, as i suggested, to do that is through 0 our public library. as i go through rhode island, it is encouraging to see in the afternoon throughout the state, in small libraries, everywhere, young people doing their homework. they don't have wi-fi at home, they have it in the library. this is just part of what we have to do and libraries can be at the heart of that. we have to put the resources and the commitment and the plan and the leadership and the force and the momentum behind this effort and we have seen none of that from the administration.

the most fundamental aspect of all of this is that it does come down to the resources, the substantial dedicated resources that have to go to our public schools to meet these additional costs, to meet these additional demands, to serve this generation of young americans who, if they are denied these services, will be denied an education, and that is not just a moment ri loss, that is -- momentary loss, that is a cumulative lifetime effect that will not only deny them a chance at opportunity, it will deny this nation their talent. those are the issues that we're struggling with at this moment. these are the issues we must confront. we've been calling upon the democratic caucus, $175 billion to support our public schools,

to put education in a place in which this generation of students can learn to make this country or continue to keep this country which we always thought it was, a special place where anyone with the ability or the desire to learn would have the opportunity to do so, and that would mean their success in our community or our country's success. we are counting on schools being able to deliver to students despite the challenges caused by this pandemic. yet the senate majority and the donald trump are unwilling to commit the resources necessary to avoid the potential generational catastrophe state and local governments are reeling from the loss of revenue due to the economic shutdown caused by the pandemic. there is no governor in this country, republican or democrat, no county

administrator or city leader who i think would stand up and say we're fine, we don't need any help. we're in great shape. no. they all have one message and it's been coming through through the national association of republican governors and the national association of democrat governors. you must give us resources and flexibility to use these resources to fulfill our obligations to the people of our states. that's the message. we're seeing school districts across the nation starting to lay people off in anticipation of budget cuts. and even if they're able to maintain current levels of staffing and financial resources, it would not be enough to meet the upcoming challenges, even if they could keep their staffs in place, where do they get the extra money for the infrastructure repairs, for the additional

wi-fi, for the additional teaching changes that have to take place, for the different approaches to education one must take in order to be effective in social distancing? the school superintendents association of the united states estimates that the average additional covid-related costs pursued will -- per student wile $490. we need at least that. we must go forward with a package that includes provisions of the child care education relief act, the stabilization fund act and the state and local stabilization fund act to make sure this generation of americans can overcome the pandemic and reach its full potential. this is a generational crisis, just as previous american

generations have been called upon to sacrifice, to commit themselves to the young of this country so they could have a better future, we are being called upon to do that. you with this, madam president, i thank you. i yield back. and i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

0 quorum call:

quorum call:

the presiding officer: the senator from new jersey. mr. menendez: mr. president, i come to the senate floor today to speak -- the presiding officer: we are in a quorum call. mr. menendez: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, i ask that the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. menendez: mr. president, i come to the senate floor today to speak about a topic that is very close to my heart. as the son of cuban refugees and a first generation american, the struggles of immigrant families are not something i read about in books or watched on television. i lived it. i saw it with my own eyes what it means to grow up in an immigrant family and low-income tenement in union city, new jersey. my mother worked tirelessly as a seamstress and sacrificed everything to make sure that my siblings and i could have a better life and a better future. because that is the very essence of what we call the american

dream. it's about ensuring that the next generation has it better than we do. that our children and grandchildren and their children and grandchildren have greater opportunities than we do to realize their full potential. and it doesn't matter who you are, where you're from, or where your ancestors came to when they came to this country. we're a nation built by immigrants. every single member of this great and storied body is a december seen dant of someone who came to america seeking a better life for themselves and their loved ones. the president is a second generation american. his grandfather frederick trump came here from germany. our first lady is herself an immigrant. and yet this administration and president trump have gone to

painstaking lengths to deny, erase, and ignore the contribution, of immigrants to american life and culture, innovation and ingenuity, economy and prosperity. they have worked overtime to deny the very fact that the immigrant story is america's story. but as an old saying in spanish goes -- [ speaking spanish ] -- which means there's nothing worse than not wanting to see what's right in front of you. donald trump's endless lies and attacks on immigrants started long before he descended down the escalator in trump tower to announce his run for presidency. they haven't stopped since. the president recently took another aggressive step in his war to erase immigrants from the portrait of america when he issued an unconstitutional edict to exclude our undocumented brothers and sisters from being counted in the 2020 census for

the purpose of determining representation in congress. his message was loud and a clear to immigrant communities across the country. you are not welcome here. you don't belong here. you don't count. his goal is to instill fear in immigrant communities and that's shameful and un-american. let's be clear. the united states constitution is explicit on this particular point. article 1, section 2 clearly states, and i quote, representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned among the several states which may be included within this union according to their respective numbers which shall be determined by adding to the whole number of free persons. free persons. the census requires an accurate count of all persons living in the country. it does not distinguish between

status or citizenship. it could have said it requires account of all citizens of the then united states and the union. it could have said it is a count of all citizens and all legal permanent residents. it didn't say that either. and it specifically recognizes that because as the union was developing, there would be people from different walks of life in the united states. and it purposely understood that not all of them would necessarily be a citizen at the time of accounting but who was in america at any given time from the creation of the constitution was important, all persons. my friends, we have been sent here to serve all our constituents in our home states

no matter the color of their skin, their gender, or their legal status. the history of america's intertwined with immigrant stories. and every state of our union, immigrants worked in every industry and contributed in all facets of american life. the most important part of our lives. they work in our fields, picking our fruits and vegetables. they are checkers at grocery stores and construction workers building our bridges and homes. they are educating our children in our schools. they treat the sick in our hospitals as nurses, doctors, and mental health professionals. they wear the uniform and carry our flag in the u.s. armed services. in fact, during this pandemic, hundreds of thousands of immigrants, including undocumented immigrants, had put their lives on the line to serve as essential frontline workers and to keep businesses open,

despite the administration actively seeking to deport them. like many american citizens, they are risking their lives every day while being disproportionately affected by covid-19 to provide others with the services they need and protect the health and safety of our fellow americans. all the while facing disproportionate infection and death rates from this horrible disease. they are the invisible heroes of this pandemic. they are the ones who make it possible for us to receive the essential goods and services so that we can stay home, which is what we're told by the nation's public health officials. but the message from the president to these essential workers who perform back-breaking work in our fields, care for our children, or treat you at the hospital is you are not worthy. i ask every single one of my

colleagues to, -- if god forbid, you were infected with covid-19, would you really care about the citizenship status of the doctor or nurse treating you? would you ask for his or her legal papers before getting help? would any of you refuse to eat fruit or vegetables in your homes picked by the calloused hands of an undocumented immigrant sweating in our fields? would you rather not have a highway built in your state because the workers have a native language other than english? now, many of you would tell me that's nonsense, but yet the trump presidency has been marked by deafening silence in the face of this inflammatory xenophobic immoral campaign against immigrants. just take the example of t.p.f. and daca beneficiaries. as my home state of new jersey struggled in the early days of the pandemic, until recently, we had the secondmost cases of

covid-19. temporary status holders and dreamers like daisy from monmouth county rose to the challenge presented by the pandemic. as more than 131,000 temporary protective status holders across the nation and 7,500 in new jersey alone, madelia was considered an essential worker at the company she has worked for in the last 17 years, had to respond to the increasing demand for sanitizer dispensers. to daisy, the fact that she was brought to the united states from central america at just 9 years old meant nothing to the patients whose lives, whose lives he was hoping to save. what matter is that she showed up when she was needed and that she did so despite the lingering threat that daca, deferred action for childhood arrivals, would be abruptly terminated and

with it her ability to remain in this country. she showed up every day, helping to save lives. put simply, t.p.s. holders like madalia and daca beneficiaries like daisy help us heal and also help our economy recover. they represent among the best of america. to give you some context when i say they will help us in our economy where dreamers bring in a net, a net $3.4 billion annually to the united states treasury. and generate $42 billion in gross domestic product each year, dreamers. yet, the administration has fought tooth and nail to send dreamers packing despite the american flag being the only one they have ever pledged allegiance to. the national anthem being the only national anthem they have ever sung. even after the supreme court's

recent ruling, the supreme court, the highest court in the land, that determination of daca was unlawful, the administration has openly defied the supreme court's order by not reopening the full daca program. these dreamers are battling the coronavirus and the trump administration. polls show that even a majority of trump voters want to protect dreamers from deportation and wide swaths of registered voters support dreamers, regardless of the voter's gender, education, income, ethnicity, religion, and ideology. that includes 68% of republicans, 71% of conservatives, and 64% of those who approve of the job the president is doing. but instead of accepting the supreme court's decision and acknowledging the enormous

contributions of dreamers, this administration is planning new efforts to end daca. it's no secret. they indicate as much in the latest department of homeland security memo. and let's be honest. if it's not outright terms they seek, the administration will treat the protection of dreamers as a bargaining chip in order to undo our legal, our legal immigration system. they want to cut legal family immigration in exchange for what they call a merit-based immigration system. that was pretty shameful and offensive because there are many who are here who would never be here under a merit-based system. this administration and my republican colleagues need to open their eyes and realize how we are treating immigrants in this country. we need then to do it now in

this moment as we are pleading with our colleagues to do what is right to give families a fighting chance to beat the virus and put the economy back on track. we can't turn a blind eye to the fact that immigrant families will likely be excluded from help desperately needed during this pandemic in the next covid-19 package. so far, undocumented immigrants who pay their taxes and selflessly risk their lives as essential workers to save others have been deliberately excluded from the federal pandemic assistance congress has provided. virtually all immigrants who use an individual taxpayer identification number, or as we call it an itin, to file their federal taxes under u.s. law which is totally permissible, and their u.s. citizen spouses,

u.s. citizen spouses and children were left out from any economic impact payments in the cares act. in other words, we denied american citizens and their american citizen children badly needed assistance as a punishment, as a punishment for being married to an undocumented immigrant or belonging to a mixed status family during this economic emergency. i grew up believing that an american citizen is an american citizen is an american citizen. regardless of who i marry. regardless of whether my children are the offspring of one parent who is an american citizen and another one who is not. thousands of american citizens were denied $1,200 individual stimulus checks, to which other

american citizens were entitled to just because of who they love. american citizen children were denied $500 in assistance to each other american citizen children were entitled. it's wrong. are there two classes of american children in this country now? are there two classes of american citizens now? as we consider the next covid-19 relief package, congress has to fix this injustice. if you work hard, follow the rules, pay your taxes, you deserve tax relief, regardless of how you filed. at the very least, if you're an american citizen living in a mixed status family, an american child who is the offspring of a mixed status family, you should not be denied the cash benefit you are rightfully entitled to. it's just that simple. it's justice. it's what's right. in the face of this tremendous

public health crisis, we should not let the insidious, cruel, and relentless escapegoating of immigrants prevent us from providing much-needed relief to the very same families and workers who are helping us survive. all families deserve to be treated with dignity. it's the humane thing to do. but that's not all. as we expanded access to free covid-19 testing, undocumented immigrants were left behind. now, that makes no sense. the coronavirus doesn't check your status before it infects you. an undocumented immigrant living in america with covid-19 is no less a threat to become a seriously ill individual or spread the virus that an american citizen has been infected. the virus does not discriminate on race or gender, ethnicity, borders, or legal status.

as a public health proposition, you want everybody to be tested. given the pandemic's disproportionate impact on low-income and communities of color and the fact that they, those communities of color, are serving in essential industries, i would argue they are more likely to be infected. what good does it to any one of us if someone, regardless of who or where they are, is walking around with an undiagnosed case of covid-19 because they weren't eligible for a test? that person can unwittingly infect their relatives and their neighbors and their co-workers. if we ever want to see our economy and lives return to some semblance of normal, there must be access to free covid-19 testing, treatment, and vaccine for everyone living in the united states.

everyone living in the united states. and that includes regardless of immigration status. america has to do better to acknowledge the hard work, sacrifice, and contribution of immigrants. sadly, these past four years has seen a rise in hate crimes and hateful rhetoric targeting immigrants. led by the president, immigrants are continuously scapegoated for every problem. one of my senate colleagues even suggested recently that hispanics were to blame for the rise in covid cases across our own country. instead, -- instead of the epic failure of the government to develop and implement a national pandemic response plan or one that includes culturally competent outreach to minority majority communities. as elected officials and leaders in our communities, we have a

moral responsibility to rise above the immigrant fearmongering and the president's hateful rhetoric to reunite our country. not only must we include immigrant families in the upcoming relief package, but to truly address these injustices, we must reform our immigration laws once and for all. we have to come together as we did before here in the senate -- i was part of that gang of eighg overdue discussions and find a path forward to achieving real immigration reform. i have always believed and still believe that reforming our immigration laws is the civil rights issue of this community and of its time. it is time to treat immigrants fairly and recognize their hard work and contributions to this nation. immigrants like my mother who came here with nothing but the

conviction that everything in america was possible. she refused to let not speaking english or her modest wages as a seamstress stop her from giving us the best life she could. and here i am, one of 100 united states senators in a country of over 320 million people. i am the embodiment of that american dream, and my story is no less meaningful than that of any other immigrant coming to this country or in this country to build a better future for their family and this nation. that is our past, that is our history, that is our present, and it will be our future. it's past time that due acknowledgment and respect be given. it's now time for action. with that, mr. president, i yield the floor and observe the absence of a quorum.

the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: quorum call:

the presiding officer: the senator from vermont.

mr. sanders: are we in a quorum call. the presiding officer: we are in a quorum call. mr. sanders: i ask that it be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. sanders: mr. president, as everybody knows, this country faces at this moment an extraordinary set of crises. in fact, crises that are unprecedented in the history of our country. we are in the midst of the worst public health crisis since the spanish flu of 100 years ago, and sad to say, this senate has done nothing to address that crisis over the last two and a half months. over the past four months the coronavirus has infected nearly five million americans and caused almost 160,000 deaths,

and the senate is doing nothing. incredibly, and this is incredible, more americans have been killed by the coronavirus than the korean war, the vietnam war, the persian gulf war, 9/11, the afghanistan war, and the iraq war combined. and the senate is still not acting. we are in the midst of the worst economic meltdown since the great depression of the 1930's, and the senate is doing nothing. since march, more than 30 million americans have lost their jobs, and last week the senate allowed a $600-a-week increase in their unemployment benefits to expire. over half of the american people

have seen a loss in their income, and yet the senate continues to do nothing. 40 million americans, an unbelievable number, 40 million americans are in danger of being evicted from their homes while the senate has allowed a moratorium on evictions to expire. this was no great shock. everybody knew that this would happen, yet the republican leadership here has allowed that moratorium to expire. 26 million americans cannot afford food to feed their families, and those americans are lining up at emergency food banks in record numbers, the vast majority of whom have never

been to an emergency food bank in their lives. and the senate is doing nothing. a record-breaking 5.4 million americans recently lost their health insurance under our dysfunctional health care system, when you lose your job, you often lose your health insurance. and that now leaves us with over 90 million americans who are uninsured or underinsured. 90 million americans who today worry about whether or not they can afford to go to a doctor when they or their kids are sick the senate is doing nothing. in total, american households have lost a staggering $6.5

trillion in wealth since this pandemic has begun. it is an unimaginable number. what does that mean? $6.5 trillion, a number much too large for many of us to fathom. in the senate -- and the senate does nothing. mr. president, what everybody here should understand -- although i know there's some obfuscation about this -- but what everybody in america should understand is that over two and a half years ago -- two and a half months ago the house did its job. over two and a half months ago, the u.s. house of representatives did its job and they passed legislation responding to the enormous pain and suffering that the american people are now experiencing. they did their job, but the

senate has not. the heroes act passed by the house in may, would extend the $600-a-week increase in benefits until january. i want everybody to understand that. i think sometimes there is confusion. the house did its job. under the house bill, if that bill were passed today here in the senate, people would continue to get that $600 supplement in their unemployment benefits. the house bill would provide over $900 billion to state and local governments to prevent the massive layoffs of teachers, firefighters, nurses, construction workers, and millions of other workers who are serving the public during this horrific pandemic. over a million workers who work for state and local government

have already lost their jobs, and if we do not provide substantial aid to state and local government, there will be a mass epidemic of job loss there. the house bill would provide hazard pay to essential workers, which is something that is long, long overdue. people are putting their lives on the line and sometimes dying in order to provide us with groceries or to get us to work in a bus or on a train. those workers need hazard pay, and that's what the house did. and the house also passed legislation -- in their legislation to require businesses to adopt strong health and safety standards to protect their employees and

their customers. the house bill would provide $175 billion in rental and foreclosure assistance to make sure that millions of americans did not lose their homes or get evicted from their apartments and end out on the streets. the house bill also provides vital funding for nutrition assistance for election security -- an enormous issue here, whether or not we're going to have free and fair elections -- and also substantial funding for the u.s. postal service, which is now being sabotaged by the trump administration. that's what the house passed two and a half months ago. do i agree with everything that was in the house bill? no, i don't. i think much of it, however, is

excellent. but we can and should make improvements in that bill here in the senate. that's what we should be doing. accepting the bill and improving it. now, mr. president, two and a half months after the house passed its bill, senate republicans finally woke up and they said, we've got to do something -- you know, we've got to respond. the public wants us to respond. we've got to do something. and they finally released their bill to respond to the coronavirus crisis. unfortunately -- although not surprisingly -- the republican plan is woefully inadequate for the working families of our country, for the elderly, for the children, and for the poor. while at the same time it provides even more corporate

welfare to the rich and the powerful. one might think that in the midst of this terrible pandemic my republican colleagues could control themselves just a bit and not pile on more benefits to the people who don't need it. maybe, just maybe, pay attention to the people who do need help. the senate republican bill provides nothing for hazard pay. so if you are a grocery store worker, if you are a truck driver, if you are a bus driver, if you're working in mass transit, nothing in that bill is provided for hazard pay. nothing for nutrition assistance. nothing for the 92 million americans who are uninsured or underinsured. 92 million people uninsured or underinsured in the midst of a terrible public health crisis --

the republican legislation ignores that reality completely. nothing for the u.s. postal service. and nothing for state and local governments, many of whom are on the verge of bankruptcy. but here's what that republican bill does contain. it does include another $29 billion for the pentagon. now, last week this body passed a $740 billion bill for the pentagon, which is more money than the next 11 nations combined, most of whom are our allies. huge military budget, but clearly in the midst of the pandemic, the pentagon needs even more. the republican bill does include another tax break for the meals

and entertainment of wealthy c.e.o.'s. the republican bill does include another $1 .75 billion for an f.b.i. building, $1 billion for new surveillance planes, $636 million more for f-5's. $3600 million more for a new missile defense system, and $283 million more for apache helicopters. i'm not quite sure what apache helicopters have to do with the pandemic, but be that as it may, they did put money into the helicopters and into the pentagon. under the republican bill, if you are a wealthy business executive, you will get a 100% tax deduction for a three-martini lunch.

10000% tax deduction for havinga lunch at some fancy restaurant and spending a couple hundred dollars on your meal. but if you are one of the 26 million lower-income americans who do not have enough food to eat, you get nothing in the republican bill. in other words, when the republicans in their bill refer to nutrition, they're talking about tax breaks for the rich who eat at expensive restaurants but not one nickel for the children in this country who are facing hunger. under the republican bill, if you are a profitable defense contractor, you will receive an additional $11 billion in corporate welfare. but if you're one of the 92 million americans who are uninsured or underinsured, you

get nothing. under the republican bill, if you are a business owner who forces employees to work in an unsafe and unhealthy environment, you are rewarded. the republican bill will provide you with the immunity you need from lawsuits if your workers get sick or die from the coronavirus. in other words, you have employers who are saying, you got to go -- come back to work or else you're going to get fired, not be able to feed your family. but the working conditions that we are providing for you are not protective of your health. and if you get sick and if you die, you're on your own; don't hold us responsible for that. the republican bill does not provide a nickel for essential workers during this pandemic,

but it does make sure that you receive -- that you do not receive the hazard pay or the personal protective equipment that you need and deserve. unbelievably -- unbelievably -- in the richest country in the history of the world, we've got tens of thousands of workers -- not only doctors and nurses but workers in all kinds of professions, who are interacting with the public; who need high-quality personal protective equipment, and these don't have it. while the republican bill slashes unemployment benefits by 43% for 30 million americans who lost their jobs, it continues $135 billion tax break for 43,000 millionaires, primarily in the real estate and hedge fund industry. in other words, we stop the $600

benefit for unemployment, but we maintain $135 billion tax break for the wealthy. now, it goes without saying that i am strongly opposed to the senate republican proposal. instead of listening to the needs of the military industrial complex, we should be listening to the needs of working families and the poor. instead of providing more tax breaks to the very wealthy, we need to provide more economic relief to the tens of millions of americans who are hurting economically. now, mr. president, just last month i asked my constituents in vermont -- and in fact all over this country -- to write to me, to e-mail me and to tell me how the economic crisis that we're in has impacted their lives.

and we received thousands and thousands of responses, and i would just like to take a moment to read just a few of the many stories that came into my office, because i think sometimes it is very easy for us to live in a bubble and not really appreciate what's going on -- and it's especially more difficult when, because of the pandemic, many of us can't get out the way we would like to get out. so i used our e-mail approach to reach out to people in vermont and around the country. tell me what's going on, what's going on in your lives. let me just repeat and just read to you some of the responses, a few of the responses that i received. a gentleman named dominic from williston vermont wrote, quote, without the additional $600 a

week benefit, my benefit will automatically revert to the minimum $191 a week. so he's getting now $791. if he didn't have that $600, it would be $191. at that rate, my wife and i will be in serious crisis within a month. end of quote. like millions of other people, dominic does not have a lot of mo enin the bank. if he did -- a lot of money in the bank. if he did not get that $600 in unemployment benefit, which for him would be $191 a week, he would be in a serious financial crisis. denise wrote, and i quote, i lost my job due to covid-19 on march 16, 2020. the p.u.a. program and the additional $600 per week is keeping our family out of debt and allowing us to afford our

mortgage. without p.u.a. and the additional federal stimulus, our family would not be able to survive financially, end of quote. in other words, without the unemployment and that $600 supplement, her family would not be able to survive financially. casey from burlington, vermont, wrote, and i quote, i've been unemployed since march 20 and have no job to return to and limited options of finding a new job in a timely fashion. losing the extra $600 a week unemployment benefit would be devastating for me. i know it would be the same for so many others, including many friends and family. end of quote. amanda from isle, vermont, a beautiful town in northern vermont, works, as it happens --

while living in vermont, she works for an unemployment office in the state of massachusetts. she wrote, and i quote, and this talks to the job that she now has -- quote, i have heard heart wrenching stories. i have heard moms crying that they can't feed their kids, families telling me this they've been evicted and are homeless. a single dad who is a self-employed musician, he cried with me, saying that his savings had run out. he has no money for food. this man's story will stick with me for the rest of my life. i cried so many days for all of these people i can't help. i suggest the government officials work in an unemployment call center for a day. the heart-wrenching