vote:

vote:

the presiding officer: are there any senators in the chamber wishing to vote or change their vote? if not, the yeas are 77. the nays are 14. the nomination is confirmed. mr. cotton: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator for arkansas. the presidin the presiding officer: under the previous order, the motion to reconsider is considered made and laid upon the table and the president will be immediately notified of the senate's actio actions. the senator for arkansas. mr. cotton: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to legislative session for a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak therein for up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without

objection. mr. cotton: mr. president, 20 years ago this week, joe biden and other politicians in both parties gave a gift to the communist party -- permanent, most favored nation status. permanent most favored nation status is a trade privilege we grant to most countries who are members of the world trade organization. it places lower tariffs and fewer restrictions on those countries' goods. but historically our trade laws have treated hostile countries differently, communist countries, countries that cheat on trade, human rights abusers. in other words, countries exactly like communist china. a few of those countries -- like cuba and north korea -- are denied most favored nation status outright. what few goods their miserable socialist economies produce face steep tariffs and other restrictions which is one reason why you don't see too many made-in-north korea items on your local store shelves. other countries have face add

yearly review of their trading privileges with the united states. in which the president and congress could assess the human rights and trade abuses ongoing in those countries and then determine whether it's in our interest to grant those trading privileges for another year. communist china was one of those countries subject to yearly review -- at least it was until 20 years ago. this yearly review led the spirited debates about communist -- whether communist china should be stripped of its trading privileges or whether it deserved a temporary reprieve. it put a spotlight on the crimes of the chinese communist party, and it used our market as leverage to advance our interests. but of course the chinese communist party department like that, not -- did not like that, not one bit. neither did many businessmen here in america who seemed more concerned about making money than pressuring communist china

to reform. so this china lobby pushed hard to get rid of the annual vote and give china permanent most favored nation status. and 20 years ago this week they finally won. here's how senator joe biden defended his vote at the time to give a big gift to communist china. he said, trade concessions are all a one-way deal. they drop tariffs. they drop nonmarket barriers. they agree to increased protection of our intellectual property laws. so that's what joe biden said at the time, but what actually happened. were all the trade concessions one way, as he predicted. they were. but not the way joe biden intended. because all trade concessions ended up benefiting beijing while devastating america. the main consequence of that decision was to make it harder to put tariffs on china in response to human rights and trade abuses. and it sent a strong signal to

businesses and banks that china was open for business for good. so the gold rush to china was on. in the two decades that followed, america invested more than $200 billion in china. most of that money went to building factories and training workers over there while our factories were dismantled and our workers were laid off. in the six years that followed that vote, manufacturing, unemployment -- manufacturing unemployment plunged by 18%, as cheap chinese goods flooded our market and as our factories were dismantled and off-shored to china. the vote to give trade privileges to communist china is just more evidence of the alternate reality that politicians like joe biden have been living in for decades. there is a consistent pattern. they treat our enemies like friends and our friends like enemies, and the american people suffer because of it.

well, 20 years of getting ripped off by china is more than long enough. that's why i'm introducing a bill that would repeal china's permanent most favored nation status and return us to the older way where china's trade status would be assessed by the congress and president every year. my bill would make businesses think twice before sending more american jobs overseas to china. and it would add new human rights and trade standards that china must work toward to qualify for most favored nation status. this would put a spotlight on the communist party's most recent crimes, including its use of slave labor and concentration camps in turkistan. and ultimately repealing china's most favored nation status would force regular votes in congress, so politicians like joe biden have to go on the record about who they serve -- the american people or the interests of the

chinese communist party. mr. president, i yield the floor. mr. lankford: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from oklahoma. mr. lankford: a few days ago flight 971 took off from tel aviv airport. you might say, of course a flight took off from tel aviv. that happens every day. but not like this flight. you see, flight 971 took off from tel aviv airport, flew south directly over saudi arabia, which hasn't happened, and landed in abu dhabi.

because the unite nighted air be a -- united arab emrates recognized its right to exist, open up embassies in israel and the united arab emirates beginning trade in commerce and just days ago the fishes cargo aircraft took off and flew taking supplies, technology, medicine you engagement between the nation of israel and the arab nation of the united arab emirates, form ago new alliance in the middle east. that flight 971 is significant because 971 is the country code, if you're going to call the united arab emirates. the return flight, by the way, leaving from abu dhabi, and flying back to israel is flight 972, the country code for israel. and that first flight that took off on the outside of the plane

were emblazoned three words, one in english, one in hebrew, one in arabic, all translated the word peace. it's a new day, and this week when president trump and the foreign minister from united arab emirates and from bahrain and the prime minister of israel all stood at the white house and spoke of each other and a new partnership and then all sat at a table and signed documents together beginning a new relationship not just with u.a.e. but also with bahrain, it was a remarkable day in world history. in 70 years of israel's history, only two nations have -- that are arab nations have recognized israel's right to exist even -- jordan and egypt. in one day, two more nations

joined -- the you have a.e. and bahrain. -- the u.a.e. and bahrain. it was interesting to hear the foreign minister of bahrain and u.a.e. compliment for the leadership. it was a negotiation that was turned on its head. for decades, american negotiators have tried to work to solve the issues with the palestinians first and then to work to solve every other relationship second. that's been the american focus. the trump negotiations reversed it, said that they believe many in the arab world were tired of the palestinians holding their foreign policy hostage and they flipped it and said, why don't we start negotiating with the arab world first and see if they want to open up trade negotiations with israel and to be able to stabilize those negotiations.

it's worked. not only that is worked in two countries in a single day signing an agreement, but there are multiple other nations that are currently looking at the the same deal with israel to say, yes, we still need to resolve the issues in the palestinian territory. yes, that's still very important. but these nations can work towards peace and towards unity together as they resolve their differences. they signed a document dealing with relationships diplomatically, but they also signed something called the abraham accords declaration. let me read this because it is significant. it begins with this simple statement -- we the undersigned recognize the importance of maintaining and strengthening peace in the middle east and around the world based on mutual understanding and coexistence as well as respect for human dignity and freedom, including religious freedom. that's a significant statement. nations that have spoke of

religious freedom, but it has not thrived there. the document goes on to say, we seek tolerance and respect for every person in order to make this world a place where all can enjoy a life of dignity and hope, no matter their race, faith, or ethnicity. we support science, art, medicine, and commerce to in spite humankind, maximize human potential and bring nations closer together. we seek to end radicalization and conflict to provide all children a better future. we pursue a vision of peace, security, and prosperity in the middle east and and the world. it was a document many people said would never be signed, but it's a stake in the ground to say it is a new day in the middle east and peace negotiations and pivot as prime minister netanyahu said. nations like saudi arabia, kuwait, qatar, oman, morocco,

sudan and lebanon should take notice and should see the benefit of economic trade and engagement, to confronting iranian influence in the area that tries to destabilize so much of the middle east, pushing back on terrorism, developing partnerships in science and health and technology and prosperity for everyone in the region. that happened this week. there's something happening on monday that, though much of the world has missed as well in the middle east. for a year, there's been a process ongoing to be able to confront iran. iran has actively stated that they're going to be able to pursue their nuclear ambitions. they've actively stated they're going to pursue weapons deals. they've actively stated that they want to continue to break the arms embargo and some of our allies have stood silent as iran

has discussed purchasing weapons of all types from all places. we used to be united, regardless whether it was nuclear or not, that iran should not continue to accelerate that as the largest exporter of terrorism to the world. we should confront what iran is trying to do to continuing to provide heavy arms. as of monday, the united states will move into a different mode with iran. as of midnight sunday night, snapback sanctions begin on iran on monday. that is a different moment for us as a nation to say we have stated as a country, now through multiple presidencies, we will not allow iran to be a nuclear power or to continue to arm itself in such a way to do its neighbors harm. snapback sanctions occur on monday. all of our allies should be aware the united states is steadfast in that commitment, and we would ask you to join us in that as well.

over the past few months, thousands of troops have come back home from the middle east. from syria, from iraq, from afghanistan. by the end of this year, we'll have 4,500 troops still in afghanistan. fleas a high just a few years ago of 100,000 boots on the ground. ongoing negotiations for peace continue between afghan leadership and the taliban. those are problems that have existed for decades and in some areas generations. while i don't believe that afghanistan will suddenly break out and be a bastion of peace for the world, we do have a responsibility to help them where we can but also an obligation to protect our sons and daughters, our blood and our treasure has been spilt in afghanistan for decades. we shouldn't lose the investment of that have blood and treasure -- of that blood and treasure, but it's good to see so many

people coming home. in europe, free trade agreement is actively being negotiated with the u.k. we're pleased to be able to partner with such a special relationship country like the united kingdom. we've had a long-lasting friendship with them since we settled a little conflict in 1776 and another dustup in 1812. that special relationship with the u.k. should continue on with a very good trade agreement. and i'm pleased that the administration continues to be able to push forward in the area of trade. an area that it's amazing that many people didn't notice was the powder keg of europe that just recently was resolved. for generations the area around serbia and kosovo had been a hotbed area for conflict. in of the past few weeks, the trump administration has negotiated a peace deal between serbia and kosovo that leaves

serbia to actually recognize kosovo. that may not seem like a big deal to many other people. but 0 to oklahomans, many who have served in our 45th, that have served there in kosovo helping protect and stabilize that country and provide security there in that region, it's very significant to us. to be able to see peace breaking out between serbia and kosovo. while many people don't pay attention to what's happening in serbia and kosovo, the trump administration has and their team has been doing a good job in negotiating that and bringing to them a stability. in those negotiations, serbia and kosovo agreed to designate hezbollah as a terrorist organization and to recognize jerusalum -- another affirmation

of what is happening in the middle east and the strength of what is ongoing. one last comment that many people may have missed. we all grieve for what is happening in lebanon. that experiment and multiracial and multifaith and cooperative government has been a struggle but they have been a stronghold for religious tolerance in lebanon. watching the hundreds of people that were killed and thousands that were injured in the explosion at the docks in beirut, it was painful for the entire world and the united states has stepped up as being the top donor to humanitarian aid to lebanon during this time period and engaging in multiple ways. at the end of the day if we're going to help lebanon be stable, we have to let that experiment, their democracy, in the middle east. i partnered with senator murphy

to help lebanon rebuild, including utilizing the u.s. development finance corporation, which is called the d.f.c., to help them and their infrastructure projects, to be able to push out china who has been working their way into the middle east and to allow the people of lebanon to decide their own future. leveraging levership and the international monetary fund and not allowing for real reforms in their banking systems to be able to push out corruption and hezbollah. there are things that we can do that are not a partisan nature that senator murphy and i have worked together on. it's important they continue to be a stable force in the region. this is a real time of testing for them as a country. i'm proud the administration has pushed our diplomats in lebanon to be able to find ways where we can practically help now and

long term for real reform for them. there's a lot of things going orrin the world. while we're focus on covid, and while we focus on racial inequality, we cannot lose traction of the issues we need to be engaged in around the world. it's important that america continues to be a leader in diplomacy and a leader in bringing religious liberty and freedom and the opportunity for all people, whether you're in hong kong, as we've discussed before, or whether you're in abu dhabi, all people deserve the recognition of their humanity and respect and be able to live their lives with freedom. let's represent the values that define us and define us all together. with that, i yield he the floor.

a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator for maine. mr. king: mr. president, i'm sure you and i and all the members of this body remember that night in late march. it was late at night. i remember standing in the back of the chamber to see one of the truly historic votes, and it was a unanimous vote of the united states senate to pass the cares act. it was an amazing achievement to see the senate and the congress come together in that way with the white house, with the president to help meet the needs of the american people. when we passed that bill back in march, september seemed a long way away. we thought we had provided enough aid for small businesses. it turns out we didn't. we thought we had provided enough aid for people, unfortunately, who have fallen into unemployment through no

fault of their own, but through the fault of this dreaded covid-19, but we didn't provide enough. we hoped we had provided enough for first responders, for schools, for health care professionals, for testing, for all of the things that were necessary to get us out of this terrible pandemic. it turns out that wasn't the case. here we are in september facing a renewed version of this virus that's now spreading in parts of the country that weren't affected back in march. and i want to address, number one, that we must do something. we have to respond to the needs of the american people just as we did in march. and i don't understand, mr. president, why this time it seems to be a partisan issue. why this time we can't have the same spirit that we had then of negotiation, of give and take,

of compromise to reach a bill which all realize now was a really significant accomplishment. but for some reason now it just seems to be much harder. and i understand the concern about the debt and the deficit. i used to be a governor. i know about balancing budgets. states have to balance their budgets. but now is not the time. if we don't take further action to shore up the economy and protect the people that are being impacted by this, the fiscal cost in the long run will be worse. the -- the revival of the economy will take longer. the cost to the treasury will be greater than what we are proposing to spend now. so i believe and hope that we are moving slowly toward some kind of agreement that will allow us to provide the support

to the american people and the american economy that will make such a difference in how we're able to cope with this terrible disease over the next several months, at least through the end of the year. that's really the mission that's before us. the democrats made a proposal back in may. they passed the heroes act of over $3 trillion. they have moved. the speaker and the minority leader here have moved $1 trillion. they made a counteroffer a few weeks ago about $2 trillion. the white house apparently over the last couple of days have said we're now talking about something, $1.5 trillion to $2 trillion as a solution. the parties are moving and i hope today that they will continue to discuss that the table will have people sitting at it trying to find a solution.

i think there is hope that we can do that. i deeply hope that we can come to an agreement. schools across the country are seeing unbelievably additional expenditures in all areas to try to get back to normal, to try to get back into the classroom, but if they are going to do, they are going to need more buses, they are going to need more teachers, they going to need for cleaning people and all kinds of things they weren't anticipating. small businesses are beginning to teeter. i hear awful stories about small businesses that are in danger of closing their doors forever. that would be a tragedy for our country. and we're continuing to see people lose their jobs. we're continuing to see people on unemployment. we're continuing to see people who can't put food on the table because the aid that we provided

in the cares act in march ran out at the end of july. so i'm urging, number one, discussions, that's pretty obvious. i hope that the parties -- the -- the representatives of the two parties and the representatives at the white house can come together and reach an agreement. but part of this agreement has to contain within its support for states, towns, and cities. they are suffering too and they are providing the very services that the people need in this pandemic. states can't borrow money the way we can. they have to balance their budget on a year-to-year basis and if they are being clobbered by the effect of this disease, not only in expenditures but in loss of revenues, they only have two choices. i've been there. they only have two choices.

one is drastic cuts and the other is racing taxes. neither of which is an acceptable alternative in the midst of a recession. neither of which makes any sense for the american people. they have to either cut or raise taxes. those aren't good options. and, by the way, i can only speak for the main budget. i don't know how other state budgets work, but in maine about a third of our budget, between 25% and 35% of our state budget goes back to our communities. it goes to the capital city of augusta, makes a u-turn and goes back to the towns and cities across maine, mostly in the firm of aid in education and also in revenue sharing and other kinds of grants and contracts. when we talk about the states, it sounds like we're talking about these big impersonal entities, but we're really talking about towns, small

towns, school districts. that's where a lot of this impact is going to fall. and it's a -- it's a double-edged sword that cuts both ways. it's hurting people, the people who are being laid off, the people who are going to have to be laid off whether they are in a town, a city, a county or a state, but that hurts the economy. those people are people that are buying things in the stores, that are going to strawnts, -- strawnts, that -- restaurants and going to grocery stores. if they can't do that, the economy is pulled down. the estimates are if we don't help the states and the cities and towns in this situation, it will hit g.d.p. by 2% to 3%. that's huge. that's a huge economic loss that's going to translate into a fiscal loss for us, but a tragic loss for the american people. the estimate in maine is a

1.4 billion shortfall with our state budget over the next three years, a half a billion dollars in this fiscal year that we're in right now. towns and cities across maine are already starting to furlough first responders. who is it that works for the towns? who is it that works for the cities? police and fire are the biggest components. they are not hiring people. mr. president, i think we need to face the fact that those who are opposing aids to our cities and towns are the people who are defunding the police. that's who's defunding the police because their budgets are going to be cut if they don't get some assistance from this body and this government. let's be real. let's talk tbacts. -- facts. let's talk about the real impact

of our lack of attention to this issue. this is a personal tragedy for these families and it's one more blow to the economy. and, by the way, this is not a blue state issue. here's some states that -- whose budgets have been hit by more than 10% by the loss of revenues caused by the covid-19. alaska, not much of a blue state. indiana, kansas, kentucky, mon it tana, oklahoma, -- montana, oklahoma, wyoming. those states are hurting too. and it bothers me this blue-state, red-state stuff. i have moatd for i don't know -- voted for i don't know how many emergency for wildfires it never ee cured to me to ask what -- it never occurred to me to ask what color the state is. it never occurred to me.

we're a community. this is a country. i don't ask how florida voted if there's a hurricane that strikes that state or georgia or alabama, which is being hit right now. if they need help, we should provide it. but what we're seeing now is a slow motion fiscal hurricane that's hitting many, if not all of the states of the united states, and we should come together and help them. in this business about well, we don't want to bail out somebody's pension program. look, this is an easy calculation. the treasury department is capable of making the calculations. what were your revenues before last year, what were your projections before covid? what's the difference? that's what we're talking about. make no mistake. we're talking about real concrete on the ground losses of jobs, and losses of the services that those jobs provide, whether

it's public health workers, first responders, firefighters, police, yes, police. that's who's being impacted here. and it's us as citizens who are the customers of those services who need the protection, who need the services that they provide, that's who's being hurt. so, mr. president, i hope that we can come to an agreement and that we can get over this nonsense that this is somehow a blue state, red state thing and that we're bailing out states that weren't prudent. i'm tired of hearing that. we're talking about people's lives here. we're talking about the protection of public services. we're talking about teaching our kids. we're talking about people who are providing the basic protections that we all take for granted in our daily lives. so really i have two simple

messages. one, let's make a deal. and, two, that deal should include support for those people and institutions in our states, in our cities, and in our smallest towns so that they will have the wherewithal to be able to help us all get through this thing together. that's what this is all about, and those are the people on the ground who are helping us to get through this together. mr. president, we can do this. we proved in march we can do it. i think we must and can and will do it again. thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator for utah. mr. lee: mr. president, i have five requests for committees to meet during today's session of the senate. they have approvals from both the majority leader and the minority leader.

the presiding officer: duly noted. mr. lee: mr. president, tomorrow marks an important day in our nation's history, the birth of the united states air force. for 73 years, countless brave intern women and men have protected our liberty and homeland from the skies. they've embarked on air combat missions, guarded our bases and missile sites, and they've undertaken heroic rescues. they've flown, fought, and won in the air on behalf of our great country. and this year also marks another important anniversary in my home state, the 80th year of hill air force base's service to that mission. in 1939 congress approved the construction of an air depot in northern utah. the following year, on january 12, the surrounding community came together and broke ground to create what is now known as

hill air force base. and ever since then it's played an invaluable role in building up our air force and supporting our air men and women throughout world war ii, korea, vietnam, and the conflicts we still face today. tucked between the beautiful wasatch mountains of the east and the great salt lake on the west, hill air force base is today home to 22,000 u.s. military personnel. it's the largest single site employer in the state of utah, providing nearly $1.5 billion in jobs each year with an overall economic impact of about $3.7 billion annually. hill houses and ensures mission readiness for some of our best and brightest personnel, including the 75th air base wing, the 388th fighter wing, and the 419th reserve

fighter wing. it's also home to the ogden air logistics complex which repairs and maintains some of our most cutting-edge aircraft, including the f-22 raptor, the f-16 falcon, the a-10 thunder bolt 2, the t-38 talon and of course the f-35-a lightning 2, the most advanced fighter jet in the world. the air force nuclear weapons center on hill has since 1959 been responsible for supporting the minuteman intercontinental ballistic missile program, the ground-based leg of our nuclear triad. just a short distance west of the base, the utah test and training range contains the largest block of special use airspace in the continental united states. the range provides an ideal location for testing and

evaluation of weapons and training grounds for combat, ensuring that our airmen are prepared to win any conflict we enter into with decisive and conclusive air power. there's no question that hill air force base oversees vital national security assets for the united states air force. the air force and our country are better off as a result of its existence. but there's something even more important that makes hill the exceptional place that it is, and that's it's people. the patriotism, work ethic and community support are unmatched anywhere else in the country or in the world, for that matter. every commander who serves a two-year rotation at hill always says the same thing. the community support is

stronger at hill air force base than any other base where any one of them happens to have served of. i'm proud to say in utah we go above and beyond to aid our military and to support our families, as well we should. according to the 2019 support of military family report, utah ranks among the top destinations for military families transitioning to a new duty station. two of the three highest-ranking air force installations are in utah -- hill air force base and the roland wright air national guard air force base in salt lake city. and the key reason for this has been utah's work to improve professional license reciprocity for military spouses. among the many challenges that military families face, one of the greatest is that spouses working in fields requiring occupational licenses offer,

often suffer huge setbacks as a result of the barriers put in place by these occupational licensing regimes in the various states. faced with the 50-state patchwork quilt of licensing laws, these spouses are forced to spend thousands of dollars and sometimes thousands of hours on top of those thousands of dollars just to obtain licensure every single time they move to a new state. even if they have previously acquired years or even decades of experience and licensure in another state, and oftentimes by the time the new license in the new state, in the new duty station has been processed, it's already time for the family to move yet again for the next military assignment. this isn't fair. it's not right. it's not how we ought to treat the families of our brave

military men and women. the department of labor estimates that 13% of military spouses are unemployed. and a more recent department of defense study put the rate even higher, at 24%. mr. president, this needlessly and unjustly burdens military members and their families. in some instances it prevents service members from reenlisting, and in others it prevents spouses from entering their desired field in the first place. thankfully some states have already taken steps to move forward in the right direction. they've already stepped up to the plate to address this problem in a meaningful way. and in fact, thanks to the diligent work of two prominent utah lawmakers -- senator todd wiler and state representative brian green in utah, my home state has been one of the first

to allow licensure reciprocity for military spouses as long as they meet certain established criteria. i commend senator wiler and representative green for their efforts, and i'm encouraged to see other states following the example set by utah. but the federal government has a role to play here too. while occupational licensing is a field that's generally controlled by the state, we've got a role to play insofar as the activities of the states, the regulation imposed by the states ends up impacting our military families. military readiness and talent retention as well as movement of our troops across the nation and throughout the world fall under the oversight responsibilities of congress. we at the national level should be doing everything in our power to ensure that licensing laws are friendly and flexible and certainly not hostile to or

prohibitive of the activities of military spouses and their families. that is why i'm introducing the military spouse licensing relief act. this bill will simply ensure that when service members are relocated on military orders, their spouses can receive reciprocity for professional licenses across state lines, regardless of where within the united states they might be reassigned. in order to receive reciprocity under this bill, a license would have to be in good standing, according to the requirements of the jurisdiction that issued the license in the first place. and the spouse must still comply with the state standards of practice, of discipline, and fulfillment of any continuing education requirements. as a state function protected under principles of federalism and explicitly by the tenth amendment, the bill does nothing to preempt the state's

rightful authority to set licensing standards within each state. mr. president, we owe a great debt of gratitude to the men and women who give so much to protect our nation, whether on the land, the seas, or in the skies. this bill is a simple, just, constitutionally sound solution that will lessen some of the burden placed on them. it won't fix all of the problems. it won't make easy all of the sacrifices that are made by our military spouses and their families, but it will make some of it easier. that's the least we can do. as we commemorate the birthday of the air force and the anniversary of hill air force base this week, this bill and passing it is the least we can do for our military and their families.

we need to get this passed. i invite all of my colleagues to join me in securing its immediate passage. thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor.

mr. cardin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from maryland. mr. cardin: thank you, mr. president. today i rise to commemorate the international day of democracy. since 2007, september 15 has offered an opportunity each year to reflect on the democratic values that we cherish and to recommit ourselves to promoting them around the world. the democratic project is especially important at this moment. although some communities are experiencing greater rights and freedoms than ever before, there is also an alarming trend of democratic backsliding in many corners of the globe. countries that were becoming increasingly open are moving back towards authoritarianism under unlawful repressive leaders. meanwhile countries that were already unfree are suffering even more disturbing civil and human rights abuses. if we turn a blind eye to these

developments, it will embolden bad actors to continue undermining freedom, peace, and equality. the united states must lead all democracy-loving people in calling out subversions of democratic rights wherever they exist and holding those responsible to account. one country that requires our urgent attention is china. the government of china has not adhered to democratic norms for a long time, but we should never allow that failure to normalize ongoing human rights abuses such as the vicious opposition to the uighurs. international nongovernmental organizations have documented china's mass surveillance, arbitrary detention, torture, and political indoctrination of these communities for no reason other than their religious and cultural differences. we must do everything possible to fight for the freedom and

equality of the uighurs to help end this atrocity. we also need to stand up for the rights of the people of hong kong. beijing's attempt to circumvent hong kong's independent legal system of a far-reaching oppressive national security law is dangerous and in complete disregard of the one country-two system principle. i'm likewise disturbed that the hong kong government inexplicably postponed the september regional elections for another year. the people of hong kong deserve to see their democratic aspirations realized and protected. i am pleased that there's bipartisan strong support in the united states senate and in the house for the people of hong kong. i've joined with senator rubio in introducing legislation to make that clear. china is certainly not the only place where democratic rights are threatened. we need to look closer to home as well to countries like

venezuela. in venezuela nicolas maduro's illegal regime has produced one of the worst humayun crises by plundering the country's resources for personal gain and using the distribution of food as a tool for social control. maduro has completely ignored the venezuelan people's call to a return to democracy and is using the current global pandemic as an opportunity to consolidate his own power. in addition to addressing quasi dictatorships in the western hemisphere, we must maintain pressure on the so-called last dictator of europe, bell usian president lou schenck co-. while lou schenck co-has been full of corrupt power grabs and crackdowns on dissent, the recent election demonstrates a new level of lawlessness. he has refused to certify

opposing candidates and then imprisoned them. he claimed victory through clearly fraudulent election results. he restricted the free flow of information by shutting down the internet and oversaw the brutal repression of protesters, including many instances of bell laotian security forces repeatedly torturing detained citizens. he knows that the belarus an people are ready for a new chapter that does not include him. instead of stepping acid to serve the interests of his country, he has been a donned the rule of law in order to protect his own power. it is no surprise that he has appealed to vladimir putin to endorse this tyrannical approach. putin is after all a veteran when it comes to destabilizing democracies. he has done so not only in his own country of russia where he

overcomes dissent by simply changing the constitution to secure his rule and poisoning political opponents, but also in other parts of the world. that includes his continuous attempt to undermine our democracy here in the united states. president trump has completely failed to hold president putin accountable for abusing his own people's human rights and attacking the united states. even worse, president trump appears to have taken a page out of putin's books suggesting that if we were -- if he were not reelected this november, he may not accept the results of that election. it is a side commentary on the state of our domestic affairs that we have to take such a ludicrous statement seriously. we no he that global democracy is in trouble when the leader of the united states is complimenting undemocratic heads of instead of condemning them. if there's anything that i've learned in my many years of public service is that we can

never take democracy and all of our freedoms, rights, and opportunities it entails for granted. my work in the house, in the senate, on the helsinki commission really embodies that commitment to stand up for human rights. the helsinki final act made it clear that all states in europe, the former soviet union, the united states and canada embrace democratic principles and human rights and good governorrance but also the -- and good governance. but also the fact that we have a right to challenge the compliance with those commitments in any other member state. it is not interfering in their internal matters. it is holding them to the commitments they made in the helsinki final act. democracy is fragile. it must be constantly tended to and protected to survive and flourish. therefore, while we have aens to monitor the status of democracy in other parts of the world, we

have a parallel duty to safeguard and tend to our democracy here at home. i cannot remember a more dangerous time for american democracy since the civil war. to protect our democracy, we must protect the ability of every individual to exercise his or her right to vote. in the middle of a pandemic, that means expanding the opportunity -- the ability to vote by mail so that we do not force people to choose between participates in our democracy or protecting their health. we need to make sure that state and local election boards get the resources they need to cover the costs of mail-in voting and we need to defend the strengths, integrity and impartiality of the united states postal service. our president also openly invites foreign powers to interfere in our election, and his encouragement has been effective. the staple factors that influenced the elections in 2016 are once again actively planning to interfere in the upcoming elections.

regardless of party affiliation we should all be able to unate in pursuit of a healthy functioning democracy that requires us to take action against the foreign actors seeking to spread misinformation and divide americans for their own benefit. when we fail to protect democracy in the united states, it has consequences all over the world. after he was confronted about his recent brutal crackdown on protester journalists appeared opposition members, belarus president lukashenko said that the united states, quote should sort out their own affairs, end quote, before attempting to infear in belarus. his statements made clear that president trump and his administration and supporters undemocratic behavior is eroding our credibility on the global stage as a voice for human rights. let today, international day for democracy, be a remind for us to stand up in defense of democracy whether we're talking about

china, venezuela, belarus, or here in our own backyard. the world is counting on us. mr. president, i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call:

mr. alexander: mr. president. the presiding officer: we're in a quorum call. mr. alexander: i ask that the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. alexander: thank you, mr. president. i ask consent that i be allowed to use during my remarks two

exhibits of the federal aid application form. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. alexander: thank you, mr. president. i'm here this morning to talk about a hearing that we had in the education committee this morning that affects 20 million families who have to fill this out every year. this is called the fafsa. usually there's an adjective ahead of it. it's called the dreaded fafsa. 400,000 tennessee families fill it out every year. if you want to go to college and you need a pell grant or a student loan, you have to fill this out, 108 questions. then after you fill it out, the way it has been working -- and it still works today -- you have to send in the information on 22 of the questions to two different agencies, one to the i.r.s., one to the education department, and then they go through an elaborate process to check to see whether you've made any mistake. so let's say you're a homeless

student or a student in foster care or you're not able to identify your parents or you're living with your grandparents or any of those people have an aversion to filling out 108-question federal forms or giving their information to the government twice, then you don't go to college. that's what happens. in tennessee, we have had a governor who, named bill haslam, and a legislature that said to everybody in tennessee without a degree that you can have two more years of college free, but first you have to fill out this federal form. and they say this is the single biggest impediment to going to, having the opportunity to have those two free years of higher education in our state. so you would think somebody would do something about that, right? well, somebody has, or at least has been trying to. here is what it could be.

this is 33 questions. almost everybody agrees that this is better than this. the state counselors, the governors, the teachers, the students, the families. you can fill it out more easily. it deters many fewer students from -- it keeps many fewer students from walking away from the opportunity to go to college. and so you would ask why don't you pass it? well, mr. president, that's exactly what senator michael bennet, the democratic senator from colorado, and i said seven years ago in a hearing before the senate education committee when we had four witnesses and we talked about this, and i said at the end, there seems to be a lot of agreement about this. why don't the four of you is experts -- and these are people

who work in financial aid, who try to help students, who try to help minority students. this is the kind of stuff we're talking about all over america today. what do we do about racial justice? what do we do to help low-income students? how do we help people who are especially hurt by the pandemic? seven years ago what they said was, i said would you be willing to write us a letter, each of you, and tell us exactly what to do to eliminate the complexity of this fafsa? because what they said was most of these questions are unnecessary, that the federal government doesn't need to know the answer to these questions to decide whether you're eligible for a pell grant or eligible for a student loan. that's what they all said. so the four witnesses who had testified, looked at each other and said we don't need to write you separate letters. we'll write you one letter because we all agree on what to do. and so they did. and senator bennet and i introduced legislation called the fast act that would reduce

this to the size of a postcard. it only had two questions on it. well, that was two simplified. what we found out, for example, was that the state of indiana, the state of tennessee have their student aid, and they rely on some of this information to decide what aid to give in addition to the federal aid. and so we took the questions off this, then they'd have to ask the questions, so we really hadn't solved any problems. so we kept working. senator murray, the democratic leader of our committee, and i worked together on this during these seven years, and we began to make some progress. the progress we made first was with the obama administration, and they agreed to a very, it sounds like a simple change, they administratively allowed you to use your previous year's tax returns rather than your current year's tax returns to fill out the 22 tax questions on this form. you can imagine how hard it

would be to use this year's tax returns. so that was a big help. then the donald -- trump administration put this 108 questionnaire on an app so you can use your iphone to fill it out. now that would be pretty hard for me, but i've seen a lot of the youngsters in tennessee in the sevier county high school, for example, they went right to work, did a pretty good job of doing this, so that helped a lot. then senator murray and i, senator jones of alabama, senator scott of south carolina, last year we introduced a bill called the future act, and the future act did two things. it said that for 22 of the questions here, the ones that you have to give to the government twice -- you give it to the education department, you give it to the i.r.s., and then they check to see if you

made a mistake. and if they do, they slow down your aid. we said let's simplify that. let's just say all you have to do is check a box, and the i.r.s. will answer those 22 questions for you. it will take a couple of years to implement, that's a law now, because we're talking about 22 million families a year. so we save them that trouble. guess what else we saved? we saved enough money to permanently fund historically black colleges. how about that? filling out all this form didn't save the government money. it cost the government money. and so we were able in one act to save 20 million families, many of them minority families, most of them low-income. the trouble of filling out those 22 questions and permanently fund black colleges. so now we have legislation, senator jones and i and others -- and there are many

senators who have been involved in this, in addition to senator murray, senator booker has had an interest, senator collins, senator king, senator burr. i mentioned senator bennet earlier. you can see republicans and democrats all see the wisdom of this, as well as every witness we've ever had that comes before us. and so we have a new bill that says let's get rid of 53 questions and turn this into this. that's what the hearing was about today. now why wouldn't we do that? almost everyone says we should. should we deliberately require 20 million families to answer 53 unnecessary questions that discourage many low-income students from going to college? should we insist on that? i don't think so.

according to the congressional budget office, this would probably mean that about 400,000 more students would apply for pell grants. that's what the pell grant is for. it is to encourage low-income students who want a ticket to the head of the line, a ticket called higher education, a ticket that the college board said increases your earnings by $1 million over your lifetime if you get a four-year degree. and this is our effort to help low-income students get that ticket to a better life and a better education and more money. so why wouldn't we do it? and why wouldn't we do it during this pandemic? this has to be the strangest year of college in a century, at least a century. students are stressed out,

families are stressed out, and then we're going to add to stress by saying in addition, your friendly federal government, in order for you to get a pell grant is going to insist that you answer 53 questions that everybody says are unnecessary for the government to determine whether you're eligible for the loan or for the grant. and then there's one final reason we should do it. the act that senator murray and senator jones and senator scott and i introduced and became law last year with president trump's signature, the one that saved enough money to permanently fund historically black colleges, that's going to take a couple of years to implement. so if we go ahead and pass the law that turns this into this before the end of this year, we can do both of them at the same time. i think the american people

would feel pretty good about the united states congress in the midst of a pandemic, finished its work on such an important piece of legislation. and our hearing today was well attended. we had four of the same witnesses who came four years ago and said there's no need to ask all these questions. nobody needs them. nobody needs the answers. all it does is turn away from college students who we want to encourage to go. now think about that. that's a deliberate act by the federal government not to change that. it doesn't save any money. it doesn't eliminate any fraud. all it does is turn away from college the people who we want to encourage to have a chance to go. so, mr. president, i am hopeful that the hearing today and our repeated efforts will help us create approval of this before the end of the year,

since nobody tells me they're against it, you would think we would do it. sometimes people say, well, we need to agree on everything before we pass anything. sometimes that's true. but when something is this important, when it affects this many families, when it comes at a time when families are under stress anyway, let's turn the 108-question fafsa into a 33-question fafsa. let's allow that to be implemented by the federal government the same time last year's law is implemented, and let's make it simpler and easier for deserving americans to go to college. there are lots of other things we need to do about higher education. we need more accountability. we need to deal with student loans. many things we need to do. we've had a lot of discussions on though.

we're not going to get agreement on that this year. just as we were able to do the historically black colleges this year and the first step on the fafsa, i think it would be wise to finish the job. i was very pleased with our hearing. i'm grateful to senator murray for her kind comments this morning that she made and for her friendship and her willingness to work with me on this. and i would hope that for the benefit of those 20 million families, we'd have some success. i ask consent to include in the record a copy of my opening statement this morning at the hearing. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. alexander: mr. president, i notice the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call:

mr. sullivan: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from alaska. mr. sullivan: mr. president, i ask that the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. sullivan: mr. president, it's thursday, and as you know it's one of my favorite times of

the week. the presiding officer has the good fortune of listening to a number of the alaskan of the week speeches that i get to come down on the floor, typically every thursday, to talk about a person or group of people who are doing great things for my state. and, as i said, so many of my colleagues, even some of the reporters, they know this is the person we call our alaskan of the week. but sometimes we call them our alaskans of the week. now, this week we're going plural in a big way. this week we're recognizing an entire community for how this community, the whole community, banded together to help literally save a young child who was sick and needed medical attention. now, before i get into the

story, mr. president, let me say that in alaska community ising everything of living in one of the most magnificent places in the world is not without its challenges, and we depend on each other. communities often come together to help each other, traditional knowledge, particularly in our rural communities is critical and so is hard-won ingenuity and determination to overcome many of the challenges in living in the great state of alaska. i'd like to transport you to one of those communities. it's the village of igiakich. it is home to around 70 year-round residents growing to over 200 in the summer months. the name originated from a yupik word meaning, quote, like a

throat that swallows water. referring to the village's location where the qijak river meets iliwamma, going back to when it was russia, it was a commercial and fishing subsistence state economy. they have alternative energy, wind and hydro and most importantly this community has maintained a strong connection with each other which is so important for communities like this. and this is evidenced by what happened just a few weeks ago when a young girl needed to be airlifted out of the community to anchorage, some 250 miles away for medical help. and where nearly every member of

the community pitched in to help. so what happened? here's what happened. on the night of august 28, so about three or four weeks ago, around 11:30 p.m. -- i'm sorry, a.m., the tribal administrator and village council vice president carl hill was sitting at home when he saw the life med alaska flight, which he knew was coming in to help this young girl, circling the runway above the small runway. many of our over -- over 200 of our communities aren't connected by roads -- aren't connected by roads. so a lot of them have small -- very small airports and landing

strips. so carl got this phone call when the pilot was above circling. there was a problem with the runway lights. they weren't working, so he ran out to the airport to try to turn the lights on manually. that didn't work. so he got into his plane -- he was one of only two pilots in the village with a plane, and he got on the plane just to talk to the pilot who's circling above over the headset, and that pilot, which was the medical -- medically evacuate flight that he was getting low on fuel but he couldn't land, but this young girl needed help as soon as possible and in so many of our native communities and rural communities, there is no

hospital, barely even a medical clinic sometimes. so she needed to be medivaced. while carl communicated with the pilot over his headset, other community members began calling people in the community asking for help. ida nelson made calls and jumped on her four-wheeler and headed to the airport. community leader christina salmon, who is sister to alexana salmon, who was our alaskan of the week in 2017, by the way, made around 32 phone calls, health aide amanda bibei and jeff ringhearst and so many others rallied this community and they all came out. they all came out on any kind of vehicle with lights that they had -- trucks, cars, a.t.v.'s,

kids on four wheelers, many still in their pajamas. this is in the middle of the night. and they arrive to provide enough light on the runway for the pilot to see the landing strip. they staggered the vehicles facing east and running the whole length of the runway, lighting this pilot's way, lighting the medivac pilot's way. they waited tensely. ida nelson told a reporter, quote, i was anxious and service, what it was my baby waiting for that plane? what if it was my child who needed saving. they wanted for the plane to touch down, for the girl to be transferred and all of this happened with the lights provided by the community in a

makeshift lighting of the runway. by this time around it was a little past 1:30, closer to 2:00, but when the plane took off, the community, of course, was in a celebrity mood. we were pumped up carl hill said. it was really an amazing feat that we were able to pull together so quickly in the middle of the night. and he added it was really a nice evening. mr. president, that young girl who needed to be medivaced and air lifted is back in the community. thank god. life med alaska posted in social media said what appears to be a blurry dark photo is really an amazing job of what a community

can do. mr. president, we are so proud to be a state full of such tight-knit communities that work together every day to make alaska so special. we are particularly proud as we recount the events of august 28 of igiugig, and so grateful to everyone in the community who came out in the middle of the night, some in their pa pajamaso make sure that young girl could get the medical help she needed. so thank you to igiugig for being such an amazing community with great heart and great innovation, and congratulations to all of you for being our alaskans of the week. i yield the floor.

mr. mcconnell: mr. president. the presiding officer: majority leader. mr. mcconnell: i move to proceed to executive session to consider calendar 603. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all in favor say aye.

opposed no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report the nominations. the clerk: nomination, the judiciary. edward hulvey meyers of maryland to be a judge of the united states court of federal claims. mr. mcconnell: i send a cloture motion to the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the motion. the clerk: cloture motion, we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of triewl 22 of the standing rules of the senate do hereby nominate edward hulvey meyers, signed by 17 senators as follows. mr. mcconnell: i ask consent the reading of the names be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i move to proceed to legislative session. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all those in favor say aye. l all opposed no, the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. mr. mcconnell: i move to proceed to executive session to consider calendar number 706. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion.

all those in favor say aye. all opposed, no. the ayes appear to be it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: nomination. equal employment opportunity commission, dliewk dliewk to be a member -- andrew r. lucas to be a member. mr. mcconnell: i send a cloture motion to the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the motion. the clerk: we the we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of with the standing rules of the senate do hereby move to bring to a close andrew r. lucas of virginia of the equal employment commission. mr. mcconnell: i ask consent the reading of the names be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i move to proceed to legislative session. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all in favor say aye. all opposed no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. mr. mcconnell: i move to proceed to executive session to consider calendar 708. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion.

all in favor say aye. all opposed no, the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: nomination, equal comploiment nomination commission, jocelyn samuels of maryland to be a member. mr. mcconnell: i send a cloture motion to the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the motion. the clerk: cloture motion, we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination of jocelyn samuels of maryland to be a member of the equal employment commission. mr. mcconnell: i ask consent the reading of the names be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i move to proceed to legislative session. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all those in favor say aye. all opposed no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. mr. mcconnell: i move to proceed to executive session to consider calendar number 709. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all in favor say aye. you will opposed no.

the ayes have it. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: nomination, equal employment commission, keith e. sonderling. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the motion. the clerk: we, the undersigned senators in accordance with the provisions of standing rules of the senate do hereby move to bring to a close of keith e. sonderling of florida signed by 17 senators as follows. mr. mcconnell: i ask consent the reading of the names be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i move to proceed to legislative session. mr. mcconnell: --. the presiding officer: the motion is agreed to. mr. mcconnell: i move to proceed to executive session to consider calendar 5888. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all those in favor say aye.

all opposed no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: nomination, the judiciary, john charles behind rakeer of john charles behindraker of arizona. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the motion. the clerk: we hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination of john charles hind eraker of arizona signed by 17 senators as follows. mr. mcconnell: i ask consent the reading of the names be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i move to proceed to legislative session. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all those in favor say aye. all opposed no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. mr. mcconnell: i move to proceed to executive session to consider calendar 815. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all those in favor say aye. all opposed no.

the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: nomination, the judiciary. roderick c. young of virginia to be united states district judge for the eastern district of virginia. mr. mcconnell: i send a cloture motion to the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the motion. the clerk: cloture motion, we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of standing rules of the senate of the senate do hereby move to bring to a close the nomination of roderick c. young of virginia to be united states district judge of the eastern district of virginia. mr. mcconnell: i ask consent the reading of the names be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask consent the mandatory quorum calls for the cloture motions be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to legislative session for a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak therein for up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the senate now proceed to the en bloc consideration of the following senate resolutions which were submitted earlier today.

is s. 702 through s. res. 707. the presiding officer: without objection, the senate will proceed to the resolutions en bloc. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the resolutions be agreed to, the preambles where applicable going be agreed to ae motions to reconsider be laid upon the table en bloc. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the committee on veterans' affairs be discharged from further consideration of s. 1646 and the senate proceed to its immediate consideration. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: s. 1646, a bill to desk --ing designating the outpatient clinic as the leo c. chase of veterans affairs clinic. the presiding officer: without objection, the committee is discharged and the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent that the rubio amendment at the desk be considered and agreed to, the bill as amended

be considered read a third time and passed, and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the committee on veterans' affairs be discharged from further consideration of s. 4072 and the senate proceed to its immediate consideration. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: s. 4072 a bill to desk nate the clinic of the veteran affairs as the robert d. maxwell of veterans affairs clinic. promise without objection, the committee --. the presiding officer: the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the bill be considered read a third time and passed and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the committee on help be discharged from further consideration of s. 924 and the senate proceed to its immediate consideration. the presiding officer: the c -- the clerk will report. the clerk: a bill to amend the

child abuse prevention and treatment act, and so forth. the presiding officer: without objection, the committee is discharged, and the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent that the cornyn substitute amendment at the desk be 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. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the help committee be discharged from further consideration of s. 1160, and the senate proceed to its immediate consideration. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: s. 1160, a bill to amend the child abuse prevention and treatment act to increase support for mental health. the presiding officer: without objection, the committee is discharged, and the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. mcconnell: i further ask the smith substitute at the desk be considered and agreed to, the bill as amend be read a third time and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i understand there is a bill at the desk. i ask for its first reading.

the presiding officer: the clerk will read the title of the bill for the first time. the clerk: s. 4618, a bill making emergency supplemental appropriations for disaster relief for the fiscal year ending september 30, 2020, and for other purposes. mr. mcconnell: i now ask for a second reading, and in order to place the bill on the calendar under the provisions of rule 14, i object to my own request. the presiding officer: objection being heard, the bill will receive its second reading on the next legislative day. mr. mcconnell: now, mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 3:00 p.m. monday, september 21. further, following the prayer and pledge, the morning business be deemed expired, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, and the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day. and that morning business be closed. further, following leader remarks, the senate proceed to executive session to resume consideration of the myers

nomination. finally, notwithstanding rule 22, the cloture motions filed during today's session ripen at 5:30 p.m. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: so if there is no further business to come before the senate, i ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order. the presiding officer: the senate will be adjourned until 3:00 p.m. on monday.his memoriat that legacy, can you talk aboutt the history of this memorial? when did the >> a memorial dedicated to president dwight eisenhower will be c dedicated today in washingn d.c.. joining us to talk about that