positive uplifting medication, even where we disagree which happens from time to time. >> your senator will be gasoline in shortly. today lawmakers will be working on judicial and executive nominations. this week they are expected to vote on legislation to extend government funding past this friday midnight deadline. now, live to the floor of the u.s. senate here on c-span2. the presiding officer: the senator from colorado. mr. gardner: thank you, madam president. thank you to the people of colorado for this incredible honor you've lent to me these last six years to serve you in the united states senate. thank you to my fame jamie, mom and dad and lisa who supported me this last decade of service with your love and sacrifice through missed ball games and lost teeth, school concerts and

junior high dances. sore throats and first moments. thank you to my incredible staff, many in the chamber today who are in colorado and washington who made so many great things happen and whose difference will be felt for generations to come. you leave a mark on the country far beyond the etching of a signature. -- signature, desk, and the floor. thank you to my colleagues and senator bennet. thank you for the honor of serving along your side and commitment to our nation, capitol police, the staff, support staff in the senate who make it all possible. above all, most importantly -- and most importantly, thank you to this great and extraordinary nation for all that it means and represents. the hope and optimism that for over two centuries has led people around the globe to give up everything they had just to be here, to be a part of this nation, to then turn around and fight through political strife and pandemics, to go to war to

save the union, to know how lucky and blessed that we are, that out of all the billions of people through the thousands of years of human history, we have had the privilege of being here in this place at this point to be a part of it. there's been a lot of coverage in the news lately about how the pollsters got it wrong. but one thing they got right, congress is about as popular as a rocky mountain oyster in a bullpen. we've been able to do many good things and i hope we can use those successes to drive even more successes and show the american people that faith in this institution is actually well-deserved. over the last six years i have worked hard to pass the first ever mandatory sanctions is on

kim jong-un. it was an honor to work with senator menendez throughout this process. senator markey and i passed the comprehensive strategy for a free and open indo-pacific, the asia reassurance initiative. gary peters along with lamar alexander led the effort in the america competes legislation to get more women and minorities into the stem fields and to advance our scientific research and discoveries. the sue idea prevention bill -- the suicide prevention bill that passed the house and senate unanimously with lgbtq-specific language. this bill will save lives. i was honored to help move the bureau of land management headquarters to colorado and to get funding for the construction of the arkansas valet conduit. i helped lead the passage of legislation to complete our v.a. hospital in colorado to advance our cybersecurity and to foster our relations with taiwan, south korea, and beyond.

and it was an honor of my time in the senate to work with lamar and senators man minute, height can't, king, portman, daines and burr on the holy grail of conservation legislation. in my first remarks on the senate floor i spoke about no matter where across colorado that you live or across this great nation, we all hope for the same thing -- to live in a loving home that values every citizen, that they learn the value of hard work and perseverance, where hard work is met with reward, that they find a nation that they helped make a little bit more free and perfect. all of us in the senate, the american people, all of us, are responsible for the starting point that we have off to the next generation and we have a moral obligation to make it the best starting point possible. the accomplishments that we have had truly have helped create more opportunity for the next generation and the work that we

continue to do, to get through this pandemic together, will ensure that the next generation can indeed take advantage of those accomplishments and that the starting point for them is better than the generation past, despite the struggles of today. you know, at sunday school we learned an important lesson about this -- that struggles and tribulation produce perseverance. perseverance, character. and character, hope. and since that very first speech i gave, i come to recognize something that all of us -- that everyone here has undoubtedly experienced, that our service to country is filled with moment after moment that gives us that lump in the throat that brings a tear to our eyes, that fills our heart with wonder for this nation. perhaps it happened you to when seeing the majesty of the united states capitol brightly shining on a state of the union address night or when we hear the passion in the voices is of our

colleagues as they tell the story of hope for the future. for me, these moments happen every day. just part of the wonder of this nation and its capitol. i walked through the hall of columns and heard some voices ahead near the door i was heading toward. when i turned into the corridor, i saw a capitol tour guide pointing to a phrase on the wall. i read it to william jennings bryan and painted on the wall were these words -- our government, conceived in freedom and purchased with blood, can be preserved only by constant vigilance. i looked at the group reading it and there was a veteran in a wheelchair with bandages around his knees where his legislative session used to be much the gravity of this place, that moment, and the duty that we owe to this nation struck hard.

as i walked home, i kept thinking about it, about those words, about that moment, about that veteran, about this nation and our responsibility. i thought about how that wall was painted with that phrase, but there are others that are blank and empty, spaces that have been left empty so that future generations can fill them in with their history, with new portraits and new phrases and new moments. but no matter the moment in time for -- or point in time in history, it's the same patriotic responsibility that we owe to this chamber to defend and serve our nation, her constitution, and the american people. george washington in his farewell address said that the name american must always exalt the just pride of patriotism. he spoke of our constitution and how it must be maintained and that virtue and wisdom must stamp every act, and despite the differences over policy and

politics, it is our union that ought to be considered as a main prop of our liberty and that love of the one ought to endear us to the preyervation of the other. i believe that's what lamar alexander very eloquently spoke about on this very floor in his farewell just days ago. it is our country and the unity of nation that despite our differences will help preserve and will preserve our liberty. washington offered his advice in his farewell as an old and affectionate friend, a friend who recognized our obligation to create a better starting point for every new generation. but how do we heed this advice in a world of viral social media , click bait and sound bites. bill armstrong once said that while he was firm in his principle, he was flexible on the detail. we all come to this place because of our values and beliefs about this nation. those principles make us who we are. they drive our actions, they drive our debates. but today it seems as though we

live in a world where tactics are elevated to the staple status as principles and that staying true to principles means that the tactics used are elevated to the same status as the principle itself. it is always my way or the highway. senator armstrong's flexible details would now be derided as violations of principle. we cannot govern when every tactic and detail is elevated to the level of principle. there is no compromise with this approach. we cannot find ways to bring people together for that unity of nation which washington spoke when the test for principles becomes so impossible to pass that the only -- that only the very factions that he warned against can prevail. to my staff, i often talk about this challenge as being one of the pillar and the paint. the pillars in the building are more than ornamental. they are necessary to the building itself.

the pillars make us who we are. the paint color, the details, we can figure that out together. we can respect the pillar and find aagreement on the paint. we can hold people's principles in place, respecting those core believes that make you -- beliefs that make you who you are, while finding ways to work together to find solutions. that's how we pass the test of unity, respecting principles while achieving solutions because not every detail is a principle. and not every principle is a detail and we need a legislative body that can recognize this. and by doing so we'll follow through on the advice of washington and preserve our liberty with unity of nation. too many people have given up on the institutions of their government and it's my hope that the american people will find this pillar and paint approach to be one that can make a difference because if they believe it, if they believe that it will, then the american people will make sure their values are lee flected in the --

reflected in the representatives they elect. several years ago i had the honor of meeting a man named donald stratton. he came to my office accompanied by his family and a family of a -- of two sailors. they were h. they were looking forward to the celebration of the attack on pearl harbor. both were on the u.s.s. arizona when it was attacked. donald stratton was on one of the ship's towers. he was surround by flame and surely believed that he would perish. when out of the chaos of that morning came a rope thrown by a yet unknown to him sailor jim george on the vessel moored next to the u.s.s. arizona. this rope saved his life and several other shipmates. no one knew their lifeline was thrown to them by george until years later. once they learned who it was,

they spent the rest of their life fighting to get joe george recognized by the navy. i was honored to be a part of that effort. finally in 2017 led by donald stratton a, joe george received the bronze star for valor. with donald stratton attending one last time, he was fighting for this country and his countrymen to the very end. when i asked him how he did it, how he survived the attack and got back into the fight, he chuckled and he laughed and he gave me an answer i didn't see coming. well, corey, everybody has to be somewhere. everybody has to be somewhere. and he is right. we're here in the united states senate. most of you will still be here next congress. don't waste this opportunity to be who it this nation needs you to be as this moment of great challenge. to recognize the difference between the paint and pillar, to know the difference between a principle and a tactic, or to

take a stand and where to stand together. to bring a nation together in unity for the preservation of liberty. to recognize that to be american carries with it the greatness of a nation forged by fight and fire, tempered by wisdom and made great by men like donald stratton, who recognized that their duty and their time didn't just end with the last calling of the roll. everybody has to be somewhere. make it count for this nation. -- make it count for this nation that you were here. if you go into any of my offices you'll see my mission statement. we represent a state where the words to america the beautiful were written. we will always look up to the rocky mountain horizon and the work that we do and remind ourselves that only through our actions will god continue to shed his grace on our great nation. ours is a nation founded on the

optimism that no generation waits for the next to be told where to go. it's the great american horizon that compels us. to continue to reach ahead, to rise, to achieve, and to believe in america. ten years ago i sat on the floor of the united states house of representatives as we prepared -- some of my completion here with me -- to be sworn into the 1123th congress. i watched with our daughter allison patiently sitting by my side as the peaceful transition of power took place. the hallmark our republic. as the most powerful constitutionally prescribed member of congress, the speaker of the house gave the gavel to a newly elected speaker. without gunshot or war, peacefully transitioning to a new majority. today i speak on the senate floor with a heart of gratitude that as i leave with a new congress set to begin, i go home not because of or due to the

threat of violence or revolution but because of that same constitutional governance that has given this country over two centuries of strength and certainty, a jewel among nations, exceptionally blessed by god. it's been the privilege to serve with you and this country. we owe every man, woman, and child in this country our commitment to them, to not pass on to that next generation a nation in decline or retreat but a nation that rises, a nation that reminds itself that ours is a country worth fighting for. a nation that believes in itself because when you believe in america, when you believe in this country, the world has not

seen anything yet. thank you to my colleagues, thank you for the honor of serving with you. and, madam president, this kid from yuma yields the floor.

a senator: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from colorado. mr. bennet: thank you, madam president. i would ask the senate come to order. the presiding officer: the senate will be in order. mr. bennet: thank you, madam president. i wanted to take just a few minutes to speak about my colleague from colorado, senator cory gardner, the kid from yuma as he described himself a minute ago, to recognize the work that we've done for our state together in a bipartisan way.

over the past six years, madam president, one of the most common and sometimes surprising questions i get from reporters and constituents was how is your relationship with senator gardner, can you work together with senator gardner. it's really -- it's an innocent question but i've come to think about it as a reflection of the sad state of our politics and the senate for the moment in particular. behind the question is the -- because cory is a republican and i'm a democrat, we somehow can't work together for the benefit of our state. that hasn't been the case. far from it. sometimes he would say, sometimes i would say that we felt like there were times when we were working together better than states that were represented by two people from the same political party. in this congress, colorado is one of just ten states that

wasn't represented by senators from the same party. think about that. just one of ten states wher wit- states with a split caucus in this body, just ten out of 50. you'd think it would be a lot higher given how evenly divided we are as a country and a lot has been written about the divides in our country today. and one of those divides is the rural-urban divide in america that reporters like to talk about. in our delegation, cory and i have tried to bridge that. and i have to say it has helped a lot, that cory was born and raised in yuma, colorado, a town on the eastern plains with a population of 3,500 people roughly, a place where cory grew up working in his parents' implement dealership, the red tractors, madam president, not the green tractors, where

community, tradition, and ties to the land like a lot of places in our state run very, very deep, a place where rush hour means getting behind a tractor. it's a beautiful place, and cory was kind enough to invite me to uma -- yuma after he was elected. we made a commitment to work together despite our political differences which we certainly have, and that's exactly what we tried to do over the past six years. we worked together on legislation to ban members of congress from becoming lobbyis lobbyists. i tell my colleagues today there would be no bill we could pass that would do more to lift the reputation of this body than that one. over half the people that leave here don't retire, become lobbyists. it's hard to find somebody to cosponsor that piece of

legislation. cory saw the benefit of it and we've been fighting for it ever since. we wrote bipartisan legislation to from he vent government shutdowns -- prevent government shutdowns, to make the energy grid more resilient, for the arkansas valley conduit, a critical water project that washington has been promising colorado since john f. kennedy came to pueblo when he was president. we fought to hold the v.a. accountable to care for our veterans across the rocky mountain region. with cory's leadership, we fought together to keep u.s. spacemen in colorado. we partnered to fund critical improvements to our infrastructure from i-25 along the front range to the southwest cheat. and just last week, senator collins, after colorado, 127 years after colorado became the first state to grant women the vote by popular referendum and a hundred years after ratification

of the 19th amendment, the senate passed our bill to install america's first outdoor monument honoring the women's suffrage movement here in washington, d.c. that was typical of the legislation that we carried together because the idea actually came from fort collins, colorado. it didn't come from washington, d.c. so many of the best ideas that we worked on together came from colorado. cory is a student of colorado history and the country's history. he understands the significance of a bill -- the significance of a bill like that. over the years we worked together late into the night to help communities across our state get back on their feet after devastating floods, wildfires, gold king mine spill in 2015, and now the covid-19 pandemic where cory's leadership was absolutely essential. i could go on all afternoon. the point is, even though cory

and i have had plenty of differences over the years, there's a real record of bipartisan accomplishment for our state. one of the reasons for that is because whatever our differences on policy, i have never for a moment doubted cory's commitment to serving the interests of colorado and his genuine appreciation for what makes us the best state in america. and in a lot of ways cory has embodied many of our state's best qualities. we're a young and restless state. colorado -- and cory has represented it always with energy and with drive. agree with him or not, you can't say he hasn't worked hard every single second that he's been here. you probably also heard that colorado has 300 days of sunshine a year. as it turns out, so does cory gardner. it's probably why my staff always told me to smile more at

our events together. he's been a consistent source of warmth and optimism in a body desperate for both. he's brought a lot more of it to this chamber than i have, and i'm going to try to make up for it now that you won't be here this year. all of that is to say i have been grateful, extremely grateful for the opportunity to work with senator gardner over the past six years and to do a lot of work together for our state. on a personal level, i'd like to say to his family, i also want to say how much i appreciated the consistent kindness cory and jaime have shown to me and my family, even at moments that have been difficult ones for them. my staff are also deeply grateful for the close collaboration from cory's team over the years and i want to thank them for their extraordinary work. i know there are a lot of folks

today who got things to say about my colleague from colorado, so let me just end with this. serving in this body, as he said, is an enormous privilege, but as everyone here knows, it does not come without a cost, especially for a parent with young children. and i have watched cory as his kids have begun to grow up, put his family first at all times and our state a close second behind them but to watch him get on a plane, as i did this week with his family, the care, the attention that he paid them is a reminder to me and it has been over the last ten years about what's really most important. i will miss our work together, but i suspect senator gardner is not done with his contribution to the country, to the state of colorado, to his community, and i look forward to continuing our work together in whatever capacity he ends up choosing to

serve. with that, madam president, i yield the floor. ms. collins: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from maine. ms. collins: thank you, madam president. madam president, cory gardner and i first met in 2011 when he became the first aluminous of the united states senate youth program to be sworn into the house of representatives. as the first senate youth program delegate elected to the united states senate, i felt an immediate connection to this new member of congress from colora colorado. one year both of us had the privilege of addressing the student delegates to this wonderful program that had made such a difference in the lives of both of us. since he joined the senate six years ago, cory has demonstrated

his leadership on many issues which we have heard described today. his upbeat personality and his commitment to compromise, to solutions, to bipartisanship have had a positive influence on this chamber. as the renowned columnist george will once called cory, he is a human beam of sunshine. i'm sure that that is the phrase that was going through the mind of his colleague from colorado. his approach to legislating has indeed been enlightening, but it has been his positive approach to every problem that we encounter, his upbeat personality, his wonderful

smiles and his problem-solving devotion to america and to his state that have distinguished him. cory's landmark achievement which he discussed today is the great american outdoors act. i was proud to cosponsor his legislation. this historic bill at long last fully and permanently funds the land and water conservation fund and provides funding to address significant parts of the multibillion dollar national parks maintenance backlog. the great american outdoors act will help to ensure that both current and future generations can enjoy the pristine beauty of our natural treasures in colorado, in the great state of maine, and throughout our

country. cory's hard work to bridge the partisan divide and secure support from both sides of the aisle leave a lasting legacy that the american people will cherish. i would note, madam president, that he never gave up in his pursuit of seeing this landmark legislation signed into law. and that is typical of the approach that cory takes. he doesn't give up. he persists, but he does so in such a delightful way, always in search of a solution, that it's very difficult for his colleagues to ever say no to him. cory's commitment to environmental stewardship extends from the great outdoors to the frontier of technology to advance the development and

deployment of energy from renewable, sustainable, and clean energy sources. cory, as was mentioned by senator bennet, has also been a champion for those who have served our nation in uniform. in 2017, a troubling government accountability office report revealed an unacceptable trend of v.a. facilities failing to report health care providers who make major medical errors to the board's -- to the boards responsible for tracking dangerous practitioners, or in some cases revoking or suspend ing their licenses. as a result, these practitioners can go into private practice from their work at the v.a. or simply move across state lines without disclosing prior

performance problems to either patients or state regulators. to solve this serious problem, cory introduced the v.a. provider accountability act. his bill which passed the senate unanimously helps to protect patients by requiring the v.a. to disclose major errors committed by its medical providers. madam president, time and again, i had seen cory put into practice the values that the senate youth program imparts to high school students. a deep respect for our enduring system of government, a dedication to public service, and a willingness to work in a bipartisan spirit to get the job done.

it has been such an honor and a great joy to serve with cory in the united states senate. i'm certain he will continue to serve his state and his country, and i wish him and his family all the best. thank you, cory, for all you've done. mr. blunt: some farewell speeches are different than others. i think this farewell speech should be just a momentary pause for us to think about what comes next. cory gardner is incredibly accomplished. he has been good for the senate. he has been great with his colleagues. and he has been, beyond that, even more constantly focused on

colorado. he has become for me a valued personal friend. our families, for whatever reason, from almost the first time we spent any time together, sort of gravitated toward each other and continue to do things together. and why not? jamie's great. cory is that beam of sunshine that senator bennet and senator collins both have talked about. 365 days a year. he is optimistic, he's determined, he's realistic. those are all three pretty doggone good characteristics for a successful legislator. to continue to say okay, that didn't work. what can we do that makes that work in some other way, to be determined to get the job done, to be realistic about how an obstacle can be in the way, and understand how to come together and make all those things work.

now, senator collins particularly mentioned that long list of truly great legislative fights that cory has successfully led in. one of them we worked together on has been the effort to be sure that people who weren't able to get broadband, people in rural areas, people in urban areas who maybe had broadband that couldn't afford it -- by the way, madam president, i think that's the next big fight about broadband, not just accessibility, but also even though it may be running right by where you live, how do you -- we work in ways that are sure you are part of it. but in little towns like i grew up in or cory grew up in, it's the difference in whether you can compete or not. we have seen that so dramatically in the last few months where kids going to school without the ability to have that access were dramatically hampered by that, people who couldn't use

broadband for telehealth, mental health or telehealth and hampered by that, and frankly people who just couldn't live where they prefer to live because they didn't have the connectedness they need to have. that's a fight that cory has been in the middle of and understood it only maybe as you would understand it if half of your state is -- is vertical and the other half is horizontal, you have got to figure out how to get the connectedness you'd like to have. and the second century of the national park system, one of the truly great american miracles, will be dramatically different than it would have been otherwise because of the legislation that cory led on. and thinking about the future of that system, thinking about the future of the country. i remember one of the first stories i heard cory tell after he got here and a small group of people, and i think his son

thatcher was headed out the door that he wasn't supposed to be going at, and cory said that reminds me, one of my speeches late in the campaign, i was done, i thought we were all done, i look around, and thatcher's shoes are still on the platform, even though thatcher shouldn't have ever been on the platform, and as cory goes back to pick up thatcher's shoes, holds them up and says this is why i'm running. this is why i'm running. for this little pair of shoes and all the other pairs of shoes that represent the future. i think cory has done an incredible job here focusing on not just the present but the future, and frankly, as senator bennet said, i am personally interested in seeing what comes next in the future of a person and a family that have so much to offer and are willing to offer it in service to others. madam president, this is a day that i'm ready to look and see

what the next chapter of the gardner story looks like, and i think it's going to be optimistic and i think cory will be smiling all the way through it. i'd yield back. quorum call:

quorum call:

ms. cantwell: madam president, i come to the floor to urge my colleagues -- the presiding officer: officer senator, we are in a quorum call. ms. cantwell: thank you, madam president. i ask that the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. cantwell: thank you, madam president. i come to the floor today to urge my colleagues to vote against the nomination of nathan a. simington to be a member of the federal communications commission. we definitely want the f.c.c. to focus on commonsense consumer protections, universal broadband, the survival of our news and local journalism industry as it faces

unbelievable, unfair competition and practices by the tech sector, and we also want to make sure that the next president of the united states also gets to choose their member and representation to the f.c.c. the senate has a tradition of confirming commission nominees in paris to assure the equality of both sides of the aisle. moving this nominee without that democratic pairing, i think, is contrary to what we've usually operated under in good governance. every member of this body should be concerned about setting a precedent and what it'll mean in the future if we don't have essential consumer protections and oversight on this important institution. we need high-quality, affordable broadband to the underserved and to the unserved. that includes tribal country. we need to make sure that we are working hard as a result of the pandemic for people to need to understand that broadband now is essential to our health care, to being able to work, and certainly to the education of

our children. according to the a.p., 15% of families with children have no access to broadband. we need to make sure that all students have the tools for distance learning. would end to make sure that washingtonians have access to broadband for health care, to clinics, to make sure their contacts can be done online just in helping us fight the pandemic. and we need to preserve a free and open internet that is not divided into haves and have-nots. the innovation economy is so important to my state, but it's important to the entire united states. and we need to have nominees who will fight for these policies and get them implemented. that is why it is important that we look at f.c.c. commissioners. mr. samington was before the our commerce committee. we had another nominee that the white house abruptly, unexpectly pulled from its renomination, commissioner reilly, just days after the committee report that nomination to the senate.

allegedly because he spoke his mind, because he did not agree with the president of the united states. mr. simington was nominated instead just a few weeks later, coming from ntia, which asked the f.c.c. to issue rules. it raises questions in my mind about the white house's choice of mr. nathan a. simington particularly given these issues as it relates to the f.c.c. and key responsibilities. i have questions about his neutrality and independence and issues before the commission about whether he aggressively and actively sought the media attention to personal i will and explicitly direct pressure onto the f.c.c. this involvement might sound insignificant or just partisan to some, but it's so important for the f.c.c. to continue to play an important and independent role from the president of the united states. so i hope that we will not pass

the simington nomination, but i'm emphasizing to my colleagues, the president will deserve his nominee as well, and i hope our colleagues will move quickly to confirm them once they are nominated. i also wanted to take a couple of minutes to discussion action that all after us have been working on in a bipartisan -- on a bipartisan basis and a bicameral basis. that is the action that has resulted in the national defense authorization act that we will be taking up but is certainly being considered in the house of representatives today. the reason this is so important to emphasize today is the that in this legislation will be the coast guard bill and recognition of the fact that we truly are an arctic station. well, tomorrow of you may say, well, i think we already god geography. well, this is the first time that we will be authorizing a fleet of six icebreakers for the united states of america. some people think, well, why is that more than? what's so important about icebreakers? well, certainly to the north

quest passage and the -- certain will i to the northwest passage and to the movement of cargo and people and transportation routes, it is very important. when you look at where we are in the united states of america with an ice breaking fleet, we don't compete with other nations who have been able to access and transverse those waterways because they have somebody who can clean the waterway and make it safe and secure. that i -- that is why we need in the united states to have an ice-breaking fleet beyond the capacity we have had today, which is two vessels but basically not the full capacity of those two vessels. this is why it's so important for us to put the money and investment into a program to get us icebreakers so that we, too, can look at this northern waterway and passage and say to the united states of america and to the world community yes, we will be in the arctic as well. my colleagues on both sides of the aisle realize that this is a

very bipartisan issue. it is a national security issue. it's an environmental issue. it is about us and making sure that we communicate. i have also supported additional language about an arctic shipping federal advisory committee, the committee made up of representatives of federal agencies including the coast guard, department of defense, secretary of transportation, and others would be part of a process to ensure that our arctic efforts are better coordinated and impactful. and so i hope that my colleagues will look favorably on this legislation. we all know how important the coast guard is to -- we all know how important the coast guard is to our nation in an example of that ice-breaking capacity, but there are other aspects of this coast guard bill that we're also proud of, making sure that it works more robustly with fishermen on fishing safety, do more to examine the impacts of

tar sands, to make sure that our orca population is saved from noise impact and further reducing that impact on our orca population, and instituting new reforms within the coast guard to really help and empower women, to make significant investment in the 40% of the workforce of the coast guard which are women and to make sure that they have what they need, vital child care opportunities for coast guard families. and to make sure there are zero tolerance in the approach to any kind of sexual assault or sexual harassment. so these improvements overall, i would like to thank chairman wicker, senator sullivan, senator markey for working on all of these issues. i want to thank senator murkowski as i said for the arctic shipping federal advisory committee, and for many people that are helping us get to this point to say not only do we recognize geographically we are an arctic nation, we are going

to do something about it by making sure we have the capacity on this waterway to be heard and seen and to help the commerce that is going to emerge from new investments in the arctic. i thank the president, and i yield the floor. i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call:

a senator: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from oklahoma. mr. lankford: i ask for the quorum call to be set aside. the presiding officer: without objection.

mr. lankford: four different times in the last four months we've had votes on this floor to talk about covid relief. there's a real need to be able to get relief to a lot of people in my state. quite frankly, in states around the country. there are individual items that need to be done that are unfinished. i think we immediate to actuallo finish them. we have this week and next week to be able to finish the tasks at hand. we have 12 appropriations bill bills, we have a national defense authorization. in my state people want to know most what's going to happen with covid relief. where's that going to go? apparently now we can actually have the debate. after the election was over, speaker pelosi an announced that she was ready to actually negotiate the bill that the election was finished. great, folks in my state have actually been waiting because

four times in the last four months we brought up bills that were serious bills to be able to actually debate this out and to be able to get thed aid that's -- get the aid needed to be done starting with distribution for vaccines. the first vaccine will come on the market by this friday. it will be in arms by this weekend or at the latest monday in my state and in oklahoma. as i visited with the people in my state that are in charge of the distribution, they have a terrific plan that they're engaged to be able to work with health care providers across the state to get them first access. these folks that have been living in p.p.e. for months will now have the opportunity to get a vaccine will be a tremendous gift to them. it is incredibly important that this happens and i want to congratulate the folks in the science community, the folks at operation warp speed at the white house and so many other individuals that have worked so incredibly hard to be able to take a vaccine from first identification of the virus to a

vaccine in 11 months. that is remarkable speed to be able to get something done. though i have read recently that the "new york times" is now putting this quiet little accusation that the trump administration didn't buy enough of the pfizer vaccine and the rest of the world is going to get it, as the "times" conveniently leaves out that the administration actually purchased 700 million doses of the vaccine from multiple different manufacturers very early on, taking the appropriate risk to say we don't know which one is going to be successful, so let's try to be able to purchase from all of them, not knowing if six of them will be successful or if one of them will be successful. it was the right strategy. it remains the right strategy. in addition to the fact that the pfizer vaccine has come out at first, which we're all very grateful for, it is 95% accurate as far as setting aside

the virus. it is 100% effective against severe outbreaks of the virus. it's a remarkable vaccine, but it has to be stored at negative 70 degrees, which there's very few places in my state and in many other states that have an ultra cold freezer that maintains that. so it's a great vaccine but it's limited in the way that you can actually distribute it quickly. there's the moderna vaccine that's coming a week later that we will actually have twice as much of but it doesn't require the same ultra cold storage. the first round of vaccines that will be domg my state by -- coming to my state by this weekend, another round of vaccines by another manufacturer by next weekend, and by the end of this year, in the next few weeks we'll have 20 million people that will have been vaccinated. that's a great start but clearly there's another 300 million people to go. by the time that we get to the end of february, we'll have 100 million people that will have been vaccinated, and that doesn't even count the

additional vaccines that are coming online. the johnson & johnson vaccine is a single dose vaccine. it should be online in february. that's very significant to us because that will also provide us tens of millions of additional individuals that can be vaccinated. we can be completely vaccinated as a country by the time we get to this summer. we can be completely vaccinated with the most vulnerable population, everyone in our health care, every single nursing home, every single skilled nursing, assisted living and those with conditions like parkinson's and alzheimer's and individuals with diabetes and heart disease. those individuals could be completely vaccinated by the time we get to the end of february. that is two months away. we're finally getting close but we need additional doctors for the distribution. we need additional dollars for testing. we'vemany people across my state had several to be able to evaluate things.

i've always tested negative. i'm grateful for that, but there are many people that still continue to need that testing. we need to continue that. we have individuals across my state and across all of our states that need access to the paycheck protection program. this was a risk that we took in march to try assistance for individuals in a different way knowing that the unemployment assistance in all of our states is antiquated and would be overrun by individuals. there had to be another way to be able to sustain individuals that would be unemployed and to sustain small businesses to not go out of business as we go through this. what we created was something called the paycheck protection program. i was honored to be a part of that small group that helped write this and dream it out. it is for small businesses and not for profits and for the first time ever, including faith-based not-for-profits, knowing many of them are a key safety net in communities across the country and we could not lose that safety net during that time of pandemic. i've had individuals that have

asked me over and over again for two key things in the paycheck protection program program. number one, please make it clear on how to be able to get final forgiveness to be able to close this out. there are literally millions of small businesses that have a paycheck protection loan they want to get forgiven but the process of going through forgiveness is is complicated that they're struggling with that and closing it out and they want to get it out. there is an easy way to do it that kevin cramer has coordinated in this body. his work has been remarkable to guide us to a simple solution to be able to get to individuals and businesses that took out loans of $150,000 or less, to be able to get forgiveness during that in a l simple process, in a single-page attestation to be able to go through that. that needs to be included in whatever we're doing. we need to have a second round for those businesses that are the hardest hit. let me tell you an example of this. i had a business leader of a

small business in my state just yesterday -- and this is part of his e-mail. he said it sounds like there's a chance for another relief bill. i hope that's true. we're expected, our sales have fallen through the floor again with the change in weather and rising case counts, we've lost over 50% year over year, and i hear the same from many of my counterparts. it's heil likely we'll -- it's highly likely we'll go through more furloughs in january. it probably makes sense now but we're not going to do that to anyone through the holidays. we're hoping for some assistance to keep people on payroll and benefit. at worst case, if there's no relief for us, i hope there's additional unemployment coming so people aren't destitute. it may be april before we're able to support our business based on our own revenue. these comments are not uncommon with many others that i've received. they can make this and they have a viable business, but just not in this kind of environment

right now. what are we going to do about that? i've recommended not only the attestation for forgiveness for the smallest businesses but also a second round to be able to allow those that have been through the small business paycheck protection program to go through it again and get a second bite at that apple short term for the hardest-hit businesses. and also to allow some of those businesses that are legitimate small businesses to actually get a first shot. many people don't know that not-for-profits including faith-based not for profits and small businesses all got access to the paycheck protection program if you were supported by donors or by a bank or credit union. if your business was organized by private equity, and that was your original capital, you couldn't get access to the paycheck protection program. so it left thousands and thousands of small businesses out simply based on where they got their original capital from to be able to open their business. that's not right.

we have the second round of the exek paycheck protection and we should allow some of those other businesses to get a first round. we need to continue what we're doing for not for profits. our safety net is clear in america. our families are our first safety net. our second is not for profits and the third is government, state, local and federal. that second safety net that's out there that's so important in our community, we need it to do what we can to be able to support them. in the cares act i helped put in a provision there that would give every american a $300 deduction on their taxes above the line even if they don't itemize their taxes. they get a $300 straight deduction from their taxes if they'll give to a nonprofit and they can pick any nonprofit. the arts community, the homeless communities, those helping with mental health, those helping with food programs, churches, synagogues, mosques. they can choose any nonprofit they want to. if they'll give to a nonprofit,

every single american gets a deduction up to $300. that counts for this year and i would encourage americans to take advantage of that. there's nonprofits around the country that need assistance right now. what we've written in the proposal is to able to double that for next year. individuals $600 or for a couple filing jointly $1,200 you can write off your taxes completely even if you don't itemize. what would cause that? philosophically, a couple of thing. i believe in the l strength and efficiencies of not for profits. in small towns around my state and around the country there are local not for profits and churches and faith based institutions doing their best to help the hurting, hungry and homeless. we should support them. they're in need right now of our support. there are groups all around our nation that need people to be able to step up and walk alongside them as they walk

alongside the neediest in our communities. the best way we can do that is to incentivize that. we can either say we have a larger tax piece here or we can encourage people to actually give locally. i think it's an efficient way to be able to help people. we need to be able to step up as my friend who e-mailed me yesterday reminded me. if we can't get the paycheck protection extension done we need to make sure the unemployment is out there. we should do both. we can extend paycheck protection to protect individuals and businesses and to secure them but we need to also secure our unemployment assistance program. we have many folks with diabetes and other health care needs that can't return to work now. they're not in a position that can telework, and they need the opportunity to be sustained. and literally their benefits are running out in days. this is a moment we should extend that out for multiple more months to allow them what they need to be able to get

through the pandemic to be able to get a vaccine and be able to get back to work as they have been dying to do. we need to get liability protections. a lot of people have a lot of uncertainty and are worried about lawsuits coming down on them and don't know how to manage around it. i have letters from small businesses, large businesses and university presidents in my state that are all saying the same thing. help us know what the rules of the game are going to be because there's litigation coming at us and we don't know how toee valentine -- how to evaluate this. help us know the rools of -- rus of the road on liability. that is not an unreasonable request for every university, large and small business across our nation. schools are going to need additional help. that is based on just that child no matter where they attend -- public, private, faith-based, charter, whatever it may be. it is a child that has a parent that is a taxpayer. education is important. child care issues are top of the

list as well. as child care facilities are out there and they're in desperate need and open and functioning but they can't have the same worker to job ratio they used to have but the costs are still the same. we need to get additional flexibility to our states. my state, many entities within my state have additional dollars left over from the cares act. $1.5 billion came to the state of oklahoma through the cares act. that's an enormous amount of money. they're still working through to handle it efficiently. thankfully most towns in my state have had sales tax revenue that has gob -- gone up this year. that is not true for all of them, but for many of them it has been. but their expenses have also gone up. the challenge would be at this point how can we give the states maximum flexibility with the dollars that they have to make sure that they don't have to squander those funds quickly just to be able to get them done because the deadline to use them

is december 31. more flexibility would be a good gift, both to do wise spending and to be able to give them greater flexibility in the days ahead. that would be for states, counties, cities, and tribes. and we should allow for the reprogramming of funds. the paycheck protection program had about $1340 billion left -- $130 billion left over in it when it expired. the vast majority of small businesses that could take it were able to take it. there are many as i mentioned before wanted to do a second round on that. the best way to do that is to reprogram the unused funds that were there. that would be more efficient. federal reserve has unused funds in the hundreds of billions of dollars. we should cancel out those programs and reuse those funds. that's a wise use of funds to be able to make sure we're not squandering american tax dollars because every single dollar that is spent on covid relief right

now is debt money. so we should pay attention on those issues of debt money knowing that we need to be careful with other people's money. there are things we need to do in the next ten days here. i'm having conversations in private and like this in public to safe let's get it done. let's finish the task that we need to get done. i would like to take one moment of personal privilege, though. about an hour ago sitting in this chair behind me i had the opportunity to be able to listen to a friend speak on the senate floor for the last time. my friend cory gardner. cory gardner, he and i came into the house of representatives together in 2011. became fast friends for his winning smile and his tenacious work ethnic. -- ethic. solid guy that i have great respect for. we came into the senate together at the same time as well, served four years in the house together and now served six years in the senate together.

he just lost his election in november. and he'll be heading back to colorado. and i will miss my friend. cory and i had a lot of great conversations about a lot of legislation, a lot of conversations about our family, times that we would occasionally sit side by side in bible studies together here, lots of time to be able to talk. i will not forget one key moment, though. it was our first day in this chamber in the united states senate when one of the staff approached us and said the two of you have the same number of years in the house of representatives and you're both coming in the same class in the senate which means you're tied for seniority in the senate and your seniority has to be resolved by a coin toss. and so cory and i stood there side by side while we flipped a coin and i won. and i rubbed it into him for six years that i have seniority over him in the united states senate. and as i sat and willenned to

him speak for the last time today and talk about patriotism and his incredible love for his state and his country, all i could think was that's the guy i have seniority over, my friend who i will miss here. cory, thank you for being a great servant of the people of colorado and a fantastic workaholic, happy warrior, senator. with that i yield the floor. a senator: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from connecticut. mr. blumenthal: madam president, thank you for recognizing me. in just a few moments we will vote on the nomination of nathan simington to be a member of the federal communications commission. we will do so in the middle of a pandemic when this agency is of

more importance than ever to students, businesses, and families who are vitally depend on broadband, on the consumer protection that this agency does, and to net neutrality which is a vital issue for them and for our country. nathan simington is not exactly a household word but his name and his presence on the f.c.c. will have important meaning to households around the nation. nor is the f.c.c. a household word, but it, too, affects literally hundreds of millions of households. and the f.c.c. will have an increasingly important role in

this nation as we conquer the pandemic and deal with the economic crisis that faces this nation. 15 to 16 million students are locked out of the internet because of the unavailability of broadband connectivity or devices that make the internet real in their lives. and the f.c.c. is key to their participating in schools, it's key to businesses communicating with customers, and the f.c.c. is at the crossroads of making right real. nathan simington is dangerous to those rights and to the f.c.c. at this moment in history. why is he the nominee? the answer is that the current

f.c.c. commissioner michael riley -- michael o'reily was originally nominated for another term. the commerce committee even held a vote for him in july but after twitter and facebook had the temerity to label donald trump's misinformation about voting and covid-19, the president issued an executive order that had the simple purpose of retaliating against these social media platforms. the president in effect demanded that the f.c.c. revise section 230 of the communications decency act to punish those companies for the mild inconvenience of a fact-check.

they didn't take down his posts. they said we need to fact-check them. commissioner oh riley recognize -- o'reily recognized the dangers and potential illegality of the president's executive order and he again had the temerity to speak up and tell the american public on c spaj that he had -- on c-span that he had, quote, deep reservations if they, meaning congress, provided any additional authority for the f.c.c. in this matter, end quote. in a later speech he appeared to challenge the order on first amendment grounds which it well deserved in fact because it potentially violated the first amendment. despite years of a pristine record of republican positions,

this objection now was disqualifying to commissioner o' reilly in the view of the white house and the president pulled his nomination and substituted mr. simington who was well qualified. he'd auditioned for the role to do the president's bidding. we know mr. simington tried to pressure the f.c.c. to cave into the white house and to right-wing media outlets on this very issue, section 230. it is an unprecedented assault on the integrity and independence of the f.c.c. and he was clearly the white house's wingman on this issue.

nathan simington is very simply the wrong person and clearly the wrong person at the wrong time for the f.c.c. he's unprepared and unqualified. last month at the senate commerce committee, he was asked about his plan for the f.c.c. he couldn't provide one single measure that he would advocate. he couldn't answer even basic questions from democrats and republicans. his answers were inadequate, incomplete, evasive. i asked him again in the questions for the record to stay -- to say three steps that he would take to provide and prepare for those millions of students that are out of the classroom and lack connectivity to the internet, which now is

like lacking connection to class rooment rooms. a -- classrooms. a student without that connectivity is barred from the classroom. he couldn't provide one meaningful response or step, even in writing. and that is plainly alarming. it should be disqualifying. this nomination, though, is dangerous on more than any single issue because it threatens the independence and political integrity of the f.c.c. the political independence and integrity of the f.c.c. depends on its balance and normally nominations are paired politically to reflect the

bipartisan balance of the agency. what we will have at the f.c.c. now is potential gridlock. one month ago voters overwhelmingly elected a new president, and he promised to close the homework gap, the digital divide, reinstate knew -- net neutrality and renew our commitment to consumer protection. this nomination threatens all those goals for a new administration. in fact, the senate has traditionally moved these nominations in bipartisan pairs. that approach is lacking here. in fact, it is contradicted by this nomination. i think the purpose of confirming this nominee very simply is to deadlock the commission and undermine the president's ability to achieve

the mandate that the american people have given him and his administration going forward. that may be what the giant telecommunications industry wants. it may be what the media companies hope to achieve, an f.c.c. that is absent or neutralized, an f.c.c. that is gridlocked and dysfunctional. i hope it is not the result of this nomination if he is confirmed, but my fear is that it will be. and if it is, this body bears responsibility. i urge my colleagues to vote against this nominee for the sake of those 16 million students who are now lacking in

connection to the internet, that connectivity is essential to their lives and their educational progress. i urge this body to vote against him because he is dangerous to an agency that is supposed to be independent and above politic. thank you, madam president, and i yield the floor. mr. blumenthal: i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

a senator: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from mississippi. mr. wicker: i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. wicker: i ask unanimous consent that the simington vote begin now, some two minutes early. the presiding officer: -- mr. wicker: on the schwartz nomination. the presiding officer: without objection. under the previous order, the senate will resume consideration of the following nomination which the clerk will report. the clerk: nomination, the judiciary, stephen sidney schwartz of virginia to be a judge of the united states court of federal claims. the presiding officer: all postcloture time is expired. the question is on the nomination.

is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the clerk will calm the roll. -- the clerk will call the roll. vote: vote:

vote: 4

vote:

the presiding officer: is there any senator in the chamber who wishes fo vote or change their vote? seeing none, the yeas are 49,

the nays are 47. and the nomination is confirmed. all postcloture time is expired. the question is on the simington nomination. the presiding officer: i ask for the --. a senator: i ask for the yeas and nays. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll. vote:

vote:

vote:

the presiding officer: are there any senators in the chamber wishing to vote or change their vote? seeing none, the yeas are 49, the nays are 46. the nomination is confirmed. under the previous order, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, and the president will be immediately notified of the senate's actions. mr. inhofe: mr. president?

the presiding officer: the senator from oklahoma. mr. inhofe: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to legislative session and be in a period of morning business with senatorsment prosecuted to speak -- senators permitted to speak up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. inhofe: i ask to be recognized. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. inhofe: mr. president, we have a vote coming up probably could be the end of this week that has to do with the armed sales to the united arab emirates. i strongly support this. however, some of my colleagues do not support it, and there is now a resolution of -- a joint resolution of disapproval, and i would hope that we would really stop and think about that because this is a very significant thing that we're talking about. the agreement between israel and u.a.e. is one of the abraham accord, it is a very significant one. it's one that president trump was able to get together and

with the two countries, israel and u.a.e., it's really a great thing. it's a major breakthrough in the middle east. he's done a lot of great things, the president has. i know he's controversial. but in terms of his energy policy, the military, and the economy, he's been right on target. and so -- anyway, this piece is not -- the arab-israeli peace is not unprecedent. but agreement between israel and the u.a.e. has moved further and fast faster than any agreements in the past. it seems that they're finding new areas of cooperation every day. they are a now working together. they are on security, pandemic responses, education, even chairing media together. this partnership is deep and reflects the growing acceptance of our friend israel in the region. most importantly, it did not require israel to do anything.

they did not have to give up anything. so this is a major, major achievement and now is the time to take advantage of the gains that we have, that president trump just treated israel like a friend and others have rushed into that friendship. we have other countries in africa, in the middle east that are joined in with israel that have never been there before. it ensures that israel's qualitative military edge is not affected, and we know this because israel has themselves said it is. and moreover, this sale deepens the u.a.e.'s partnership with the united states and prevents it from turning toward china and russia. now, this is the problem that we have. if we don't do this, if we don't cooperate with these countries in the middle east, then you're going to have china and russia out there taking advantage of it. so the u.a.e. is worthy of this sale because it strongly aligned

with the united states in the middle east. it's a vital counterterrorism partner. the u.a.e. has fought alongside our troops in afghanistan and against isis. they've been our friend for a long time. it is fightal vital for our efforts in iran. both regional dominance and its support for terrorist proxies. voting down this sale would signal to our partners that even when they do everything that we ask, fight alongside our soldiers, pursue shared interests in the region and make meaningful peace with israel, that the united states won't have their backs. this is not the reputation that we want to gain. the truth is they are reliable and when -- and we appreciate that. we are reliable, the united states has long stood with its partner in israel against its adversary, the iranian regime. now, this sale of the u.a.e. is

consistent with that approach. nobody here would support if israel were not on board. but they are on board. what's more, they will bolster our long-standing effort to counter iran's regional activities. >> the u.a.e. is a strong partner that has cutting edge technology in our f-16 activity. they have been using that fighter aircraft for a long time. this sale of the f-35 fighter jet is a continuation of that partnership. for these reasons, i urge my colleagues to support the sale and to oppose the joint resolution of disapproval. a vote against the resolution is a vote for peace in the middle east. a vote for the resolution is a vote to give iran, china, and russia more power and influence in that region and make our world less safe. it would send a message also around the world that we don't

support our friends. it's a very significant vote to take place for the successes that we have had in the middle east, and i encourage people to oppose the resolution of disapproval. and with that, i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from alaska. mr. sullivan: mr. president, i just want to echo what the chairman of the armed services committee said with regard to this upcoming vote. it's actually a very important vote, and i think that when you look at the leadership of the u.a.e. and what they have done, i mean, we are seeing major peace agreements between our traditional gulf arab allies and israel, and this is really significant. this is a whole different approach to addressing some of the long-term challenges with

regard to the middle east, and it's starting to work. and i think it's imperative that this body, particularly at this time, send a message of support to countries and leaders, u.a.e. in particular, given this upcoming vote that have taken risks. leadership sometimes require taking risks. we know that history in the middle east is sometimes when you have countries and leaders that take risks with regard to peace with israel, those leaders can actually have dire consequences. look what happened in egypt after that peace agreement with their leaders. so i think it's very important that we as a body in a bipartisan, strong way come down and support not just the progress that has been made in

the region but also the broader strategic realignment that's happening. and why is that happening? because we have all recognized the united states, israel, our traditional gulf arab allies, our traditional arab allies in the region, that the biggest challenge and biggest threat in the region is a terrorist regime in iran, which is the biggest challenge and biggest threat to peace and security in the region. and so there has been enormous progress. the president and his team deserve a lot of the credit. rebuilding our military deserves a lot of credit, which we've all done here, but we need to send a signal that policies that have been tried before, particularly policies that appease the

largest state sponsor of terrorism in the world don't work. the policies of strength, the policies of standing together, israel, the united states, our traditional arab allies. that's what's worked and that's what's bringing peace. so this vote that's going to happen soon is a lot more than just a vote on weapons sales. it's a vote on this body helping cement the reor generaltation in the region towards peace and towards recognizing what the challenge is, and that challenge that we all face is the biggest terrorist regime in the world that threatens the united states, threatens israel, threatens the u.a.e., threatens saudi arabia, and that's why we need a strong vote in the way the chairman of the armed services committee just talked about.

so i'm fully supportive where he is, and i'm hopeful that this body votes for continued peace and strength, particularly as it relates to the terrorist regime in iran and not send the wrong signal to our friends and allies, particularly when historic progress -- and, yes, it has been historic progress -- is being made in the region. i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from west virginia. mr. manchin: mr. president, i rise today to honor the life and legacy of one of west virginia's finest. patrolwoman kathy johnson of the charleston police department represented the very best of who úana too soon on december 3, 2020, at the age of 28. she was the daughter of an iron

worker. being a police officer in the city she loved and grew up in was a dream come true for cassie. she was sworn in by mayor amy goodwin in january, 2019, and had previously worked as a city humane officer. cassie was born and raised in our state's capital. she could have gone anywhere and she chose to stay and protect and serve the community who made her who she was. she was truly a beautiful person in every way. growing up, cassie was an athlete and particularly loved softball. she would one day filed that the little league field that she played on as a child was on her beat, and so she watched over it with great care so the current generation of children could play in safety. one of the first things she did when she was asigned to the field was to clean up the drug paraphernalia to make the field a safe place for kids. because of her efforts, children and their families have been able to enjoy the field as a clean, safe, fun place to play. cassie was anage lover and

dedicated her life to rescuing pets who had been cast aside, even taking in -- even taking an animal behavior class in tennessee so she could better understand the language of dogs. her beloved dog emma was a chocolate lab who passed away a few months ago. cassie grieved deeply for emma because she had a special connection with her. years ago when cassie was in high school, emma had nine chocolate lab pups in cassie's bedroom. her mom tells the story of taking the runt of the litter with her to pick cassie up at school. when they got home, there were chocolate lab pups running everywhere. this is just one of the many adventures cassie had with emma. who doubt they are reunited again. cassie was a music lover, most likely because her mother sang to her to sleep as a child. she was surrounded by instruments and music throughout her life. she loved to make the world beautiful. that is also why she enjoyed

decorating for the holidays. the weekend before she passed, she decorated her mother's house for christmas alongside her dear sister chelsea. one of the last actions she took the day of her passing was to wipe the snow from those holiday decorations because she always looked out for her mother any way that she could. most importantly, cassie was a genuinely good person, and she lived her whole life with west virginia values. she worked hard and bought her own home at the age of 25. she was beloved in the community and her profession, as evidenced in the tremendous outpouring of grief. the support and fellowship that followed her tragic passing has been unbelievable. her mother, her mother describes her as a respectful and well-mannered throughout her whole life. cassie will deeply be missed not only because of who she was but because we are also keenly aware of the sorrowful for what might have been. no one can take away cassie -- what cassie represented to the

charleston community and the entire mountain state. every one of our female leaders in west virginia is an epitome of strength and advancement in their fields and serve as inspiring role models for the next generation. that is doing great part to the women who broke ground in generations past. because of their accomplishments, more young women like cassie have and will blaze their own trails and continue to make our state and entire nation proud. i have tremendous respect for our police officers and all of our first responders. cassie's compassion, courage, and selflessness will live on through the memories of those who knew and loved her, as well as through the countless lives she touched and inspired every day. she leaves us having made a profound impact in the community that she loved, as well as in the lives of those around her. i had a tremendous and humbling honor of visiting with cassie's family at her bedside in her final hours. it is clear to me that cassie

came from strong roots and that her life was filled with joy and love. she was a beloved daughter, sister, and a loyal friend who adored her three dogs and all animals. true to her character, cassie was an organ donor, and her final act of selflessness has given someone else a chance. the charleston police department has retired cassie's unit number 146. i know i join the entire mountain state in mourning our shared loss of this bright, generous, vibrant spirit. i give deepest condolences to cassie's mother, brother, sister, and all her family and friends. her colleagues with the charleston police department as well as the city of charleston, and will forever keep them in our prayers. may god watch overcasty. thank you, mr. president. i notice the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk shall call the roll.

quorum call: quorum call:

quorum call:

a senator: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: thank you, madam president. madam president, when you're new to the united states senate, i ask -- i ask consent the quorum call be suspended. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: madam president, when you're new to the united

states senate, it's not unusual for friends and people back home after you've been there for a while say who are the good guise and the bad guys in the senate? who are the ones you really like? what can you tell us about the rest of them? it's a common question that's asked. i do remember as a new senator here reflecting on that question and saying, you know, if i had an important decision to make in the senate, whatever the issue might be, there are two senators that i always want to sit down and get their advice. one was carl levin of michigan, one of the most thoughtful, smart guys i had a chance to serve with. and the other was paul sarbanes. he just always struck me as a man of substance who took questions seriously. he was respected in the united states senate for his service, of course, to maryland, and he

was just a good person. he brought real integrity to the united states senate. and so when i learned that he passed away just a few days ago, i wanted to put a few things in the record. he was a man of intellect and integrity but he was modest. he didn't care about headlines. he did so much good work behind the scenes. he was given some of the toughest assignments to think about the responsibility of dealing with the great recession and then working with republican congressman oxley to put together a really significant reform of wall street and the financial community. we knew we could trust paul sarbanes to do it and he did it in a bipartisan fashion. he was a proud son of immigrants. he never forget it. parents immigrated from the same town in greece but only met in

america. the sarbanes owned a famous restaurant in salisbury, maryland, and gave it the quintessential american name, the mayflower restaurant. paul worked in the restaurant as a boy and he and his family lived above the restaurant. he graduated from public high school, won a scholarship to princeton university, studied as a rode scholar -- rhode scholar at oxford university. in 1960 earned a law degree from harvard. not bad for an immigrant son. from harvard paul went to the white house where he was one of the best and brightest who answered president john kennedy's call to public service. there he worked for the add -- as administrative assistant to walter heller who was an economic adviser. paul sarbanes' parents taught him serving one's nation in

public service was a noble calling, one of the many greek words paul sarbanes learned from his parents was the word itiotis. it is the greek root word for the english word idiot but it has a different meaning in greek. it means someone who takes no part in the affairs of his community. in the sarbanes family, that was almost a curse. paul and his parents believed that service to others and to their adopted homeland was a noble calling. so paul first ran for elective office in 1966, was elected to the maryland house of delegates. in 1970 the people of maryland elected him to the u.s. house of representatives. he was a young congressman when he wrote one of the successful articles of impeachment against then-president nixon for lying

about his watergate burglary. in 1966 he won his first election to the united states senate. he would go on to serve 30 years in the chamber. he was a voice of reason on both the iran-contra and whitewater committees. when corporate swindling at enron and other large corporations cheated millions of americans their lifesavings, it was paul sarbanes' leadership that enabled the senate to pass the most far-reaching corporate accountability reform since the securities and exchange commission was created 70 years before. that sarbanes-oxley reform law passed in 2002 was designed to prevent the kind of corporate abuses that had so damaged the american economy and shaken the faith of the american people in the economic markets. in 2002 things came full circle for me. there was created an award in the name of senator paul douglas of illinois, a man whom i first

met as a college intern who inspired me to get started in this business. paul sarbanes won in 2002 became the first recipient of the senator paul douglas ethics in government award. that's presented by the university of illinois to honor men and women in public service who exhibit the finest qualities of leadership. it was a perfect match and for me it came full circle. what a coincidence it is that the people that have been my heroes in public life so far, so many are named paul. paul douglas who had started me as an intern, who introduced me to paul simon, who preceded me in the united states senate where i served with paul sarbanes. they basically say in my office that i have been raised according to the call of saints paul. i want to quote briefly from senator sarbanes' final speech in the senate before he retired

in 2006. it speaks powerfully to the kind also of leaders america is looking for today. here's what paul sarbanes said. throughout my years in public service, i have worked to the limits of my ability to provide the people of maryland and the nation dedicated and formed an independent representation based upon the fundamental principles of integrity and intelligence. i have been guided in this effort by a vision of decent and just america based on a strong sense of community and offering fairness and opportunity to all its people. i know i join all my colleagues in thanking paul for doing his part so nobly and so well, to help us move toward a more perfect union. and let me say a word about his wife christine. she was his real partner in life. i can recall when he retired and i said, paul, i'm sorry to see you go. he said, let me ask you a question. when are you supposed to leave around here? it's a question many of us have

asked ourselves over and over. as far as he was concerned i said what do you want to do the most? he said travel with christine. they were able to do that for a limited period of time because christine died in cancer in 2009. she was a wonderful person, intelligent just like paul and the two of them were pure happiness together. loretta and i wish to express our condolences to the sarbanes family, especially to their children, michael, janet, and a man i've come to know and respect his son, congressman john sarbanes as well as their grandchildren, his friends and former staff members and the countless people whose lives are better because of paul sarbanes. madam president, i yield the floor. i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

mr. cornyn: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from texas. mr. cornyn: madam president, i'd ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cornyn: madam president, i have two requests for committees to meet during today's session of the senate. they have been approved by both the majority and minority leaders. the presiding officer: duly noted. mr. cornyn: madam president, i also ask unanimous consent that

doug gelzuka, military fellow in senator braun's office be granted floor privileges for the remainder of the congress. i apologize to doug if i mispronounced his name. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cornyn: madam mr. cornyn: madam president, we've seen a series of encouraging developments in the middle east, a place where there isn't a long trend line of positive developments. we have destroyed the isis caliphate. we've brought down dangerous terrorist leaders like al-baghdadi. and of course the head of the irgc, general soleimani, who was personally responsible for american blood on his hands, particularly in providing explosively performed explosively formed penetrators

that penetrated our armor in iraq. through the work of the trump administration, we've strengthened bilateral ties with our closest friends and allies, including israel and jordan. and this summer the administration helped forge historic peace deals between israel and arab nations in the region. the united arab emirates became the third arab country and the first gulf state to recognize and normalize relations with israel through the signing of the abraham accords peace agreement. it was only a matter of days when bahrain followed suit and announced its agreement with israel to open formal diplomatic negotiations. these historic breakthroughs represent serious progress in our efforts to fight terrorism and establish lasting peace and stability in the middle east. and while more work obviously remains, it's great to see the mounting pressure against iran, the region's greatest antagonist

and largest state sponsor of terrorism. last month the trump administration announced that it intended to sell arms to our friends at the united arab emirates, a move that i support. this will help the u.a.e. work with the united states and our friends to deter and defend these threats against -- from iran and other hostilities in the region. what seems to me, it focused everyone's attention that iran represents the biggest destabilizing and dangerous influence in the middle east today, and it is the recognition that they are the common adversary of not only the arab nations in the region but also the united states and our ally israel that has, is think, brought them to the negotiating

table. as iran grows increasingly belligerent towards the united states and our allies, these military assets that we will sell to our friends in the u.a.e. will serve as a stabilizing force, a force multiplier, and a source of protection for the united states and our security interests. we've learned the hard lesson that with american boots on the ground, that is something that we want to do as a last resort. but if we can work by you with, and through our friends and allies to provide for that stability and security against the common enemy, we should do it. the arms sale will allow greater cooperation between the united states and u.a.e. and israel and strengthen a growing coalition of aligned forces in the region. it would also make sure that the u.s. remains the partner of choice. it's not as if the united states has -- is is the only one that has a say.

obviously, if we don't provide them the military equipment that they need, they will go looking for other sellers and it will be certainly less desirable for us and for them because wither their partner of choice in the region. but russia and particularly china, have sought to increase their maligned influence in the middle east and they would be more than happy to fill the void left by any refusal on the part of the u.s. to make the sale. so blocking this sale would only strengthen china's and russia's positions while suggestly weakening our own. as wetain to make progress -- as we continue to make progress in the decades' long quest for peace and stability in the middle east, i support the administration's strategic decision to sell arms to the u.a.e. this would provide the u.a.e. with critical national security assets like access to the f-35, fifth-generation fighter, unmanned ariel vehicles and other advanced munitions to help

make sure that it acts as a deterrent, and if worst comes to worst, it gives them a comparative advantage with other countries in the region. the israeli ambassador to the united states perhaps summed it up best when he said, what keeps me up at night is actually not the proposed f-35 sale to the emirate. what keeps me up at night is the idea that somebody would return to the nuclear deal with iran. madam president, on another matter, this week i hope we're able to make more progress on the coronavirus relief negotiations so we can pass another bill before recessing for the holidays. there are a lot of people in this country, all throughout the country that are hurting, who are anxious, who are worried about their ability to pay the rent and to meet their other obligations in the face of this pandemic.

and it would be, i think, a dereliction of duty on our part to leave here without addressing those real needs. earlier in year we worked in a quick bipartisan fashion to pass relief bills totaling more than $3 trillion. thinking back on it, it was really pretty remarkable to be able to do as much as we did as fast as we did, but we knew we were up against a common enemy, and this virus we knew we had to respond quickly, and we did. and the funding we provided has gone a long way to support our health care and economic response. but as our war against covid-19 continues to rage on, additional support is needed, and it's needed now. the good news is, as earlier, there's a number of areas that we agree on, what the support should look like, including funding for schools, assistance for the hardest-hit workers and small businesses and another investment in the distribution of the vaccine that can't come

soon enough. but we remain hung up 0en a number of important points including liability protection for businesses, schools, nonprofits, and others who in good faith did their best to follow guidance from the c.d.c. and other public health authorities but now face the prospect of litigation. it's pretty hard to follow the guidance, as our knowledge of this virus has evolved. i remember before april the head of the c.d.c. and dr. fauci and others said that masks were useless. and then they changed their guidance in april -- that's fine; i respect that based on what we've learned about the virus. but we simply can't expose people who've tried their best to muddle along in the face of this pandemic, following the guidance from public health officials, and say, you didn't know then what we know now, so you must have been negligent, and you made to pay compensation in the formity of litigation. -- in the form of litigation.

well, i don't think that's fair to those entities, those individuals, those businesses, those schools, those churches, mosques, and synagogues. but this is something that's on the mind of a lot of people, from health care workers to teachers to nonprofits to small business owners. those who've continued to provide essential services and goods didn't have any choice but to show up and go to work. and now they're worried that by opening their doors to people who really needed their help at the time, they've also now opened themselves up to an endless parade of lawsuits by the trial bar. we all know -- we all know that lawyers can be very creative and the opportunistic. that's what lawyering involves. but the litigation that we expect against doctors, nurses, colleges, churches, and small

businesses, anyone and everyone could be blamed for another person's harm if those lawsuits are feasible, they will follow. and the statute of limitations a is a couple of years, so even though we're not necessarily seeing it now, we do know that class action litigation could be filed in any favorable jurisdiction anywhere in the country and basically bankrupt many businesses and certainly discourage businesses from safely reopening and following those guidelines. i think there's another reason to reward people who have tried their best to follow those guidelines because it ensures more compliance. and now to play a game of gotcha with them and say, well, it wasn't good enough, so you're going to have to pay. or maybe even just defend a lawsuit that you ultimate lit will win. we all know that of the dos a lot of money and will take a lot of time that i would prefer to see them rebuild their business

and restore the jobs that were lost as a result of the pandemic. so because of my concern about the need for some liability shield we introduced a bill called the safe to work act. it provides common sense protections to those who have acted in good faith to keep their customers and employees safe while still allowing the right to pursue for those who were victims of gross negligence or intentional misconduct. so this is not a blanket liability shield. it won't prevent the really truly bad actors from facing due consequences. it won't ban coronavirus lawsuits, and it won't give anyone a get-out-of-jail free card. so we need to get that straight up front. but in cases of gross negligence or willful misconduct where the applicable public health guidelines were not followed, the person affected has every right to sue and be made whole in a court of law. and no one is asking to change that. what we do need, though, is to

put some safeguards in place to ensure that those who operated in good faith and were following all the relevant guidelines, even as they evolved over time, cannot be sued out of existence. first and foremost, are ex-prosecute for our -- first and foremost are protections for our incredible health care here reese who made is beingifieses -- who made sacrifices over the past months. this sets a gross negligence standard for coronavirus liability suits to ensure that only legitimate cases are brought against our health care workers who, again, didn't have any choice but to show up for work. in addition to he can prosecuting our health care heroes, we need to ensure that a fear of lawsuits doesn't prevent schools, nonprofits, churches, small businesses, and a range of the other organizations and institutions that are vital to our communities and our economy from opening their doors. this spells out in black and white that these entities will be protected from covid-19

exposure claims as long as they comply with mandatory public health guidelines. now, it is true that a number of states have already provided similar protections, including the minority leader's state of new york. and it's time we extend these liability limitations to the rest of the country. but particularly in states like mine where the legislature does not meet on a continual basis, they van even been in -- they haven't even been in session in 2020. they will go in session in january and i presume will try to fill in any holes we've left when this comes to liability protection. but without at uniform federal standard, we're going to end up in a dangerous venue-shopping situation and it's only to be expected that the lawyers will find a place most favorable for their lawsuit, they'll seek to pursue those claims using class action procedures, and we will be right back at the worst

nightmare that i think many folks would have contemplated unless we provide for this federal liability shield. but the goal is not to protect bad actors. what we do need to clearly spell out is for the schools, colleges, nonprofits, churches, or businesses that are asking us to provide them some guidance and some security. our democratic colleagues have not expressed a lot of enthusiasm for this legislation, and my republican colleagues and i have tried to work with them to reach a result that both sides can support. but the nature of compromise, as we all know, is give and take. but so far it's been pretty much one-sided. we've offered changes to appease our democratic colleagues' concerns while still preserving the basic goal of the legislation, but the truth is they haven't really -- they really haven't moved much in any meaningful way.

i think the truth is that our country's long-term economic recovery from this virus depends on these liability protections. -- in large part. businesses doing the best they can during a worldwide emergency should not face bankruptcy because of concerns about the trial bar. i mean, who are we here working for? the american people or for lawyers who -- and this isn't necessarily designed to be a criticism -- but are looking out for their own economic interests first and foremost? our view must be much broader than that. and the greatest good for the greatest number should be our guiding principle, i think. our essential workers and institutions need to know that if they have been operating in good faith and obeying the guidelines that have been promulgated by the public health authorities, they won't be subject -- subjected to litigation and only congress can provide that certainty. now, this is not a permanent

federal takeover of state tort law by any means. it real lay is comparable to what we did after y2k -- or the run-up to y2k and also with other national emergencies like 9/11. it was even given some protection to pharmaceutical companies whom we have asked to take risks to come up with world-class vaccines and therapies to encourage them to incentivize them to do that because we know it's in the public interest. but across the country, we're already seeing these lawsuits rolling in, and without action from congress, we're going to emerge from this pandemic only to find ourselves in not another wave of the virus but in a second wave of litigation that will be devastating for many. so in order for our country and our economy to recover, these workers and these institutions need to know that they can follow the guidelines and then

safely reopen their doors and do their jobs with competence. they need to know that if they follow these guidelines and act in good faith, they will be subjected to perhaps business-ending litigation that could tie them up in court and could drain their remaining resources dry. as i've said, the way we reach agreements around here is through bipartisan negotiations. it took a little compromise, and neither side achieved 100% of what they wanted, but we eventually have gotten there. we have done that four times in the coronavirus response, and i hope we can do it again here. i hope our democratic colleagues will approach these negotiations with the gravity they deserve. we can't -- we can't leave people wondering and waiting what their future looks like any longer if there is something we can do to provide them some safety and security and some confidence about what the future may look like. so i hope we will all work together to deliver this critical liability protection for folks across the country in

all 50 states. mr. cardin: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from maryland. mr. cardin: madam president, i take this time, along with my colleague from maryland, senator chris van hollen, and i'm also pleased that we are joined by senator stabenow and senator reed, to take this time on a very sad note to announce the death of paul sarbanes, our former colleague in the united states senate, who passed away on december 6, 2020. at the age of 87. i first got to know senator sarbanes when he first ran for public office in 1966. we both were elected to the maryland general assembly that year, and we became good

friends. delegate sarbanes at that point made a name for himself on the house judiciary committee in the maryland general assembly and was a rising story from his first day in the maryland general assembly. he shortly thereafter ran for the house of representatives, served three terms in the house of representatives, with a very distinguished career. during that time, it was the time of the watergate issues, and congressman sarbanes was on the judiciary committee and was given the responsibility of the first article of impeachment against president nixon. that article dealt with obstruction of justice. it was the key engagement against president nixon on impeachment. and it is very telling that that

responsibility was given to a young member of the house of representatives, congressman paul sarbanes. it was because of his work ethic, his commitment to scholarship, and his understanding of issues that he was entrusted with that responsibility. he then served five terms in the united states senate, the longest term for any senator in maryland. and paul sarbanes was known as a senator's senator for his integrity, for his public -- commitment to public service, his strong commitment to principles. he was a rhodes scholar who chose to serve the public rather than using his skills in the private sector for his own personal gain. his entire life was devoted to public service. what a legacy he has left us by

his incredible public service. in 2002, the enron scandal hit america, and chairman sarbanes, the chairman of the banking committee here, teamed up with chairman oxley in the house to pass the sarbanes-oxley legislation. george w. bush, president bush, said it was the most far-reaching reform of american business practices since the time of franklin delano roosevelt. the leadership of senator sarbanes was deeply needed at that time, and he delivered on behalf of the american people. senator van hollen and i know firsthand what senator sarbanes did in helping to create the federal partnership in the chesapeake bay program. it was during the time that he was the junior senator from maryland, along with senator ma

that i -- senator mathias that the two of them partnered in order to develop the federal program for the chesapeake bay, and then senator sarbanes carried the burden of that partnership. for many years, it was through his efforts in the united states senate that we were able to continue and expand the federal partnership for the bay. now, those of us who live in the bay region -- and i know that senator stabenow has heard me talk about this great time when we talk about the great water bodies. we know that the chesapeake is the largest estuary in our hemisphere. it is the most diverse estuary. and it is a challenge because of the way that the water flows and it cleanses itself. so we started this federal partnership, senator sarbanes did, and it has provided incredible dividends for the

people of maryland and the people of our nation, indeed the global community. he has -- he was an expert on foreign policy, served on the senate foreign relations committee. he was involved in the leadership of passing the ratification of the panama canal treaty, and there are so many other areas in which senator sarbanes excelled. we all receive honors, i know that. i'm just going to mention three because they were really reflective of what senator sarbanes accomplished during his career. he got the paul h. douglas ethics in government award for his incredible standard of integrity and ethics. the roth award for extraordinary impact on policies, on economic business and finance. his lasting legacy on the financial institutions here in

america. the cox-coleman-richardson award for distinguished public service. he was a senator's senator. he devoted his life to public service. in a way, paul sarbanes represents the american success story. he was the son of greek immigrants, grew up on the eastern shore of maryland in salisbury, and rose to serve in the united states senate. his partner, lifetime partner was christine. all of us remember paul and christine together. what a couple they made. what a love story it was. there were three children, john who we all know very well because he serves in the house of representatives. he holds the seat in the third congressional seat, the same seat that barbara mikulski held, the same seat that i held, the same seat that paul sarbanes held is held by paul's son john. what a great job he is doing.

he was the leading sponsor of h.r. 1 in this congress which is basically the good governance legislation that passed overwhelmingly in the house and some of the other things that followed in his father's tradition. fall's other son michael has had a distinguished career, and janet, his daughter, has also had a distinguished career. paul had seven grandchildren. christine predeceased paul. i just want to talk a moment about the partnership between senator sarbanes and senator mikulski. they had different styles. i think most people would acknowledge that from the beginning, that paul was very much stately and represents the traditional, i guess, misdemeanor that you would expect from a united states senator, and i love barbara mikulski, but no one would ever accuse her of having that type of misdemeanor. but the two of them are an incredible relationship together. they were called the diner democrats because paul's

father's family ran a diner, and barbara mikulski's family ran mikulski's bakery, as we all know. they worked together in true partnership over so many years. it was a friendship that was really one of total trust and respect. and i had a chance to communicate with senator mikulski and she, because of covid, cannot be with us to join us tonight, but i would ask unanimous consent that her statement be made part of the record of these proceedings. the presiding officer: it will be duly noted as part of the record. without objection. mr. cardin: let me conclude by just quoting from senator sarbanes himself on the final speech that he gave during -- when he left the senate. he said throughout my years of public service, i have worked to the limits of my ability to provide the people of maryland

and the nation dedicated and informed independent representation based on the fundamental principles of integrity and intelligence. i have been guided in this effort by the vision of decent and just america, based on a strong sense of community, and offering fairness and opportunity to all its people. service in this body has reinforced many times over my understanding and commitment to the institutions upon which our system of democratic governance critically depends. so long as that vision of america's promise continues to shine brightly in this body, i have every confidence that our nation will prevail in the face of great challenges and its future will be assured. madam president, it's our responsibility to heed those words of senator sarbanes to strive to carry out his legacy. before i yield to senator van

hollen, the two of us on behalf of all of the members in the united states senate have filed a resolution to honor paul sarbanes. this has been cleared, and i would ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to the consideration of s.r. 797 submitted earlier today. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: senate resolution 797, honoring the life and achievements of former united states senator paul spyros sarbanes and expressing condolence to the family of paul spyros sarbanes on his passing. the presiding officer: without objection, the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. cardin: i ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: without objection.

mr. cardin: thank you, madam president. i would now yield the floor in anticipation that my colleague from maryland, the two of us have joined together to pay tribute to senator sarbanes, be recognized. the presiding officer: the senator from maryland. mr. van hollen: thank you, madam president. i want to start by thanking my friend and colleague, the senior senator from maryland, senator ben cardin, for his remembrance of paul sarbanes. it's an honor to join him and others in offering a resolution in memory of senator paul sarbanes, and i should say that senator sarbanes was very pleased that ben cardin succeeded him in his seat here in the united states senate, and so i'm honored to join with him and senator stabenow, senator reed, senator durbin, and others in remembering somebody who was a friend, who was a mentor, and who was the excellent role model

for every elected official, senator paul sarbanes. he was a thoughtful and brilliant senator, a kind man, a dedicateed public servant. as we've heard, he was born on maryland's eastern shore to parents who emigrated from greece. he graduated from the local public school and was recruited to attend princeton on a full scholarship. he excelled in his studies as he would in his career, becoming a rhodes scholar, and graduating from oxford before attending harvard law school. he went on to a very distinguished career in public service that ended here in the united states senate, but he never, ever forgot his humble roots in salisbury where his parents owned a small restaurant they called the mayflower. in his farewell speech in the

senate, senator paul sarbanes said, and i quote, my parents came to this country as immigrants from greece. both my mother and my father. and it was from them that i first learned about the meaning of a democratic society and the potential it offers to move up the ladder of opportunity on the basis of ability, hard work, and conviction. their memory is still very powerful influence in my life. as we heard from senator cardin, senator barbra muck i ask who serve -- mash bra mikulski who served so well was his friend and partner and for years she always joked that they were the diner democrats, a nod to the mayflower restaurant owned by paul sarbanes' father, her roots in the polish american community in baltimore, and their mutual

commitment to fighting for working people no the dignity of work, -- for the dignity of work, for the reality of the struggles so many americans face and they need to give every american a fair shot. paul sarbanes carried the values he learned from his parents on maryland's eastern shore first to the american house of delegates and then to the house of representatives and later here to the united states senate. from the very start he developed a reputation for thoughtfulness and honor. he could make simple, confident arguments based on evidence to win others to his cause, members from both parties. he was in his first term in the house of representatives during the watergate hearings, and he approached the proceedings on the judiciary committee with the signature seriousness of purpose. he considered the evidence. he listened to president nixon's

counsel's statements and methodically addressed and responded to their arguments. because of his own unimpeachable conduct, the chairman of the house judiciary committee called upon him, a new member, and asked him to introduce the first article of impeachment against president nixon, the charge of obstruction of justice. paul sarbanes had the legal acumen to take on that responsibility, but he also had the integrity to be a moral voice in the congress at that moment for the country. writing about his dignified work during the watergate proceedings, journalist elizabeth drew commented, quote, paul sarbanes would not have looked at all bad at the constitutional convention. he might have even been one of the great ones, unquote. after three terms in the house, paul sarbanes ran for the senate. i first met senator sarbanes in the 1980's when i was serving as

a staff member on the senate foreign relations committee. and i know everybody who served with paul sarbanes will understand what a master class it was to watch him during a hearing on cross-examination. he asked thoughtful, probing questions and before a reluctant witness realized what was happening, he had them cornered with no way out but to concede to the point that he wanted to make or look deliberately evasive. woe be it to any witness who came before senator sarbanes unproposed. he was a senate workhorse in the truest and best sense. former majority leader george mitchell once said, paul was effective because he didn't seek credit which endeared him to his

colleagues, unquote. he wasn't afraid to take his time to get to the bottom of an issue, build his case, and convince his colleagues. in the wake of the enron scandal, he held ten hearings to ensure that the congressional response would be thorough and effective and rallied the entire senate to support the ensuing sarbanes-oxley act, the law that is credited with restoring greater investor confidence in the market and providing transparency and oversight for corporate governance. he loved the state of maryland and especially the chesapeake bay. as senator cardin indicated, he took on the mantle of forging and strengthening the federal partnership to clean up his beloved chesapeake bay. he wanted everybody to have a fair deal and work to improve access to affordable housing and

protect consumers from his seat on the banking committee. he believed in the united states as a force for good in the world and supported foreign assistance, treaties to return control of the panama canal to panama, and strongly supported legislation to impose sanctions on the then apartheid regime of south africa. he opposed senseless and unnecessary wars. i came to the house of representatives in 2003 along with my friend and colleague from baltimore congressman dutch riewpersberger. senator sarbanes was then the leader of our delegation. he welcomed us kindly but as captain of team maryland, he character i.r.s.ly -- characterically was eager to allow all members, however new they were to the delegation, to play an important role. not surprisingly, senator sarbanes was a favored -- favorite son of the greek american community. he was a member of the greek

orthodox cathedral of the enunciation in baltimore and held the highest lay office in the church and we shared strong bonds in the greek american community because like paul's parents, my wife catherine's mother's family immigrated from greece. as a strong believer in promoting democratic values at home and abroad, senator sarbanes was proud of those greek roots and spoke often of democracy's roots with the ancient greeks. he used to speak to students about the importance of public service telling them that an ancient athens, people who lived only a private life without view of the public good were failing to live fully. indeed the power of democracy and its promise of opportunity was the driving force behind his governing philosophy, to open the doors to others, to keep

your promises, and to achieve based on your merit, not on your connections, money, or power. as extraordinary a public servant as he was, paul sarbanes was above all a family man. he was devoted to his wife christine whom he met at oxford. recalling their first encounter, paul said, quote, she came to a meeting of the american association i headed. i forgot what was on the agenda. all i remember of that meeting was that is where i met christine, unquote. she was brilliant, kind, an an educator in latin, greek, french, and the classics who matched senator sarbanes' intelligence and shared his love of service. they used to knock on doors together during his political campaigns and she was a sounding board throughout his career.

they raised three children, including our friend john sarbanes who now serves maryland so well in the house of representatives and he was enormously proud of them and their sef -- and his seven grandchildren. i also extend any condolences today to senator sarbanes' former staff. his legacy goes well beyond the laws he wrote to the way he worked, that he shared with them. do your homework, understand the details, act with integrity, hold firm to your values. it is an example for all of us to follow. mr. president, senator sarbanes was not a flashy presence. in fact, political opponents once tried to belittle him with the name, quote, the stealth senator, unquote. but as he joked, stealth is one of the most important weapons in

our military arsenal. if you let somebody else take the credit, you can get the result. that was paul sarbanes, enormous accomplishments, never taking the credit, his quiet confidence left an impression on all who served with him. we have lost a great senator. america has lost a great senator. and many of us have lost a very good friend. but we should be comforted in the knowledge that he achieved what we would all wish for ourselves. he served well. he made the world better for others. he treated all he knew with respect and earned their respect in return. and he leaves us with fond memories. may god grant those who loved:the strength to -- loved him the strength to bear his loss and may his memory be eternal. thank you, mr. president.

i yield the floor. ms. stabenow: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from michigan. ms. stabenow: mr. president, i rise this evening with my colleagues from maryland and with senator reed from rhode island to pay tribute to someone who i was lucky enough to have as a mentor when i first entered the senate. and i want to associate myself with all of the wonderful words of my friends from maryland. with any new job, there is a learning curve. there is certainly things that you don't know, that you don't even know enough that you don't know. that is certainly true in this senate. in 2001 i was a former member of the house who had just been elected to the ?a. it was -- to the senate. it was an exciting time. new people to meet, rules to learn, and procedures to follow. one of my new assignments was the banking, housing, and urban affairs committee where senator

sarbanes served as chairman. now, by that time senator sarbanes was already an institution. as my colleagues have mentioned, he introduced the first article of impeachment against president richard nixon as a junior congressman. and as a freshman senator in 1978, he was a forceful advocate for treaties that gave control among other things of the panama canal to panama. so it felt a little surreal to find myself at the table with a brilliant leader like senator paul sarbanes. but he could not have been more gracious and more generous with his time for me as a freshman member. he was always willing to answer my questions. he was a wonderful mentor. we, of course, worked on banking issues together, including the

crafting of the sarbanes-oxley act where i was able up close to watch his legislative mastery. we also worked on public transit provisions in our transportation bills that were very important for us in michigan. we shared a passion for protecting our water. and my colleagues have talked about the chesapeake bay. for me it was the great lakes. and we often talked about the beauty of the lakes as well as the bay. senator sarbanes gave his final speech on the senate floor on this very day 14 years ago. he was a humble man and his remarks were quite brief. he closed in part with this. i want my colleagues to know how deeply i appreciate their

friendship and their counsel and how highly i value the privilege of having been their colleague. today i can say exactly the same words about senator paul sarbanes. he was a statesman, and i was lucky enough to call him my friend. i value the privilege of having been his colleague. i want to offer his family, including congressman john sarbanes, all of paul's friends, and the entire state of maryland my deepest condoll lenses -- condolences. we have lost an incredible leader and public servant. i yield the floor. mr. reed: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from rhode island. mr. reed: thank you, mr. president. it is an honor to join my colleagues from maryland,

senator cardin, senator van hollen, and my colleague from michigan, senator stabenow, to take a moment to recognize and remember my esteemed former colleague and dear friend senator paul sarbanes who passed away last sunday. paul sarbanes cements 30 years -- spent 30 years in this chamber doing what he knew was right. in that time he built a legacy most could not achieve in two lifetimes. paul's work on banking, the economy, housing, transportation, and so many other issues had a profound and significant impact on our country. but more importantly, his work had a direct impact on so many families whose lives were made better because of his unsung efforts over three decades. i had the distinct honor of serving with senator sarbanes and working directly with him on the banking, housing, and urban affairs committee and the joint economic committee. senator sarbanes was a constant and steady champion of

commonsense and fiscal policies to help create jobs, expand our economy, and increase consumer and investor protections. indeed, he used his power and influence to help those with the least power and influence in our society. which is the hallmark of our finest public servants, and paul still remains one of our finest public servants, indeed the finest of the finest. many would agree that the sarbanes-oxley act of 2002 stands among his best work, responding to a number of major corporate accounting scandals, senator sarbanes' legislation began the process of trying to restore investor confidence in corporate america and our securities markets. 18 years later, this law continues to be a critical pillar of our financial system. during his tenure as chair of

the joint economic complete in the late 1980's and early 1990's, paul framed many of the important economic issues and debates that the country was experiencing at the time. he held timely hearings on income inequality, trade deficits, and unemployment during a time in which the country was only beginning to come to grips with the notion that there needed to be a different direction in our economy. unfortunately, our nation is now battling a pandemic that is furthering economic inequalities in both the senate and the country -- and both the senate and the country could greatly use and greatly miss senator sarbanes' insightfulness and thoughtfulness and compassion. senator sarbanes was also a champion for affordable housing. he fought his entire career for our nation's working families, trying to make it possible for more families in our country to have decent, safe, and affordable housing. most notably, paul was one of

the original authors of the home investor partnership program known as the home program. this program has provided critical funding to our nation's states and localities, helping them maintain or expand their supply of affordable housing for many americans. paul also fought aggressively for funding the section 8 voucher program and one of the chief supporters of improvements to our nation's public housing programs during his senate tenure. senator sarbanes also recognized the essential role that public transportation plays in bringing communities together. forced reeconomic development and promoting a cleaner environment. as ranking member of the banking committee, he led the effort to reauthorize the nation's transit programs and the fight to ensure that transit received its fair share of funding. time after time, paul sarbanes did the right things and for the

right reasons. he could care less whether he got the credit, the press, or the fanfare. his primary motivation was simply knowing that he made a meaningful difference in the lives of his constituents and the american people. and in this regard, there are few who are as accomplished as paul sarbanes. his keen intellect, extensive knowledge of the issues, and his concern for americans across this great country all contributed to his impressive body of legislative accomplishments. now, i had the occasion to speak with john sarbanes, congressman from maryland, who is carrying on the proud tradition of the sarbanes family. and he said his dad was best described as a workhorse, not a showhorse, and that's right. he did the work of the people. he didn't try to garner the praise and the acclaim. he just wanted to make sure work was done and done well.

and he did throughout his entire career. my best wishes go to paul's family, including his sons michael and representative john sarbanes, his daughter janet sarbanes and his grandchildren. they have lost a father and a grandfather. the country has lost one of its greatest champions, and i have lost a dear and precious friend. may he rest in peace. mr. president, i yield the floor. mr. cardin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from maryland. the presiding officer: mr. cardin: mr. president, on behalf of senator senator and myself, i know that senator schumer and senator durbin have spoken on the floored and others have and many have expressed their condolences through our office to the family. we just want to express our appreciation. a senator: van hollen said, i had the honor or the challenge

to follow senator sarbanes in this body. i have his seat in the senate. when i was sworn in almost 149 years ago, senator sarbanes escorted me to take the oath of office. mr. cardin: as i mentioned earlier, he is an inspiration to all of us. i want to thank our colleagues for the tributes they've paid to an outstanding marylander, an outstanding american, and he'll be missed by all. with that, i yield the floor. i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

the presiding officer: the senator from ohio. mr. portman: mr. president, i understand we're in a quorum call. i'd ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. portman: i'm here on the floor today to talk again about the need for congress to act, to

pass a covid-19 bill that helps the people we represent. i'm told this is the 20th time i've come to the floor to make this plea, meaning i haven't been all that queening, i guess. but the reality is that there's hope in the air. there is a bipartisan group that's working on a package. i'm part of that group, as is the presiding officer. it's bipartisan. about five democrats, about five republicans. maybe more significantly, today the white house apparently made an offer to speaker pelosi to reengage in conversation to try to get to a package that meets the needs of everyone and the package that was presented was actually very similar. -- similar to the package that this bipartisan group has been working on over the past few weeks. so there's hope in the air. and that's good. because we need the help and we need it now. let's talk for a minute about why we need this help. i would guess that pretty much everybody in this chamber has

seen firsthand the health crisis that we are facing. the number of cases is up. the number of people in intensive care is up. hospitalizations are up and sadly fatalities have increased. some of my colleagues in this chamber have had to fight cases of covid-19 themselves. thank god they're all okay. but that's not true with everyone we represent. i would bet that everyone in this chamber knows somebody -- and probably multiple people -- who've had a very tough time or have even succumbed to this terrible disease. last week another friend of mine died because of covid-19. his name was mike crabtree. mike was the county commissioner in ohio, a friend, a stand-up guy who helped me on a lot of tough issues in southeast ohio.

always there for his community and for me. today, of course, we offer our prayers to his wife, diane, his family, and to all of his friends in the county. it's personal. in the face of these personal tragedies, in the sad reality that in many states we're now experiencing this higher number of cases, in many states its the highest we've had since the beginning of this pandemic, we do have some promising news on one front, and that is on the vaccine front. it now seems clear that later this month and over the next three to four months help on the way in the form of very effective vaccines being developed by johnson & johnson, astrozeneca and other providers. the trump administration's

innovative approach to cut red type tape through operation warp speed and the commitment and ingenuity of our researchers who have been working around the clock, our scientists and our manufacturers, have combined to put us on a path to having multiple vaccines at unprecedented speed, with efficacy rates above 90%. this is incredible. this is good news, safe, effective vaccines are expected to be available to frontline health care workers, first responders, long-term care facilities, and others just in the next few weeks. this is good news. within the next few months, we would expect that these vaccines will be more broadly available. and hopefully by march, maybe april, pretty much everybody would be able to find a way to

get that vaccine free for them, for their family. that has to be our goal here. as quickly as possible to get safe, effective vaccines. i'm concerned, as some of my colleagues know, because i've talked about it a lot that the number of people that say they're willing to get the vaccine is too low. that's one reason i entered one of the trials myself. i'm in the jansen j & j trial. i either got a vaccine or a placebo. i don't know. i got it to be able to go out and tell people these scientists, these experts, the people in the white coats, not the politicians, are the ones calling the shots here on these vaccines. and they are being safe and they are being careful, and it's going through a process that the f.d.a., the food and drug administration, that is actually more stringent than it was pre-covid. in other words, to get this emergency use authorization, they have to go through even more testing and they have to

show efficacy rates above 50%, which they normally wouldn't. that's good. we want us to be safe. but even with all that hard work that is being done, all the scientists, researchers working around the clock, there are some americans that are unwilling and concerned. part of it is because some politicians i think have played politics with this, and i hate that. that somehow in the trump administration this wouldn't be trusted. of course, this is not a political game. this is about saving lives. so i'm encouraged by the process that we have seen. and i hope people will sign up. when i got into the trial, the gallup poll that is being done periodically to determine whether people are willing to take it or not was 50%. only 50% of americans were saying they are comfortable getting the vaccine. that number in the last couple of weeks has gone up to 58%. it's heading in the right direction. we need people to understand that this is based on science, that these vaccines are like th vaccine for smallpox or polio or

measles. virtually wiping out these diseases in this country. my dad had polio as a kid. now people don't even talk about it. that's because of the vaccines. they work. we have to view it that way. it's not like the flu vaccine, frankly. the flu vaccine is only effective about a third of the time. these these efficacy rates meaning how effective it is have come in at 90%, 95% and higher. we will see what the f.d.a. says in the next couple of weeks, so i am encouraged that we are likely to get some approvals and likely to begin to provide these vaccines for those on the front lines, for those in long-term care facilities who are first responders and then out from there to the entire population. because these vaccines won't be widely available for three or four months, we need to act here and act now, to provide a bridge to more normal times. that's really how i see it. this is a short-term emergency

response to a desperate need we have right now as cases are rising and the economic consequences are being felt in every family in america, more and more pain. so my hope is that congress will make good on the promise we have seen over the last couple of weeks where republicans and democrats alike have come together to say we do have common ground here. we actually agree on most of this stuff. who wouldn't be for more money for vaccines and distribution. we need that. who wouldn't be for more money for small businesses? who wouldn't be for more money for people who are losing their jobs through no fault of their own and are struggling to pay the rent an pay their car payment? that's what this legislation can do, and i'm excited about that possibility. meanwhile, in the first week of december, we have lost 13,726 americans to covid-19, compared to half that many in the first week of november.

so in one month, we have had a doubling of the number of fatalities. at no point in time during this pandemic have we seen daily mortality rates like this except in the early days of march and april when new york and new jersey hospitals were being overrun. so we have got a real crisis. of course, this health care crisis is having a direct impact on the economy, too. even with these vaccines on the horizon, it's clear we have to do more to help the economy get through this period of time before we are back to a more normal time. we have got to help in the short term to address the impact this health care crisis is having on families, on employment, on businesses, on schools, on nonprofits, and, yes, on state and local governments. as i see it, our job is to provide that bridge so that the economic rebound that we have begun to see can continue. i'm concerned that the recovery we've seen which has been called a k-shaped recovery.

you know, you like to see a recovery come in a v shape where you have a recession, you lose jobs and economic growth and then it comes back up the way it went down. it's called a v shape. this has been more like a k. for some people, it's been okay. if you're a big box hardware store or grocery store in america, you are probably doing pretty well right now. if you're a small business or say a small retail store or a small restaurant that is a sitdown restaurant next to those big boxes, you're not doing okay. you may be already closed down. your employees may already be unemployed. if not, you're hanging by a thread and hoping and praying that congress passes legislation to help you. so it has been different for different people. if you have a blue-collar job, you can't telework. if you're in the financial services industry, you are probably doing okay, but if you work in a kitchen making 15 bucks an hour, you're probably not. so it's different for different people and different sectors of

our economy. i get that. for some, again, they're doing okay. for others, they are really struggling. poverty overall is up because of what's happening, and this is sad to me, and we can see it in our communities. go to your local food bank, see how many cars are lined up, how many people are waiting for three, four, five, in ohio sometimes six hours just to get food for their families. before the pandemic hit, we had very strong economic growth. i think the pro-growth policies put in place here in congress really helped. the tax reform, the tax cuts, the regulatory relief, using our energy, it all was working. we were having a period of growth that was strong but also it was a very opportunity economy. people who have been on the sidelines for years were coming back into our economy. a lot of the benefits were being felt by lower and middle income workers.

let me give you an example. in february of this year just before the pandemic started, we had 19 straight months of wage growth of over 3%. that's fantastic. we have been wanting that for a decade and a half in ohio. we had flat wages, even not keeping up with inflation. finally, we were seeing wage growth. and that 3% was compounding and it was really helping people feel like if they worked hard and played by the rules, they could get ahead. sadly, when the coronavirus hit, that ended. before the coronavirus, the national poverty rate was the lowest in the history of america. in february, it was 10.5%, the lowest rate since we started tracking the statistic more than 60 years ago. that's the poverty rate. that's incredible. that's what we all want. after the initial wave of layoffs in the spring, congress passed this bipartisan cares act. that was nine months ago. nine months ago. but it included programs like the stimulus checks, expanded unemployment insurance. it actually helped drive that poverty rate down for a while,

but since then, this continual economic pain felt particularly by low and middle-income americans combined with the lack of action on our part here in congress to help them has meant the poverty rate has actually gone back up since may by a significant amount. it now sits at 11.4%. that means that seven million more americans have fallen into poverty since the spring, seven million. when you fall into poverty, it's hard to get back out. as long as this economy remains partly shut down in some of our states, it's largely shut down if you're in the hospitality business or travel business. as long as this happens, and we could see more shutdowns in the coming weeks and months, of course, as this crisis continues to worsen, we're going to see poverty levels rise unless we provide some relief. along with the rising poverty rate, what's concerning to me is the fact that more and more people are just giving up hope. there is a staff called the

labor force participation rate. it's a share of americans who are over 15 years old either working or looking for a job. in february, we hit a five-year high for labor force participation. that's a good thing. in other words, we had more people participating in the work force than we had for five years. unfortunately, it's gone back down. it was up to 63.4%. now it's down to 61.7%. the october number works out to a labor force that has nearly four million fewer participants than it did in february. so just people participating in the economy has gone down. why do we need this package? we've got a real problem on our hands. it's a health care crisis, but it's also an economic crisis for so many people. unfortunately, a record number of women and older americans are also having to leave the workplace due to either a lack of opportunity or the need to stay home with their kids. for a lot of women, not having child care is a real problem because the schools are closed.

so this is driving people out of the workforce as well. this is bad news for businesses trying to reopen, but it's also bad news for our long-term economic health. people who can't find a way off the sidelines right now won't be able to help power the eventual economic recovery we all hope, and they will miss out on the economic recovery that does happen. it's a bad position to be in, but we saw with last week's job report that hiring is slowing down, meaning that more people may slip out of the labor force. in all, we're still down 10 million jobs in america since february. so some of my colleagues have said to me my town's doing great or my state's doing great or this industry is doing great. i get that. it's a k-shaped recovery. for some people, it's going well. but the fact is ten million people, ten million people, that's how many jobs we're down since february. a further slowdown of the economy is going to be tough for these long-term unemployed. my concern is we may never

reenter -- some may never reenter the workforce without action here to help businesses start hiring again. some of the hardest hit industries in our states like the travel, the leash, the hospitality industries, are facing real losses. our airline industry is expected to have cut the equivalent of about 90,000 jobs by the end of this year. 90,000 jobs alone in the airline industry. i spoke to the president of american airlines today. they are big in ohio. he called. guess what? he is really eager for us to pass this coronavirus legislation we're talking about, really eager, because he needs it desperately to hold onto his employees. he doesn't want to furlough any more people, but he doesn't have the business to keep them working. according to a november survey from the american hotel and lodging association, more than 70% of hotels have said that they won't be able to stay in business another six months without more assistance.

70%. almost 80% said they would have to lay off more people. and our restaurant industry lost jobs in november for the first time since april. a worrying sign that while restaurants were starting to pick up, things were getting better, in november, because of the news, because of the high level of cases and the concern people had of going out in public and also in some states because of a government edict saying you can't open. in some plays, they -- places, they even said you capital have outdoor dining anymore, not just indoor dining. think of what this does to those restaurants, most of which were small businesses, family owned, and were already stressed. some of those restaurants have closed their doors. i know some of them that are never going to reopen again. it's not just restaurants. it's bowling alleys, it's movie theaters, it's the place you get your hair cut. a lot of them are suffering.

a lot of these challenges are going to get worse soon because a number of the programs we put in place in this pandemic to help provide relief to people struggling are going to expire. that's another reason we have to act, because at the end of this year, actually the day before christmas, we're going to see some of these programs begin to expire. the pandemic unemployment assistance program that helps the self-employed, that helps gig economy workers, people who would not normally be eligible for unemployment to be able to step forward and get unemployment insurance is going to end at the end of this month. that's something a lot of my constituents in ohio have been depending on, if they have lost their job through no fault of their own. the pandemic emergency unemployment compensation program that authorizes another 13 weeks of state benefits, helped by the federal tax dollar, that ends at the end of this month. and of course there is a moratorium on evictions that ends at the end of this month.

so the bottom line is that the people, state and local governments, the industries, the sectors of our economy that have been hardest hit to date by the economic crisis caused by covid-19 are going to be the ones who are likely to be hurt most by a continued economic slowdown. as i said, these are problems that right now can only be fixed by all of us stepping forward. congress needs to take action and take action now. we've got about a week. we've got about a week. fortunately, again, i'm pleased to say that the proposal that's in the works on a bipartisan basis here in the senate is going to help. it has a total price tag of $908 billion. you all heard that probably if you are following what's going on with this continuing negotiation. but it helps everybody. it helps individuals. it helps families. it helps small businesses. it helps industries. it helps those hardest hit with

targeted resources. it's focused, it's targeted. it's not the $3.5 trillion legislation that has been talked about over the last several months. it's targeted. it's focused. and actually, although it's $908 billion, it's really more like $350 billion because it takes back money that was spent in the cares act that was appropriated by this congress and not used and repurposes it for these purposes. so i think it's a focused, targeted effort that will really help. and again, what's exciting about it is that today there was a proposal made that says we have this bipartisan framework, very similar apparently, and my hope is that the speaker of the house, the majority leader here in the senate, the democratic leader here in the senate, the republican leader in the house, the president of the united states can all figure out how to get together and make this work. this bipartisan proposal that we're working on here i think

does provide a good template. all those players have said good things about that proposal. it has funding in there to extend the paycheck protection program for small businesses that targets those small businesses that need the help the most. and it's really more targeted this time. it is target relief for some of our hardest hit industries including our airlines and mass transit industries. it includes funds to help americans who lost their job through no fault of their own. the unemployment insurance extension i talked about earli earlier. as a bridge to normalcy, we need this funding. it provides funds for state, local, and tribal governments based on their revenue shortfalls or their expenses due to covid. in other words, need based. we've also -- we're also working on commonsense liability reforms to give businesses, nonprofits, schools, health care providers, religious organizations, and others the legal protection they need to reopen with confidence,

that they're not going to be subject to frivolous lawsuits that could put them out of business. that's really important because getting these businesses back up and running is a critical part of getting our economy through these next few months. so these protections are essential in my view. i'm hopeful that both sides can now come together and find common ground on liability protections that we can all support. several of my colleagues are working on a proposal here right now in the united states senate. all of this gives us hope that we'll have better days around the corner. by the way, this proposal is not what any of us would write. it's not the proposal i would write. it's not the proposal our presiding officer here in the chamber today would write. personally i would put more emphasis on tax incentives for hiring. we've got some good proposals for that. i would put tax incentives in place to get businesses to reopen safely called the healthy workplaces tax credit so they could get compensated for

putting up the partitions or for having the p.p.e. and providing a safer work environment. i would expand the work opportunity tax credit to help those again who are on the sidelines to bring them back into work through a credit. i would help with regard to the employer retention credit that was in the cares act which could pick up some of these companies that aren't picked up by the p.p.p. program. they have slightly more employees where they don't us qualify. there is more i would like to do but you know what? this proposal is needed. it's needed so badly that all of us, regardless of what our particular interests are or our particular ideas -- of course, we all know what's right. all of us should get behind. let's not make the perfect the enemy of the good. i would even say the enemy of the necessary. targeted relief now i think is the right approach. most importantly, all of these

significant economic problems i laid out and the health care crisis i laid out need to be addressed now. as i said earlier, there's a light at the end of the tunnel for the health side of this crisis and our proposal i've been talking about also helps us get there because it has more funding for a vaccine development and vaccine distribution. i talked today to some experts in that area who know a lot more about it than i do and they say it's necessary. we have to provide more funding to keep the vaccine train moving so that by march and april we'll have it widely available. again, my hope is that americans will step up and be vaccinated. by the way, there's also bipartisan legislation four of us introduced last week, two republican, two democrats, to provide for a public sches campaign -- service campaign not with politicians talking about the importance as i'm doing tonight but with the experts talking about why the science says that it's a good idea to

get vaccinated. again, just like we do for smallpox or polio or measles. another covid-19 bill, will it solve every problem we face right now? no but we can do a lot with this proposal to help the most vulnerable individuals to just get by for the next several months rather than slip into poverty, rather than missing out on mortgage payments, missing out on their rent, missing out on their car payment, and other bad outcomes. we could help the most vulnerable businesses keep their lights on, their employees on payroll. frankly, this is work we should have been doing months ago but we're here now. let's get it done. my hope is that we can end this year by recapturing that spirit of bipartisanship that was on displays in march of this year when we passed the cares package here in the united states senate by a vote of 96-0. that doesn't happen very often. the cares act was not a perfect bill either but we all recognized it was a bill needed for the moment.

i hope we can also recognize that another bill is needed now, even if it's not perfect. let's build on the bipartisan proposal we put forward and let's ensure that the people we represent get the targeted economic relief they desperately need in the coming months. and, folks, let's not leave for the holidays until we have done that. i yield back my time.

mr. portman: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from ohio. mr. portman: mr. president, i ask the chair lay before the senate the message toll accompany s. 1869. the presiding officer: the chair lays before the senate a message from the house. the clerk: resolve that the bill from the senate, s. 1869

entitled an act to require the disclosure of ownership of high-security space leased to accommodate a federal agency and for other purposes do pass with an amendment. mr. portman: i move to concur in the house amendment and that that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. portman: i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to immediate consideration of s. con. res. 51 submitted earlier today. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: s. con. res. 51 correcting the enrollment of s. 1869. mr. portman: i ask further --,. the presiding officer: without objection, the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. portman: i ask further that the resolution be agreed to and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. portman: i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to immediate consideration of calendar 587, s. 3729. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: calendar number 587, s. 3729, a bill to provide relief for the recipients of

financial assistance awards from the federal motor carrier safety administration and for other purposes. the presiding officer: without objection, the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. portman: i ask unanimous consent that the bill be considered read a third time and passed and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. portman: i ask unanimous consent that the senate now proceed to immediate consideration of calendar 569, s. 4138. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: calendar 56, s. 4138, a bill to amend title 5, united states code to make permanent the authority that the united states patent and trademark office to conduct a telework expenses travel program. the presiding officer: without objection, the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. portman: i ask unanimous consent that 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. portman: i ask unanimous consent that the committee on veterans' affairs be discharged

from further consideration of s.4460 and the senate proceed to its immediate consideration. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: s. had 460, a bill to authorize the secretary of veterans affairs to waive certain eligibility requirements for a veteran to receive per diem payments for domiciliary care at a state home and for other purposes. the presiding officer: without objection, the committee is discharged is. the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. portman: i ask unanimous consent that 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. portman: i ask unanimous consent that the committee on help be discharged from further consideration of h.r. 563 and the senate proceed to its immediate consideration. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: h.r. 5663, an act to amend the federal food, drug, and cosmetic act to give authority to the secretary of

health and human services acting through the commissioner of food and drugs to destroy counterfeit devices. the presiding officer: without objection, the committee is discharged and the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. portman: i ask unanimous consent that the alexander amendment at the desk be agreed to, that 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. the presiding officer: without objection u -- without objection. mr. portman: i ask unanimous consent that the committee on finance be discharged from further consideration of s.3325 and the senate proceed to its immediate consideration. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: s. 3325, a bill to amend part d of title 4 of the social security act and so forth and for other purposes. the presiding officer: without objection, the committee is discharged and the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. portman: i ask unanimous consent that the bill be considered read a third time. the presiding officer: without objection.

mr. portman: i know of no further debate on this bill. the presiding officer: if there is to further debate, the question is on passage of the bill. all those in favor, say aye. those opposed, say no. the ayes do have it. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the bill is passed. mr. portman: i ask unanimous consent that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. portman: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that there be printed as a senate document a compilation of materials from the "congressional record" in tribute to retiring members of the 116th congress and that members have until friday, december 18, to submit such tributes. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. portman: i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

mr. portman: mr. president, i ask that the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. portman: mr. president, i

ask unanimous consent that the cloture motions with respect to executive calendar numbers 912, 9, and 14 be -- 913 and 914 be withdrawn. at 11:00 tomorrow morning, the senate vote on confirmation of the nominations in the order on which cloture was filed. further, if confirmed, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, and the president be immediately notified of the senate's action. further, following the disposition of the cookcy nomination, the senate resume legislative session and it be in order for senator menendez or his designee to make motions to discharge s.j. res. 77 and s.j. res. 78 and if either motion is made, there be four hours of debate concurrently on the motions equally divided within the presents and opponents of the -- the proponents and the opponents of the joint resolutions with senator menendez controlling 15 minutes immediately prior to the first vote. finally, upon the use or yielding back of that time, the

senate vote on the motions to discharge s.j. res. 7 and s.j. res. 78 in the order listed. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. portman: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent now that when the senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 10:00 a.m. on wednesday, december 9. further, following the prayer and pledge, the journal of proceedings be approved to date and the time for the two leaders to be reserved for their use later in the day and morning business be closed. finally, following leader remarks, the senate proceed to executive session and resume consideration of the dickerson nomination. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. portman: if there is no further business to come before the senate, i ask that it stand adjourned under the provisions of s. res. 797 as a further mark of respect for the late paul spyros sarbanes, former senator for the state of maryland. the presiding officer: under the previous order, and pursuant to s. res. 797, the senate stands adjourned until 10:00 a.m. on

wednesday, december 9, and does so as a further mark of respect to the late paul spyros sarbanes, former senator from maryland. >> gobbling out for the day today lawmakers worked on judicial executive nominations are expected to vote on government funding. when the senate returns watch live coverage on c-span2. >> you are watching c-span2 your unfiltered view of government. created by america's television company as a public service and brought to you today by your television provider. >> our colleagues in the uniteds states senate put an impressive bunch. it always makes it a challenge to pay adequate tribute wn