now live to the floor of the u.s. senate here on c-span2. the presiding officer: the senate will come to order. the chaplain, dr. barry black, will lead the senate in prayer. the chaplain: let us pray. eternal god, the center of our peace, continue to be a shield for our nation.

watch over each citizen and provide them with your wisdom. you alone are our sure foundation. today, may our lawmakers stand on the rock of your truth as they seek to do your will. use them to transform cacophony into harmony. may the words they speak bring healing to our land. and lord, comfort those who mourn, particularly the family of united states capitol police officer brian sicknick. we pray in your merciful name. amen.

the presiding officer: please join me in reciting the pledge of allegiance to the flag. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. the presiding officer: the senate will come to order. the clerk will read a communication to the senate. the clerk: washington, d.c., february 3, 2021. to the senate: under the provisions of rule 1, paragraph 3, of the standing rules of the senate, i hereby appoint the honorable elizabeth warren, a senator from from the commonwealth of massachusetts to perform the duties of the chair. signed patrick j. leahy, president pro tempore. the presiding officer: under the

previous order, the leadership time is reserved.

the presiding officer: under the previous order, the senate will resume consideration of s. con. res. 5 which the clerk will report.

the clerk: calendar number 4, s. con. res. 5, concurrent resolution setting forth the budget for the united states government for fiscal year 2021 and so forth.

mr. schumer: madam president. the presiding officer: mr. president majority leader. mr. schumer: are we in a quorum? the presiding officer: we are not. mr. schumer: madam president, i am happy to report this morning that the leadership of both parties have finalized the organizing resolution for the senate. we will pass the resolution

through the senate today, which means that committees can promptly set up and get to work with democrats holding the gavels. for the information of the senate, the democratic caucus has announced its committee memberships for the next two years. i'm confident our members are ready to hit the ground running on the most important issues that face our country. senate democrats are not going to waste any time taking on the biggest challenges facing our country and our planet. i've already instructed the incoming democratic chairs of all relevant committees to begin holding hearings on the climate crisis in preparation for enacting president biden's build back better agenda, which includes major climate legislation. it's long past time for the senate to take a leading role in combating the existential threat of our time, climate. as we all know climate change

touches virtually every aspect of our economy and involves virtually every aspect of public policy. so as the biden administration perhaps a whole of government approach to combating climate change, the democratic majority will pursue a whole of senate approach as well. some of this work has already started. two years ago senate democrats established the first-ever special committee on the climate crisis. i promised that any action we took on infrastructure in particular would prioritize green fawc and the creation of -- infrastructure and the creation of green jobs and create many jobs, good-paying jobs, we will. personally i've introduced legislation to speed our country's transition towards clean cars that has the support of the environmental community, the labor unions and some of the car manufacturers. make no mistake. in several dwairchts this democratic -- different ways, this democratic majority will

compel the senate to relent and urgently address climate change beginning with work in all of the relevant committees. so as we set up new committee structures, i look forward to working with the new democratic chairs on ways their committees will address the climate crisis. i look forward to speaking with my colleagues on the other side of the aisle about finding some common ground on this issue. and most importantly, i look forward to propelling this chamber into action on a crisis that concerns not only all of our futures but the futures of our children and our grandchildren. it's our solemn obligation to leave behind a planet upon which future generations are grow and prosper. now on covid. yesterday afternoon the senate took the first step in preparing a rescue package for an economy and a country that is still in the throes of crisis. the $1.9 trillion budget resolution is designed to meet the needs of a country that has

been devastated by disease and recession for nearly a year. it's been such a long time. we need real help. unlike most crises which affects one particular of the economy or another or one part of the country or another, the covid-19 pandemic affects every part of the country and nearly aspect of american life, there is not one person in america, in my judgment, whose life hasn't been significantly changed by this awful crisis. the challenges we must overcome are man fold so we must produce a bill that address of that, housing, agriculture, education, help for the unemployed, small business, our health care systems, our state and local governments, and we cannot fall short of the needs in each of those areas. history has taught us hard lessons about the cost of small

thinking during -- times of hard challenges. secretary yellen told the democratic caucus yesterday that it is her belief that if congress fails to dedicate the necessary resources to meet the needs of the american people and survive this crisis, we will see long-term scarring in our economy and our country would be mired in the covid-19 crisis for years. the income and inequality that plagues our nation and exacerbated by our crisis because it is the lower half of the american people who have suffered the most needs to be remediated and that's what we aim to do. we must not -- must not repeat the mistakes of the past and do too little to reluctantly and too late. we will not repeat the mistakes of the past. our goal is simple. to help the american people and

the american economy and do it fast. over the next two days, the senate will be in session for debate on the budget resolution. there will be an open bipartisan amendment process, we invite participation from both sides of the aisle in that process, but i urge not to lose sight of what this will mean to the american people, for americans who lost their jobs through no fault of their own. this rescue package will extend enhanced unemployment benefits, for parents, i've spoken to so many who are desperate for the day they can send their children back to school safely. this rescue package will include resources for schools to make that happen quicker, for teachers, firefighters, bus drivers and nurses worried about the fate of their jobs, this rescue package will follow through on providing aid for state and local governments, for restaurants and bars, for theaters and farmers, for small

businesses of every stripe, this rescue package will make another round of federal loans and grants available to you. and for every american struggling to make ends meet who month by month has fallen further behind on the rent or the mortgage, who has had the power or the heat or the water shut off, for every american who has had to choose which meal they were going to skip that day, this rescue package will send direct sentence in the form of a check. and, of course, this rescue package will support the production and distribution of the vaccine that is the key to ending the crisis. the past administration in terms of distribution, in terms of working with the states to get these vaccines out has been so derelict, it's been one of the greatest failures of any

presidency. the new biden administration is focused on getting -- on making more vaccines, getting them out quickly, getting them out fairly and doing it effectively and efficiently. we have to help get that done. so i, alongside the democratic committee shares, responsible for drafting this legislation, will be meeting with president biden at the white house today in a few hours from now. our caucus is eager to discuss next steps and we are united in our resolve to deliver on a rescue plan that provides the american people the relief they so desperately need. i yield the floor and note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

mr. mcconnell: mr. president. the presiding officer: the republican leader. mr. mcconnell: i ask consent that further proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: this morning police officer brian sicknick lies under the dome in the institution he died defending. four weeks ago the rotunda was strewn with the debris of an insurrectionist mob. today it is adorned in solemn thanksgiving for the sacrifice of a hero. on january 6, those who sought to obstruct our democracy were confronted by a sworn officer and military veteran who was determined to protect it. in the face of lawlessness, brian sicknick paid the ultimate price to uphold a solemn oath. he gave our nation the last full measure of devotion.

our democratic republic was built to endure, but it needs heroes like the officers of the u.s. capitol police to support and defend it. so today we mourn and give thanks for the true patriot who lies in the rotunda. the senate and the entire country send our deepest condolences to officer sicknick's family and all who loved him. his name will never be forgotten. now, mr. president, on an entirely different matter, this pandemic has forced americans to confront numerous and compound ing tragedies. almost 450,000 americans have been killed, millions of livelihoods have been upended, and millions of american kids, especially those who attend public school, have been robbed of an entire year and counting of proper school. despite heroic efforts from students, parents, and teachers, so-called remote learning has

proven a poor substitute for the real thing. research suggests that even if the average remote learning student had gotten back in the classroom last month, they would already have missed multiple months' worth of learning compared to a normal year. 40% of high schoolers in st. paul now have failing grades. in houston, it's 40% of all students. tampa's school district has reportedly just lost track of thousands of kids all together. and this pain isn't spread equally. the worst has fallen on the most vulnerable, including lower income households, students of color, and students with special needs and their families. the fallout isn't just academic. replacing the structure, friendships, and activities of school with isolated screen time has predictably caused spikes in mental health concerns.

schools normally keep an eye on kids with challenging home lives and are too often the most reliable source of hot meals, and son and on. we know with certainty now that k-12 schooling cannot move online indefinitely like a white-collar workplace. it's more like routine medical procedures, something that can be postponed a few weeks in a pinch, but which our society really cannot do without. and some families aren't having to. many private and parochial schools have been in person since the fall. many european countries have kept kids in schools nearly the whole time. but in places across america where public education depends on the whims of a powerful public sector union, the best interests of children have often come dead last. as the months have rolled by and the data have poured in, it's

become clear that schools can open safely. just last week, c.d.c. researchers affirmed, quote, with proper prevention efforts, we can keep transmission in schools and education settings quite low. this confirms what scientists were observing as far back as october when it reported, quote, transmission by young children to adults seems to be negligible as long as safety measures are in place. dr. fauci, whose expertise was supposed to guide the biden administration's whole approach, said last week, quote, we can keep the children in school and get them back to school safely. that's dr. fauci. an administration that puts facts and science first would be conducting a full-court press to open schools. federal funding is not an obstacle. that's more goalpost moving. congress has poured more than $110 billion into making

education safe. as of last week, state and local school districts had only spent about $4 billion of the roughly $68 billion we set aside for k-12 schools. that leaves $64 billion in the pipeline already. and remember, science tells us that schools are largely made safe with simple precautions. science is not the obstacle. federal money is not the obstacle. the obstacle is a lack of will power. not among students, not among parents. just among the rich, powerful unions that donate huge sums to democrats and get a stranglehold over education in many communities. apparently, big labor's talking points have already displaced dr. fauci as the white house go-to source. the president's chief of staff keeps saying we need even more massive federal funding before teachers can go back.

there is no scientific basis for that, none whatsoever. the goalpost moving doesn't stop with money. in several places, these unions sought to elbow toward the front of the line for vaccinations, only to turn around and say thanks for the vaccinations, but don't think these will necessarily get our folks back in the classroom any time soon. too often, local officials just roll over and submit to these tactics. in my hometown of louisville, kentucky, the largest school district in the state had the union-funded board of education vice chair. he's now saying that even if all school personnel get vaccines, he would still be reluctant to open schools. in san francisco, the 28-year-old board of education president, 28 years old, argued a few days ago that vulnerable kids aren't really missing out on learning. they are just learning different things.

and it's the system's fault for not measuring all of the valuable cultural experiences they have had while getting stuck at home. what nonsense. families are losing patience. and fast. we could not function with remote police or remote firefighters or remote dental surgeons, and we'd never pretend otherwise. kids, parents, and a lot of talented teachers have given online learning their all, but we'll be deluding ourselves if we continue to accept this pale shadow of proper schooling when all the science, all of it points the other way. no more goalpost moving. states and districts have got to follow the science and get american education back on track.

now, on a related matter, in the past year, congress has worked together to pass five, five major rescue packages on a bipartisan basis. the democratic leader spent months saying that any pandemic relief should pass with broad bipartisan support. he said last july, quote, sitting in your own office, writing a bill and then demanding the other side support it is not anyone's idea of bipartisanship. but yesterday, less than a day after several senate republicans spent literally two hours meeting with president biden, senate democrats plowed ahead with a party-line vote to set the table for a partisan jam. the new president talks a lot about unity, but his white house staff and congressional leadership are working with a different playbook. we'll be discussing the facts on schools, on jobs, and on health

care in depth in the days to come, but the rushed budget process that will play out this week is exactly, exactly the wrong pass toward making law. senate republicans will be ready and waiting with a host of amendments to improve the rushed procedural step that's being jammed through. we'll be getting senators on the record about whether taxpayers should fund checks for illegal immigrants, whether democrats should raise taxes on small businesses in the midst of this historic crisis and whether generous federal funding should pour into school districts where the unions refuse to let schools open, and this is just a small taste. the american people will see republicans are focused on smart and responsible policies to reopen the country, and they will see democrats who seem desperate to make their first act in power the same kind of

massive partisan poorly targeted borrowing spree that permanently wounded the last democratic presidency right out of the gate. i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

mr. inhofe: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from oklahoma. mr. inhofe: i ask unanimous consent the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. inhofe: mr. president, i think it's something that may be coming up. it's worth addressing right now and addressing early. it's been a concern, a bipartisan concern for a long period of time. that is that president biden has made it clear that he intends to reenter the 2015 iran deal, better known as the jcpoa. now, this was something that disturbed a lot of people, a lot of democrats as well as republicans back during the obama years. i want to get on record here to make sure that reentering that iran deal would be a terrible mistake. the administration would face stiff opposition in congress if he tries to go that route. there are things that we can do, but not reentering that one. there could be no return to a

deal whose limitations on iran's nuclear program begin to expire in four years. or that rrn to a -- return to a deal that ultimately allows iran to enrich enough uranium for a nuclear weapon after those limitations. let's keep in mind, iran, that's the country that is right in the middle of all the terrorist activity, promoting terrorism around the world, and to even think about allowing them to keep some kind of a nuclear capability that could be used as a -- as a -- as a bomb would just -- it's just unthinkable that that could happen. we couldn't return to a deal that lists the sanctions on a government that is leading the state sponsor of terrorism, targeting united states personnel and partners across the middle east. you don't need to take my word for it because my democrat colleagues warned the obama administration in 2015.

i was here. i remember when it happened. they talk with the deals, the shortcomings of that deal. one was the senior senator from new york, the current majority leader, chuck schumer, who warned that under the iran deal -- and this is a quote -- he said inspections are not anywhere any time. the 24 of this day delay before we can inspect is troubling. well, that would be right. essentially what that said at that time was they could do anything they want to do for 24 days before we restrict anything that they are doing. he was right. he further said that delay would enable iran to escape detection of any illicit building and improving of possible military dimensions. the tools that go into building a bomb but don't emit radio activity. that door was left wide open. that could take place. or listen to the democrat colleague from new jersey,

senator menendez. he's the new chairman of the senate foreign relations committee, and he warned that the deal met and the quote that he said we are now embarking not on preventing nuclear proliferation but on managing or containing it, which leaves us with a far less desirable, less secure, and less certain world order. or listen to my democrat colleague from west virginia, senator manchin. he serves with me on the committee that i have chaired for quite some time, the senate armed services committee. he warned us -- and this is his quote. he said lifting sanctions without ensuring that iran's sponsorship of terrorism is neutralized is dangerous to regional and american security. i mean, these are no-brainers. these are things that democrats and republicans alike were warning us about, the frailties that were in that proposal back in 2015.

now, my democrat colleagues were pretty prophetic in what they were warning. they were warning in three things. first of all, we still after this period of time do not know the full scope of iran's nuclear program. secondly, iran's nuclear production slowed, but it did not end after that. third, iran did in fact use its sanctions to fund terrorism and continues to use -- target americans. i wish vice president biden had-ed to my democratic colleagues and their warning about the iran deal's shortcomings then and hope they'll listen now that he is president. it's more significant. there's simply no good argument for returning to a bad deal. too often supporterrers of the iran deal have accused iran's deal's critics -- talking of me and others i'm sure -- being

opposed to any deal at all. back in 2015, the obama administration depicted the opponents of the iran deal as warmongers. let me just be clear. nobody wants war with iran. and if anything, i believe the obama era deal makes war more likely by enriching one of the worst state sponsors of terrorism and by giving it a clear pathway towards a nuclear weapons capabilities. i'm not making this stuff up. this is serious. calling people who oppose warmongers couldn't be further from the truth. killing iran's arch her i.r.s. soleimani last -- terrorist last year soleimani, it specifically called for a deal that makes the world safer and more peacefully. he was calling for that at that time. we don't want war but we also don't want the flawed iran deal. that terrible deal isn't and never has been the only choice. but we'd absolutely consider

supporting a good deal. and what would a good deal look like? and i want to highlight four main principles that we would look for. and this is something the president can do now. first, the deal has got to be comprehensive. that means addressing all of iran's bad behavior, its funding of terrorism, terrorist proxies, its ballistic missile program, its nuclear program, the things my democratic colleagues were worried about back in 2015. secondly, the deal has got to be inclusive of the views of israel and our arab partners, the obama administration side stepped their concerns and president biden should not do that the same now. we should have learned from that. third, the deal must be permanent. the 2015 deal allowed for a sunset provision that would ultimately allow iran to possess a nuclear weapons capability. i'll be clear.

iran should never be allowed to have a nuclear capability. fourth, the deal has got to be transparent. it's got to allow for regular and unconditional inspections of iran's nuclear program just as the majority leader called for six years ago. i mean, what's wrong with having -- making sure that we are allowed to make inspections to make sure they are doing what they've agreed to do? there's nothing wrong with it. these are things my colleagues and i agree on. president biden can find bipartisan support here to repeat, we want diplomatic resolution, not war, but that means a good resolution. of course, it's far from career that the ie owe eclear that the iranian regime is willing and ready to engage in serious negotiations. so i call on the biden administration to lay the groundwork now so that a new deal has the foundation to success and the -- and when the

iranian regime is ready, you know. it's a logical thing that i think would encompass a lot of support from the republican side, support from the house. specifically, this means maintaining our leverage with iran through sanctions and a strong u.s. military posture in the region. it also means opening discussions with our european allies and our other regional partners to coordinate priorities for the new deal. most importantly it means working with congress early and often so that there is a sustainable, bipartisan path forward when the time is right. along those lines i was disappointed by president biden's decision to appoint someone who negotiated the iran deal as his new iran envoy. a new deal requires new thinking. bipartisan cooperation won't be achieved by elevating the partisans of the past.

if something didn't work back then, try somebody else, new personnel working on these. moving forward, the biden administration should expect difficult confirmations for any nominee who is involved in negotiating that deal back in 2015. president biden has an opportunity to correct the obama administration's mistakes on iran. it has a chance to build bipartisan congressional support for a diplomatic resolution that is truly comprehensive, inclusive, transparent, and permanent. successful iran deal allows the u.s. to focus more squarely on challenges of russia and china, a return to the iran deal, however, will empower the iranian regime and keep us mired in the region. i think everyone knows iran. it's the world leader in terrorism. and we should do everything we can to make sure that they don't

get a nuclear capability to develop a nuclear weapon. i can't imagine that anyone could argue with that. with that, i will yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call:

quorum call:

mr. cornyn: mr. president. are we in a quorum call? the presiding officer: we are. mr. cornyn: i would ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cornyn: mr. president, as we all have learned, the devastation caused by covid-19 reaches far beyond the impact, the health impact of the virus itself. tens of millions of americans have lost their jobs or other sources of income. countless small businesses no longer exist. and the stress and uncertainty surrounding the pandemic has taken a toll on the mental health of every american. that's especially true for children whose worlds have been flipped upside down. last spring, schools in texas and across the country transitioned from in person to virtual instruction in order to help stop the spread of the virus. in the beginning, we thought this was a short-term measure, a

way to keep students, teachers, and their families safe from the virus we knew very little about at the time. i don't think any of us expected that those closures would last as long as they have with many students across the country coming up on their one-year anniversary of virtual learning. as weeks turned into months, it became clear that online instruction was no replacement for classroom learning. we know many -- many families, they just don't have the ability either to access broadband or they don't have the supervision at home of family members to help keep children on task when it comes to virtual learning. it's a -- it's a substitute, a poor substitute in most instances unless it's just absolutely necessary. last spring, schools in texas and across the country transitioned to virtual instruction, as i said, to stop

the spread of the virus. we thought this would be a way to stop the spread, but as weeks turned into months, it became clear that many kids were calling behind, especially in foundational subjects like math and reading, and the learning deficit is even greater for students of color and those in high-poverty communities. one study found that for math, white students began this year with about a -- about one to three months behind in their learning, while students of color fell three to five months behind. we know that the impact is not purely academic. there is also a serious mental and emotional toll. the "texas tribune" recently shared a story of one student, a boy they referred to as jordan. he was a student at frisco independent school district, and like kids across the country, he

struggled with the challenge of virtual learning. this fall, his normal a's and b's dropped to f's, and the further he fell behind, the harder it was for him to catch up. in october, jordan opened up a google doc and typed an absolutely agonizing message. he said give me ten good reasons why i shouldn't kill myself here. and when you think that can't get any more heart breaking, it does. the list was blank. an 11-year-old boy felt so lost and defeated, he couldn't come up with a single reason to continue living. well, if there is a bright spot in this otherwise very dark story, it is that this incident did not go unnoticed. jordan was using a school-issued computer, and the school district's technology department quickly flagged this alarming

information for counselors who alerted jordan's mother. she was able to intervene, thankfully, before those dark thoughts could be turned into action and get jordan the mental health treatment he needed. i'm glad to report that jordan is now back in the classroom where his grades are improving, and he's able to spend time with his friends, an important part of the socializing function of our schools and going to class with others. but sadly, the pain and suffering this student experienced is not unique. the frisco independent school district where jordan is a student has already surpassed the number of students hospitalized for mental health concerns from last school year, and the number of students considering, attempting, or dying by suicide is also on track to break previous records. the pandemic has simply taken a

devastating toll on our children. academically, socially, and emotionally. so, mr. president, i'm here to add my voice to those who say we need our schools to open, and of course to do so safely, which i believe they can. in december, then-president-elect biden promised to safely reopen the majority of schools within his first 100 days in the white house. he said it should be a national priority to get our kids back into school and to keep them in school. i agree. our children deserve the quality and the stability that only in-person instruction can provide, and parents deserve the option to choose the learning model that works best for their kids. that's why congress has appropriated more than $110 billion to support

education, including $67 billion specifically for k-12 students. this funding has allowed schools to supply their students with what they need for virtual learning where that's required, including laptops and hot spots, while also preparing for a safe return to the classroom. administrators at each school were able to evaluate their individual needs and risks, and i'm sure all of them varied by circumstance to some extent. but they also need to implement the necessary precautions to keep, obviously, the students and teachers safe. texas schools have used federal funding to update their air filtration systems, purchase personal protective equipment, and implement regular disinfecting. the results are pretty clear. a headline from the "houston chronicle" in december read covid spread remains minimal in texas schools despite state

surge. the truth is the virus doesn't affect all of us identically. there are differences according to age. the president's repeatedly emphasized his trust in science, so let's take a look at the science here. this last week, the center for disease control and prevention published a report that found, and i quote, there has been little evidence that schools have contributed meaningfully to increase community transmission, close quote. the lead author of that report affirmed that even in places with otherwise high infection rates, there is no evidence that schools will transmit the virus at a higher rate than the general community. in short, it seems that schools are not a breeding ground for covid-19, and as long as commonsense precautions are taken, that schools can reopen safely. i know that has been the case in

a lot of the parochial schools where, frankly, if they didn't have students showing up for class, they would be out of business. it's only the public schools where you see this phenomenon of extended virtual learning and a refusal of many teachers to return to the classroom i know this has presented a dilemma for president biden because in this case the science is it at odds with a key group of supporters which are the teacher unions. unions in a number of major cities like chicago have refused to return to school. despite the fact that evidence shows that schools are able to open safely, again if proper precautions are taken and congress has provided tens of billions of dollars to help them do so and teachers like others across the country are being vaccinated, teacher unions demand in some cases that schools be closed altogether.

just outside of the district of columbia, in fairfax county, virginia, the situation is even more bewildering. the school board teachers union have said they will not return to schools until all students are vaccinated. as a reminder there's currently no approved vaccine for children under the age of 16. and likely won't be for some time. yet even with no return to in-person learning in sight, teachers are still receiving the vaccine, which i think is a good thing. more shots in arms ought to be all of our goal. but as you can imagine, the biden administration is having a tough time explaining this one away, how on one hand the president said let's get children safely back in the classrooms and on the other hand, many teachers unions refusing to return. in a recent television experience, the president's chief of staff was asked why the teacher unions are overruling

what studies would otherwise show. and he appeared to come to the defense of the union decision. well, that's not a commitment to science. and it's important that all of us listen to the science when we make our decisions and they not be made based on a political agenda or who is for or against the proposition. our focus ought to be clearly on the students and the quality of education that they are receiving as well as the collateral damage that's being done by keeping them out of the classroom. mr. president, the science is clear that the appropriate precautions are taken, it's safe for our schools to reopen. and again, we provided tens of billions of dollars to support safe reopening, including $55 billion to k-12 schools in the omnibus that was signed into law just last november -- december, just about a month ago.

this funding is helping schools safely welcome their students back to the classroom where they can better learn, socialize, and build a strong foundation for a successful future. we need our children to be well educated. this is the fundamental right in our democracy and necessity in a self-governing form of government. the administration shouldn't try to distance itself from the president's 100-day promise. it should do more to encourage a safe return. when it comes to reopening schools, president biden needs to take his own advice and listen to the science and not the teachers unions. mr. president, i yield the floor.

a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from oregon. mr. merkley: mr. president, we're 11 months into the most severe health care crisis this country or the world has seen in more than a century. and for much of this past year, we haven't done anywhere close to enough to help the millions of americans who are suffering, suffering not only from the virus itself but from the economic implosion created by

this pandemic. the american people are in desperate need of help. it is many, many months since we passed the cares act. it was way back in march of last year. that's a long time ago, ten months ago. and then the house down this hallway in may, middle of may passed the heroes act to say let's do what we need to do for health care, for housing, for education, for creating good-paying jobs to help america address both the health care side and the economic side of this pandemic. and this senate said no. this senate said we're sorry, we spent all our money on tax breaks for the richest americans. we don't have the resources to help out ordinary americans in the nation of this pandemic. we prefer to do nothing. and we prefer to do nothing leadership of this body proceed

to do nothing in june and july and august and september and october into november. meanwhile the american people were gearing up for an election to basically weigh in on the direction that this country was going. and here the senate sat and did nothing in the face of millions of struggling families across our country. finally, after the election, a minimal amount was done with the omnibus bill. the time for playing the fiddle or twiddling our thumbs while america suffers is over. in the campaign democrats said we will end the inaction of this senate in addressing the nation's challenges, the

families' strugs acontrolling -- struggles across america if you put us in a place to do so and they did. in the house down the hall, in this chamber, and the white house down pennsylvania avenue. the american people said get your act together, engage in competent, professional, direct, bold assistance to these enormous challenges we face. and joe biden promised that if elected president, he would utilize every resource of the federal government to take on the covid pandemic and help american families get back on their feet. the american people spoke loudly. they spoke clearly. and now we intend to deliver on the promises and provide real help to american families and businesses struggling in these difficult times. there are a variety of ways that we can go forward to address

this challenge. certainly one is to have a bill on this floor, have it open to amendments, relevant amendments, germane amendments. proceed to receive what the majority of this body, 51 members would say should be changed in that bill or modified in that bill. but that tradition has been absolutely squashed by the leadership in this senate over the past few years under the republican leadership. i'd like to see it restored. i'd like to see it restored but with it goes not blocking the bill from leaving this chamber after thorough deliberation has occurred. we know that in the six years that president johnson led this chamber, there was not but one, one blockade to keep bills that

were received majority support from leaving this chamber. but in the six years that harry reid led this chamber, there were over 400 times the minority said no, we will not let this bill leave this chamber. that is exactly, exactly the type of obstruction and delay that is making this chamber dysfunctional. and we've already seen it in terms of the organizing resolution. still not done. still not done because the minority leader, now minority leader mitch mcconnell wants to delay and obstruct, delay and obstruct, delay and obstruct, delay and obstruct as he did from the time the house passed the heroes act until the modest bill in december. so i'd love to see, love to see this bill, this bill, this $1.9 million bill on this floor and let the majority work its way.

ask if more money was needed to help children return to the classroom, as my colleague from texas just addressing that topic, more assistance in helping families still unemployed by the meltdown, more assistance to the small businesses, or maybe some members would like to propose less help here or less help there. but that goes with it the ability to move the bill quickly for action. and we await that kind of pledge, that kind of pledge to end the delay and obstruct tactics of the minority. and in the meantime therefore, we must go forward on a double path and say we will prepare to go through the reconciliation process. the simple majority process that comes from the budget act of 1973, the same process republicans have used time and time again to give tax breaks to the richest americans. any process used in that fashion

i think was abused. but using it to help ordinary families get back on their feet, that honors that process. where do we stand now? one in five renters in america behind on paying their rent because they're struggling financially. nearly 24 million americans, 11% of all adults, not having enough food in their homes. millions of children affected by that shortage of food. millions of american children going hungry. that's where we are right now. hundreds of thousands of businesses shuttering their doors for good. and hundreds of thousands more on the verge of doing so. too many classrooms echo what the sound -- with the sounds of silence rather than the laughter of children. this bill is about changing t

that. we need to move quickly. our children are struggling so hard to do your class work over a computer, over a zoom room. so hard to feel good about life when you don't have the chance to play and interact with other children. so depressing when you're trapped in a house. yes, we need to reopen the schools. so let's pass this bill and let's pass this bill quickly and let's get those $1,400 payments in the hands of adults and children stimulating the economy from the foundation up, not wall street down. the foundation up. helping struggling families, helping struggling small businesses. main street, not wall street. payments that will help put food on the table, keeps the lights turned on, keep the internet turned on, make sure that the

family doesn't suffer eviction, and strengthen the payments for those who need it most, the unemployed. now, we are facing a deadline of march 14. march 14 when the federal partnership in supporting unemployment benefits runs out. so we must act before that happens. and those who know the reconciliation process know that it's lightning fast to do it in a six-week period but that's what we must do and that means we must start now. if in the meantime the minority decides to abandon its dedication to obstruction, delay, and be full participants in helping america, then let's get that bill on the floor and go that path. i'm fine with that but it cannot prevent us from acting. we were elected to act. the american people support strong, bold, generous action

now to prevent years and years of recession ahead of struggling ahead. these are unprecedented times and unprecedented difficult times. we need to think of ourselves as all one community. we need to help and partner with our states and our counties and our cities and our tribes. we need to get them the help they need that's been so fiercely opposed, help to enable them to do basic education improvements, basic public safety, making sure that the firefighters and police officers and teachers still are able to do the work that they're called upon to do, help those tribal governments purchase personal protective equipment and have access to telemedicine services. there are no blue and red communities whether it comes to a national crisis across this country, when it comes to disease. it affects people regardless of

which party you belong to or what part of the country you live in. a bipartisan attack on our health should involve a bipartisan response in this chamber, not the obstruction and delay tactics the majority has come to view as their core strategy. it must end. when hundreds of mayors wrote to us and said we need help, act now, they weren't democratic mayors. they weren't republican mayors. they were bipartisan mayors from all across this country saying now is the time. we need help now. and yet, delay and obstruction was the strategy of the minority. they spent all their money, they said, giving tax breaks to the richest americans. there is no room to help ordinary working americans. that philosophy doesn't belong in a government of o'by, and for the people. if you want a government of, by, and for the powerful, then find

a different constitution, a different system of government. but here the people have spoken, they have spoken clearly, and it's our responsibility to respond. to those mayors, the bipartisan mayors across this country, we hear you, and we stand with you. let's move promptly and boldly to address this crisis. the president has put out a very clear plan that addresses every significant area that the mayors, community leaders across this country have said they need help with. let's be their partner in that assistance and put america back on its feet. thank you, mr. president.

mr. thune: mr. president. a few moments ago, i had the opportunity to pay my respects to u.s. capitol police officer brian sicknick who lies in honor right now in the capitol rotunda. by all accounts, brian sicknick decided early an he wanted -- early on he wanted to be a police officer. he joined the national guard before finally joining the capitol police in 2008. on january 6, 2021, he joined his fellow police officers to defend the capitol from invasion by a violent mob. he was attacked by the invaders, pepper sprayed twice, and reportedly hit in the head with a fire extinguisher. he later collapsed in his office as a result of his injuries and

was transported to the hospital where he died the next day. mr. president, while reading accounts of officer sicknick's death, i was particularly struck by reports that he returned to his division office after the day that he had had. a lot of us, after having been pepper sprayed twice and hit on the head, would probably have made a beeline for the hospital and for home. even if, like officer sicknick, we weren't aware of just how badly we had been injured, i'm not sure we would have returned to the office. but officer sicknick did. his family noted that officer sicknick had, and i quote, an incredible work ethic. he was very serious about showing up to work on time and refused to call out sick unless absolutely necessary, end quote. mr. president, we saw that dedication on january 6. his first thought was not of his injuries, but of the job that he was committed to. mr. president, we are the beneficiaries of the service and

dedication of men and women like brian sicknick. men and women who get up every day not knowing what they will face but willing to sacrifice up to and including their very lives to protect those that need protecting. mr. president, in the gospel of john, jesus tells his disciples no man has greater love than this that a man lay down his life for his friends. all of us marvel and are moved when we hear stories of those who lay down their lives to protect others. the soldier who jumps on a grenade to save his buddies. the mother who leaps in front of her child to protect her. the firefighter who dies trying to rescue someone from a burning house. but officer sicknick's story hits particularly sharply because officer sicknick lay down his life for us. he died for us. he died for me. for every senator in this chamber and for every

representative, for every staff member, for every cafeteria worker, maintenance worker, administrative worker in the capitol complex. we were in danger, and he stepped forward to protect us. he died for us. greater love hath no man than this. mr. president, there is no repaying such a sacrifice. there is no earning it. we can only honor it. and try to live our lives in such a way as to be worthy of it. mr. president, officer brian sicknick died as he lived, defending the united states capitol and all those within it. my thoughts and prayers are with officer sicknick's family and with all those who loved him as they mourn the life of this brave man. mr. president, in his victory speech and later in his

inauguration address, president biden made it clear that he intended to govern for all americans. he pledged to be, and i quote, a president who seeks not to divide but to unify, who doesn't see red and blue states but a united states and will work with all my heart to win the confidence of the whole people, end quote. i was encouraged by his words and hopeful that the potential for a new day in american politics and real bipartisan legislative work on the priorities facing the american people. it's still a hope i have, mr. president, but i am discouraged by the path that we're on here in congress. yesterday, senate democrats voted to proceed to a budget resolution designed to allow democrats to pass covid legislation on a purely partisan basis. mr. president, as i noted a couple of weeks ago, it's common to talk about unity at inaugurations. i have been to a lot of them. but all too often, that commitment is quickly forgotten. unfortunately, we're already seeing signs that members of the

democrat leadership are rapidly abandoning the president's call for bipartisanship. mr. president, democrats turn toward budget reconciliation, a process that allows certain legislation to pass the senate with a simple majority instead of 60 votes, which is normal here, would be more understandable if republicans had categorically refused to consider any additional covid legislation. but that isn't even close to being the case. republicans shared democrats' commitment to covid priorities like vaccinating americans and getting our children back in the classroom. in fact, mr. president, we passed five, five covid relief bills so far in congress, totaling more than $4 trillion, and every single one of those bills was passed under republican leadership in the senate with bipartisan cooperation at the 60-vote threshold. just this week, a group of ten

republicans outlined a $600 billion covid proposal that would fund vaccine distribution, extend enhanced unemployment benefits, and provide additional economic support to americans who need it the most. on monday night, at the same time that speaker pelosi released her budget bill, those ten republicans were meeting with president biden in the oval office for two hours. republicans are more than ready to work with democrats on additional covid relief. now, i won't pretend that we don't have reservations about some of the measures that democrats have proposed. for instance, i don't think an emergency covid bill is a place to push through a change that would more than double the federal minimum wage and directly increase expenses on businesses that have been decimated by the pandemic. i also think that sending checks to those who don't need them and won't spend them is not a good use of taxpayer money. a disagreement over aspects of the democrat proposal does not

mean that republicans are not willing to work with democrats on covid relief. mr. president, democrats move toward a purely partisan pathway on covid legislation is troubling, but what is even more disturbing is the noise that democrats are making about gutting the byrd rule. the byrd rule, which is maimed for and introduced by democrat senator robert byrd of west virginia, was adopted to prevent abuse of the budget reconciliation process and protect the rights of the minority in the senate. it limits the proposals that can be considered under budget reconciliation so that the majority party in the senate cannot use the budget reconciliation process to push through any legislation it wants with a bare majority vote. mr. president, some democrats are suggesting doing away with the byrd rule as a way of getting around the legislative filibuster, and that's a big problem. preserving minority rights was a

priority for the founders. they knew that in democratic forms of government, tyrannical majorities could easily trample the rights of the minority. so they were determined to put in place a system of checks and balances that would protect the rights of the minority. one of those checks, mr. president, was the united states senate. as time has gone on, the legislative filibuster as the senate ruled has had perhaps the greatest impact on protecting minority rights in the senate, but the byrd rule has played a key role as well by limiting senators' ability to use budget reconciliation to get around the filibuster, the byrd rule has helped ensure that the minority has at least some voice in most legislation passed by the senate. mr. president, in 2017, when republicans held the majority in congress, as well as the white house, there were calls within

our party to gut the byrd rule and to abolish the filibuster. but the republican majority in the senate refused. we knew that abolishing the legislative filibuster or de facto abolishing it by gutting the byrd rule would seriously weaken minority representation in the senate. and so for the long-term good of the senate and the country, we refused. we knew that it would be a betrayal of our obligation to senators to undermine the senate's key role as protector of minority rights. and i would just remind democrats that back in 2017, they strongly agreed with our decision. i trust that their opinion has not changed simply because they are now in the majority.

mr. president, minority representation would be important even if elections tended to break 60-40 or 70-30 in favor of one party or another across the country. all americans deserve to be represented in government, but it's particularly important, when you consider that our country and the senate is pretty evenly split right down the middle, which means any attempt to disenfranchise the minority party means disenfranchising half of the entire country. while the far left-wing of the democrat party would like to use this election to implement every extreme, pie in the sky socialist proposal on its list, that's not what the american people voted for in this election. americans voted for a presidential candidate historically regarded as a

moderate. democrats lost seats in the house of representatives. and while thanks to the vice president, they have a tie-breaking vote in the senate, they did not actually win a majority of seats in the senate. my point, very simply, mr. president, is that if any mandate was given in this election, it was a mandate for moderation, for bipartisanship, for unity. i hope that democrats remember that and resist calls from the far left to gut the senate's rules and fundamentally change the character of this institution. i still believe that we can come together in this congress to address the challenges facing our country, but it's going to require a lot more bipartisanship than we're seeing from a lot of democrats. mr. president, i yield the floor and i suggest the absence of a

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

quorum call:

mr. durbin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from from illinois. mr. durbin: i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be suspended. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: i just returned from the memorial service for capitol police officer brian sicknick. it was held in the rotunda of the united states capitol, a place which is reserved on such occasions for those who brought

special honor to the united states. it was appropriate that brian sicknick receive that honor. on january 6, capitol police officer brian sicknick reported for duty and never returned home. a simple red wooden box contained his remains at the service. tributes were given to him, all deserved, because this man gave his life to protect our nation, to protect me. it was protection from an enemy, not a foreign enemy but, as we say in our oath, a domestic enemy.

american-born and bred terrorists who streamed into this capitol building on january 6 at the instigation of president donald trump. he had summoned them to washington on that day because the constitution required it that the congress meet that day, that we count the electoral votes and announce to america who would be the next president officially. we knew the results state by state. they had been verified over and over again, challenged and verify again. but it was the formal ceremony -- but this was the formal ceremony which involved calling the states and their vote counts in the house, and if there were objections, considering them -- the objections in both the house and the senate. that was the process that president donald trump set out

to disrupt. so he called a rally of his loyal followers. they met on the ellipses. he fired up the crowd and sent them to the capitol building to stop the count. as they said in their warped logic, stop the steal. they weren't permitted to enter the building, so they broke it down, the doors, the windows. we've seen it over and over. they assaulted every law enforcement officer who stood in their way. brian sicknick, of course, lost his life. but there were 140 other police officers who were beaten and maimed and stabbed, who still suffer from those injuries today. the same terrorist mob that took brian sicknick's life stormed

past everyone who stood in their path. what a day in the history of the united states of america. their occupation of the capitol included their occupation of this chamber. they marched into this chamber opening desks, taking photographs of documents, posing for pictures in the president's chair. they had a jolly time showing off to their friends that they can take over the united states senate. next week we begin the impeachment trial. the house of representatives has accused this president of instigating an insurrection. when you think of it, could there be anything more serious than provoking a group for the

violent overthrow of a legitimate government process? some say we shouldn't do this impeachment. they argue that any speech given by the president to this mob was protected by the first amendment. well, if the first amendment was designed to protect activities to overthrow our government, then it was a recipe for a democracy that would die of its own accord. i think we know better. the founding fathers expressly included the impeachment clause in the constitution for a president who would be so bold as to challenge the very existence of our democracy and the peaceful transition of power. after the ceremony in the rotunda, i went to the rayburn room in the house. i met with officer sicknick's

family. we stood and talked for a few minutes. in respect to them, i will not repeat our conversation, but i'm going to remember it, and i'm going to remember them. and though i didn't meet him personally, i will remember him next week when this impeachment trial is under way. and for everyone who makes the argument that when it comes to january 6, it's time for america to get over it, i'll remember one capitol police officer who gave his life to protect me and this capitol. i'm also going to remember his family, the loss that they've endured because of a political exercise based on a big lie propagated by the former president of the united states. mr. president, i ask that the statement i'm about to make be

placed in a separate part of the record. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: mr. president, a headline in last thursday's "chicago sun-times" captured the grim reality for tens of millions of americans desperately seeking a covid vaccination. the headline read, looking for vaccine appointment at your pharmacy? get ready for the hunger games. for those who don't know the hunger games, it's a fictional book turned into a movie about a distopian world where people are forced to fight each other in order to survive. the results in chicago have been discouraging. the websites were hard to navigate, the appointments were scarce to nonexistent. even when they searched for

appointments at pharmacies as far as 50 miles away, no luck. the reporters spoke to people who had gone online at 2:00 in the morning in the hopes of landing a coveted vaccination spot. no luck. they spoke to a chicago area woman who have been trying for days to book a vaccination appointment for her mother who is 75 years old and battling cancer. that woman knew too well what failing to receive a vaccination could mean. her mother-in-law is recovering from the virus. her 85-year-old father-in-law died of it one week shy of his first official vaccination. after several frustrating days, she was finally able to book an appointment for her mother to get vaccinated. she is relieved for her mother. she is worried about others who are eligible but can't find a vaccination. as she said, it's not fair. it's absolutely ridiculous. earlier this week, illinois administered its one millionth

dose of covid vaccine, an important milestone. but in my state and every state, the prospects of getting shots in the arm is still too slow, too limited and too confusing. too many eligible americans are still scrambling to receive the vaccination. let me say in defense of a state i with i proudly represent, under governor pritzker, we have a pretty good record of vaccination rates. he's doing his best. and, unfortunately, the supply is limited and he needs more, and he certainly has plenty of people anxious for it. this isn't just a chicago problem. it's a statewide problem. it's a nationwide problem. it reflects that while the trump administration worked quickly to discover the vaccine, it failed to work with the states in complementing a plan -- in implementing a plan to vaccinate people. when joe biden took office, there was more covid-19 vaccines

in freezers than in the arms of americans. that was 10 or 12 days ago. the results of those earlier missteps are staggering. today the u.s., with 5% of of the world's vaccinations a, is home to -- as of monday, more than 26 million americans have been infected and more than 440,000 americans have died of covid-19. my state of illinois, 19.1 million infections, more than 19,000 deaths. even as the trump administration tried to conceal the truth and squandered precious time in responding to this crisis, other americans were working her rowically to protect their neighbors and friends. these heroes included doctors and nurses on the front line, order list who kept hospitals clean and safe, even grocery store clerks, truck drivers, mail carriers, teachers, and

many other essential workers. they work the -- they worked around the clock. they included brilliant scientists and researchers who not only developed the covid vaccines but watched for the variants that were emerging that may or may not be protected. sadly, their dedication was not matched by the performance of the previous administration. president biden is trying to change that. he's trying to dramatically increase the production of vaccine and also the distribution. sets worthy goals -- 100 million americans vaccinated in a hundred days. i want him to be right. we want to get a pace and to have a momentum to break the back of this pandemic once and for all. he calls it the american rescue plan. it includes necessary assistance for vaccinations, first and foremost, and it should be. but then it speaks to the economic crisis that also

devastates this country. this plan provides economic assistance for small businesses, many just barely hanging on; extends unemployment relief for millions of americans who have lost their jobs; increases funding for food stamps, snap benefits so that americans who can't afford to put food on the table have an alternative. it includes funding to dramatically ramp up production of covid treatment, includes funding to help schools and universities reopen safely and stay open. it includes funding to help get teachers vaccinated and key administrators a. the american rescue plan represents the best thing of leading economists and public health experts. we can debate it if we wish, but we can't drag our feet. we can't waste a day. people are dying every minute. in fact, every 30 seconds

another american dies from covid-19. as the virus circulates and replicates and we dither, variants emerge and we wonder if our vaccine is ready for them. scientists worry that our current covid vaccines are less effective with new strains. we could rush through this double-shot vaccination across america and perhaps reach our goal sooner rather than later and find that some mutant or variant is a new challenge that requires a booster shot. i'm not a scientist. i think certainly don't have any medical degree. i'm not professing any expertise. but we do know that variations are emerging and shame on us if they don't spur us to action as quickly as possible. we're in a life-and-death struggle, a race against the clock to vaccinate americans against the variants become dominant.

the cost of the rescue plan that president biden has proposed is $1.9 trillion. it's about the same as the cares plan that at senate passed a year ago. we passed it with 96 votes a year ago. we passed some $900 billion more this last december. $1.9 trillion ?oi small sum. you know what would be more expensive? continuing down the path of the pandemic, watching this deadly virus mutate and eat up companies and jobs and hope and education for our kids. doing nothing is unacceptable. doing too little is unacceptable. remember when you took your kids to the doctor with that earache or sore throat or whatever it was, and he said i tell you what i can do, dad. i'm going to give you a prescription for your little

child, and it's for five days on the antibiotic. i've got to warn you ahead of time, the child is going to start looking better and feeling better in two days and in three days want to run outside and play with the other kids. and you're going to think fine, that's behind us. but don't do it. give that antibiotic all five days because we know in many cases that if you stop giving the antibiotic, the illness returns. similar situation faces us with covid-19. if we don't put enough into the vaccination effort, if we don't put enough into straightening the economy, if we don't put enough into sustaining those unemployed and underemployed, if we don't do it, we'll be back again and it may be $1.9 trillion or maybe more. shouldn't we take all of our medicine? shouldn't we do it as most

doctors and in this case economists order to make sure we have an impact, positive impact on the economy. i want to say a word about the ten republican senators who met with the president of the united states the day before yesterday. i thank the president for the meeting because he was sincere, and i was told by those who attender -- attended he was responsive to their questions and he was well prepared. when they came in and started talking about the different programs and how much should be spent on each one, one republican senator said he had a sheet of paper in front of him with a few things written on it and for two hours we kept an active conversation. it was like another member of the senate speaking to these ten republicans. that, to me, is gratifying. it's the reason i supported this man to become our president. i knew he would be ready for the job and anxious to try to bring america back together. so the ten republicans who met with him have said they want to

work on a bipartisan basis. i know them. i know each and every one of them pretty well. i sat through those meetings with them before when we prepared the last covid relief bill. they're sincere, they're well prepared, they argue their case. even if i disagree with them, i respect the way they argue it. but i would say to them there are two things that are critically important. first, respond quickly. we can't drag this out for weeks, for months. unacceptable. we have deadlines looming in the middle of march when unemployment benefits are going to be cut off for many americans. and we certainly have a vaccination crisis we have to address right now. and secondly, don't err on the side of stopping the medicine before you're really protected and well. we need to put the medicine into the economy. i'm talking about the dollars, the money into the economy to get people back to work so that schools can reopen, for goodness sakes. anyone with a child or a grand

child knows this is unsustainable for these kids to be out of the classroom. it's hurting them, it's holding them back in terms of their education, and it needs to end and end quickly. so for my republican friends, thank you for joining us. but stick with us for a real solution to this. we can't delay. every day we wait is another day that this virus mutates and grows stronger. every day we delay thousands of americans die from this virus, businesses close, workers lose jobs, families get more desperate. terrific devastation we have lived through, but it can come out right in the end if we stick together on a bipartisan basis as a nation. we're going to soon deal with the budget resolution here on the floor of the united states senate and then move to reconciliation. i have tried my best, though i've been a member of the senate for a number of years, to

understand reconciliation, and particularly to understand the famous byrd rule. it's named after a man who was a senator for many years, from west virginia, named robert c. byrd. he used to sit at that desk. and when he came to the floor, there was such respect for him and his knowledge of this institution that the standing order was people who were speaking stopped. senator byrd is here. defer your remarks until he's finished. that was done over and over again. and as a new member of the senate i thought who is this man. i came to understand the reputation which edgar nerd in the united states senate -- which he garnered in the united states senate. and he, i suppose, maybe others with him, was the author of the reconciliation process. originally it may have been intended -- i underline may -- may have been intended for

deficit reduction. now it is something different, and deficit reduction is not the goal per se. instead there have to be measurable revenue and losses involved in any proposal within reconciliation. so holding to the byrd rule is going to be a matter of interpretation by the senate parliamentarian and decision by the senate as to whether that interpretation will be respected. there could be items that are objected to by the parliamentarian and others that will be accepted. i think it's too early to speculate on that. but it is one of the more arcane elements of the senate rule process, and yet it has massive impact. years ago when the republicans were in a similar position as the democrats, they used reconciliation for tax cuts.

some believe the reconciliation dealt with deficit reduction, could never understand how a tax cut wouldn't add to the deficit. they argued the other way. they prevailed. reconciliation was used for a tax cut. now we come with a proposal, the american rescue plan, which either in part or in whole is going to be offered m reconciliation, and the question is whether each category of that plan that is included in reconciliation is eligible under the senate rules. i will say there's one fundamental difference which one of my colleagues raised earlier. instead of talking about tax cuts for the wealthiest, we are proposing changes in reconciliation for the american rescue package by president biden which are really designed to help working families and those who are struggling in our economy. for instance, the tax changes that are proposed in the

american rescue plan, if they're included in reconciliation, will include additional assistance to family with children, substantial tax relief and tax credits, refundable tax credits to those in poverty raising children. we have economists who tell us that if the biden proposal on these tax benefits for families with children are enacted into law, we will cut child poverty in half in america. think about that. dramatic change. we hear so many conversations about the state of the economy and those who remain left behind and whether or not income inequality is going to be addressed. starting with the children, i will say to president biden, it's the right starting point. it would be wonderful if we had bipartisan support for helping these kids. i can tell you this, the money it costs for these tax cuts and credits is far less than the

expense that will be incurred by america as a nation if these kids don't have an opportunity to grow up healthy, educated, and productive. so i'm watching carefully as this debate continues. and at this point i yield the floor. mr. scott: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from florida. mr. scott: mr. president, just weeks into a new administration and hopes and promise of bipartisanship have been rejected. the biden administration and my democratic colleagues in the senate lasted ten days before they ditched any attempt at real compromise. instead of working together to provide targeted relief to those that are hurting from the

coronavirus pandemic, democrats are moving forward with the reconciliation process to pass a nearly $2 trillion spending bill. reconciliation is a process that was created to make quick changes related to budget and spending that were assumed to get bipartisan support. it was never meant to be a tool to pass major legislation, but democrats know they can't pass their harmful policies through legislation, so they're looking for any tool they can find to ram them through the process. senators schumer and sanders keep pushing forward without republican support to get the changes they need no matter what, no matter the spending package clution a number of liberal -- includes a number of liberal policies that have nothing to do with the coves virus. -- the coronavirus virus. even as the latest data shows that states across the country are reporting positive income growth. no matter that the $2 trillion

would throw our nation even deeper into unsustainable debt, hurting american families. we need to be very clear about this, america is in a debt crisis, and we need to start talking about it and taking decisive action to reverse course. in 2020 alone, the federal government increased its debt by more than $4 trillion. today it sits at a massive, an unsustainable $27 trillion. that's why every time i'm faced with a question of spending taxpayer dollars, i ask myself some simple yet important questions -- what is the plan to pay for it? what is the return on investment for american families? does the proposal include measures to prevent waste and fraud and ensure accountability? asking these questions isn't a novel idea. it's the same process i went through every day when i was governor of florida. it's what most americans go through when making financial

decisions at home or for their businesses. no family would needlessly spend money without a plan and no business can afford to get, to not get a return on their investments. spending without consequence isn't how things work in the real world and it's not how things should work in government. congress' decades failure to think and act responsibly has led to enormous deficits, insurmountable debt, and out-of-control spending. but instead of getting serious about this debt and its inevitable consequences, the democrats are focused on more government, more spending, higher taxes, and no accountability. biden's nominees are no different. in 2018 janet yellen, biden's new treasury secretary was scwoated speaking about the unsustainable u.s. debt and said if i had a magic wand i would raise taxes. how is that good for american families?

mayor pete buttigieg, the new transportation secretary, said he's open to raising the gas tax on american families. how is that good for an american family? and tanden has been a supporter of the green new deal, a $93 trillion disaster that would devastate our economy and kill jobs. how is that good for an american family? these are the people who are going to get our economy on track and provide opportunities for american families? i don't think so. my concern about the future of our country cannot be understated. in august congress will have to deal with the expiration of the debt ceiling. this is a critically important issue, but for years congress has ignored it. the debt ceiling has been suspended for more than two years, allowing the federal government to spend out of control and rack up insane debt on the federal credit card. and we have to pay interest on this debt. right now interest rates are at historic lows, less than 1.5%, and we're still paying nearly $350 billion in interest on our

debt each year. think about it. we get no return on any of these dollars. here's a chart. look at this. here the $345 billion we're going to spend in interest for 2020. look at these programs, medicare, medicaid, defense, social security. look at the deficit we're running, $3.3 trillion. if this interest rate goes up and we're already running a big deficit even before covid, we're going to have a deficit this year of over $1 trillion, what program does somebody anticipate cutting? what tax do people believe we ought to increase? the$350 billion we're going to spend on interest, we get no return. no family gets benefits out of this interest expense unless you're holding treasure sures. it's insane but not the curious part. if increase -- if interest rates increase, we'll be obligated to pay $1 trillion

more in interest every year. if we go from, if interest rates go to the 50-year average, we're going to to go from a little less than $350 billion to over $1 trillion in interest is expense. if we have $1 trillion in interest expense how are we going to fund these programs when we're already running deficits? and that's if the debt stops growing. it's an awful cycle that has as does it is consequences for american families. that's why we cannot allow the debt ceiling to be suspended again. we cannot allow a radical liberal agenda to destroy americans' chance to ever get out of this hole. as we recover from the pandemic, inflation will rise from its 2020 low of 1.4% to nearly 2.3% or more. that's a 60% increase in inflation. but if congress continues to recklessly spend and do nothing about our growing debt, inflation will increase higher. there is a direct link between

the federal government's unsustainable spending and the rising cost of goods and services. here's what is that means for american families. the price of everyday goods gool rise. gas prices will rise. and rental housing costs will increase. increases in inflation hits americans' hourly workers and fixed-income workers the hardest. when liberal politicians like pete buttigieg get their way and raise the gas cost and other costs on families. so while politicians in washington keep spending money like it is a game, american families suffer. radical spending and reckless proposals directly hurt families. every dollar we allocate is borrowed from taxpayers. if congress is irresponsible, it is the taxpayers that suffer. a rise in the debt will also either cause or be accompanied by a rise in interest rates. that's bad for everyone.

when interest rates increase, everything from car loans to student loans to mortgages becomes more expensive for the american people. and the interest on our debt, which is already the fourth-largest expenditure in the federal budget, will become our largest expenditure. for every one percent increase in interest rate, we are going spend another $2 trillion over ten years. that's more taxpayer money getting no return. there's nothing, there's no services, there's no products, there's nothing for the american consumer. for people on fixed incomes, their incomes are going to stay the same while the prices of the items they buy will go up month after month. for hourly workers, wages will never go up fast enough to cover the ever-increasing cost of goods and services. i know all of this sounds scary. that's because it is. politicians in washington are afraid to tell thank you the truth. so here it is. if you want a country to survive and thrive and continue to be a beacon for freedom, prosperity appeared hope around the world -- and hope around the world, we'll need to make tough choices

after this crisis is over. we'll need to do way more with less. we'll need to reassert the principle that -- we have to stand up toker these values. when democrats try to spend $2 trillion on their priorities that have no bipartisan support, we have to say no. we have to make sure that every dollar is spent tree genetically on things that -- strategically on things that actually help families and struggling businesses. when democrats want to raise taxes to pay for government's wastefulness, we have to say no. short-term solutions aren't going to work anymore. we're in a battle for the future of our nation and we cannot relent. as i stated after congress passed the cares act, once in crisis is over, we must make a plan to cut federal spending by at least the amount we spend during this crisis. there is no other option. in august, congress will once

again confront the expiration of the debt ceiling. it's time to take action. it's time to wake up. we can fix this and put our nation on a fiscally responsible path. we need to focus on growing the economy, cutting taxes, and burdensome regulations and streamlining permitting. we fixed this by helping every american get a good job, and we can fix this by getting a return on every tax dollar we spend. i'm going to keep talking about this because this is one of the most severe and ignored crises facing our nation. it is not going away, and the heart of the democrats -- and the harder the democracy push their proposal, the harder i'm going to push back. as loaning as i am a member of the u.s. senate -- as long as i am a member of the u.s. senate, i will fight against the out-of-control spending. i will be back on this floor again and again until something gets done. thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor.

is

a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from virginia. mr. kaine: mr. president, might i inquire, are we in a quorum call? the presiding officer: we are not. mr. kaine: mr. president, i have six requests for committees to meet during today's session of the senate. they have the approval of both the minority and majority leaders. the presiding officer: l duly noted. mr. kaine: thank you, mr. president. i rise today to talk about some friends of mine. roxy raines kornegahay, my across the straight neighbor for nearly 40 years died of covid last night at 6:00. she has been the matriarch and pillar of our four-block long neighborhood. we have the annual, you know, party in the median in october and roxy kind of presides. she has been sort of the

caretaker, always taking care of a family member or a friend, one of the first persons who reached out to me when roxy passed was a city council man in pasadena, california, who heard instantaneously. he used to be the deputy police chief in richmond. he said when i moved to richmond, i didn't know anybody. roxy adopted me and showed me the ropes in richmond. roxy was a pioneer in virginia government, making opportunities for african americans to get hired into key positions, a civil rights leader in the state. my wife and i and our whole neighborhood is absolutely devastated by the loss. my wife and i were talking about how old do you think roxie is? we viewed her as our age because she is vigorous and fun and lively. she's 20 years older than my wife and me. three days before roxie rain speps kornegay died, another neighbor of mine, sheila, died of covid.

she was an activist in the richmond community with a real heart for nonprofit organizations that focused on the needs of survivors of domestic violence. she had done pioneering work and worked with other organizations like the salvation army. she was married to another friend, chris hilbert, a member of the richmond city council. three days before sheila died of covid, patsy died of covid, the mother in a parish. patsy had been a part of our parish community. so in eight days, three people that i know died of covid. and this morning i heard early in the morning that another dear friend -- and i'm not going to mention his name but another dear friend of mine is in the hospital with covid on a ventilator, somebody that i know very, very well.

i officiated at his wedding about 15 years ago when i was governor. i'm a healthy and wealthy and privileged person, so if this is happening to me in my network of friends and family, i know it's happening to others. i think this now makes nine people that i know who have died of covid. i was on the phone yesterday with taiwan's representative of the united states, which is essentially equal to the ambassador, and she told me that taiwan has had nine covid deaths, dozens of miles from china, they had nine covid deaths. i haven't checked that, but my wife and i have had nine people we knew who died of covid. we had -- basically beginning on the -- december 20, the daily

death toll in covid has eclipsed the number of americans killed on 9/11, we have eclipsed 470,000 deaths to covid. and so my own feelings of sadness about my friends are just shared in common with everybody -- everybody has been touched by this, knowing somebody's who's ill, knowing somebody's who died, maybe having lost a job, maybe having lost a business, maybe not being able to see a parent or grandparent in a nursing home or not been able to travel to see a brand-new grandchild. it touches everyone, it doesn't touch everyone equally, those losing jobs to covid are predominately minority, young people, women, people working at the lowest end of the salary scale. so why do i take the floor to talk about roxy and sheila and

patsy and my other friend who i just learned this morning is on a ventilator in the hospital? i take the floor because this, to me, is just evidence under lined with an ex -- underlined with an exclamation point that we have to act promptly to provide a suffering nation more covid relief and we shouldn't be stingy about it. we've got to be bold about it because the amount of suffering that people in this country are undergoing is still so staggering, nearly unprecedented. the scale of the problem is so big the health scale of the problem, that many deaths and millions having had covid, the economic scale of the problem, we're still down ten million jobs from where we were one year ago, and that's with some significant recovery, occasioned by the investments that congress has been willing to make in the first five bills we passed, even

those having significant effects on our states and communities, we're still down ten million jobs and then we're down in the intangibles. it's not just the numbers of cases and the numbers of deaths and the numbers of hospitalizations and the numbers of businesses that are can closed, and the numbers of people who have lost jobs, it's the scale of sadness, unhappiness and the consequences that will go on for som -- some significant period of time that we're still living under. two examples, and i could give 50 just as any senator standing on the floor could give 50 examples, mental health needs of front line health care workers. i had a zoom session with doctors and nurses around the state not long ago, and the stories just break your heart. one nurse, you know, i'm used to death. this is what i do, i've been a nurse 20 years in this hospital.

but i'm sort of used to one death per week on the shifts that i work. i'm not used to three deaths on a shift day after day after day. another nurse jumped in from a different part of the state and said, that's right, let me tell you what's the hardest thing for me. and the nurse said this, maybe the most important thing i do as a health care provider is when somebody is dying in the hospital, i escort their family into the room so that they can some last moments together as a family, sitting around the bedside and holding the hand or exchanging memories with that parent or a spouse or a child or a sibling. you can't do that now. people dying of covid because of exposure risk, i can't make this place to a sacred -- a sacred place for a family to say good-bye, so i have to do it. i have to do it.

i have to ware a -- wear a mask and i can't even smile at the person. i'm not supposed to hold the person's hand, but i do, and i bring in an iipad and old it to the person's face so they can have an end of life discussion with their family because they can't be there with them. the nurse who told me this story told me this is really tough. it's tough to do it day after day after day and be the last person on earth that so many people are seeing and trying to manage that really intimate and important and sacred moment between a dying person and their family when they are gasping their last breath. a third nurse said, let me tell you for me what's the hardest. what's the hardest for my mental well-being in terms of doing this every day. i do what the other two have just described and then i get done with a shift and i'm just beat and i don't want to take that home to my family.

i don't want to take that frustration and depression home to my family, so i drive around for a while until i can kind of clear my head and invariably when i'm driving around i'll go by some place like a restaurant or bar and see a whole lot of people with each other without a mask on, people who think it is fake or a political thing and they are making a statement by not wearing a mask and not following basic health guidelines and after the day i've gone through and the challenge to my own mental health and seeing this, i see that, and you're going to be in the hospital next week. do you know what you're doing to yourself? do you know what you're doing to your family? do you know what you're doing to me? i'm going to hold that iipad in front of your face as you talk to somebody else or your family. the health care needs -- the health care needs of our front line health care workers who have been besieged by this

pandemic, they are not going to go away the day we say we're past covid. the challenges that people have endured to be the heroes that we claim them to be are not going to just immediately go away. part of the covid relief bill needs to be about keeping our own healers healthy. the second example is housing. thank goodness in the covid bills thus far, we have found some bipartisan agreement to put a moratorium on evictions and moratoriums on mortgages between fannie or freddie. that's really important. but what about when we get to the end of the moratorium, families have big obligations that are backed up. maybe they lost job or income, can they come current then on their obligations when we're done with the moratoria or will they ten face eviction after

they've gone through the unimaginable of covid and now we're past it, will they then face eviction because their resources are not be sufficient to catch them up with their back-due obligations. it's not just the residents, mr. president. what about the landlords? so many landlords are small business owners and they have to pay off mortgages too. and we also want them to keep the properties up, to keep them safe, to keep them habitable, to keep them as dignified places where people can live. if rent isn't coming into them, how can they pay off their own obligations, how can they keep up the quality of housing where people live? i could have talked about the needs of the unemployed or the needs of people who use child care. at one point in the summer, 40% of child care institutions in thb country were -- in this country were closed down, that makes it so hard to open up our businesses. i could have talked about the tremendous needs of small

businesses, thank goodness it has been a bipartisan priority in all of the bills we did in 2019 to fryer advertise the small business -- to fryer advertise the small business assistance. there have been hospitalizations and cases are starting to go down even though the death toll remains high, but this challenge, we are not done with it and we're not near done with it and that's why we've got to go big, in my view. and that's why we have to do it with a sense of urgency. mr. president, i want to conclude and just say the budget resolution tool that was part of the budget control act of 1974, is about doing big things with a sense of urgency. i'm getting asked sometimes by press as i wantedder around, -- wander around, should you use reconciliation or be bipartisan? risks is not -- reconciliation is not bipartisan.

and it has been used for some of the most bipartisan positive achievements of congress in recent decades. chip, the children's health insurance program was done with reconciliation, earned tax income credit, that was done with reconciliation. reconciliation is a tool. it can be used in a bipartisan way or partisan way. it has been used in a partisan way, the effort to undo the affordable care act act was partisan. the tax bill was done via reconciliation with no support on the democratic side of the aisle. but choosing a path of reconciliation is not the opposite of bipartisanship. i so applaud president biden, vice president harris for their earnest dialogue with our republican colleagues and i applaud my republican colleagues for going to the white house and talking about what should be in this bill. because as they share their priorities, they are going to shape this bill.

and i can, without having seen the bill, i know no one has, i can make a guarantee about this bill, and i am 100% sure i'm right about this. when this bill hits the table and the negotiation is done and before we have a final passage vote on it, if we analyze what's in the bill, we are going to see so many priorities in this bill that are not just democratic priorities, that are republican priorities too. things that were drawn from bills that republicans introduced or that republicans cosponsored with democrats, things that were raised by republican senators in their dialogue with president biden and with us. we are going to see a bill that meets the need of americans who are suffering to do something big and to do something urgent and includes priorities that were republican senators' priorities that are good for republican voters, that are good for all americans.

and so, mr. president, this is the second time i've done a floor speech where i've gone over the names of people that i know who have died of covid. i don't want to do a third speech. i don't want to do a third speech. i think it's important to say people's names so we remember them and so we honor them but the best way we can honor them is not through a floor speech. the best way we can honor them is acting in a compassionate and property and significant way to ease the suffering of americans during this most unprecedented time. with that, mr. president, i yield the floor and i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call: the presiding officer: the senator from colorado. a senator: thank you, mr. president. i'd ask the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. a senator: now you're going to have to look up the word vitiated, mr. president. i want to say what a pleasure it is to see the presiding officer in the chair and to know that together we have the opportunity, the great privilege to represent the great estate in america, the state of colorado.

mr. bennet: and welcome to the chamber. it's great to have you here. i want to talk a little bit about our state. the last time i was running for office in 2016, i remember i went to wrightful, colorado which the presiding officer knows well. and i met there a group of moms who were showing off their early childhood center that was there. it was newly created and they were extremely happy to have it because before that early childhood center was there, in order to get child care or early childhood education for their kids, these moms were having to drive through the canyon to glenwood springs about 35 miles away, i guess, or so. and then go to work and go back and pick their kid up and bray them back. so -- bring them bang. so they -- them back. so they were very happy it was there.

at a certain point during the conversation, one of the moms looked at me and she said, michael, i work so i can have health insurance and every single dollar i make goes to pay for this early childhood center so i can work. that triangle that she's trapped in because of the compression of wages in this country that is a story that millions of american families can tell about an economy that for 50 years has worked really well for the people at the very top but not for anybody else. 90% of the american people basically for 50 years have not seen a pay increase in this country in real terms. and that's terrible for them, obviously, because they can't afford health care, housing, higher education, or early childhood education. they feel like they can't live a

middle class life or if their kids are living in poverty, they can't get their kids out of poverty. and it's a danger to our democracy, mr. president, because democracies do not do well when prosperity is not shared and when you have one group of people at the very top that are doing extremely well and everybody else is struggling to get by. everybody else is struggling to get into little middle class or stay in the middle class or lift their kids out of poverty. that's where we have been as a country for a long time. we have some of the lowest mobility rates of any industrialized economy in the world. and it's ta -- taking its toll n the american dream. it's taking its toll. and that's before covid. covid has made matters much, much worse for families in our

state, for families in urban parts of the state and rural parts of the state. even before covid hit, when people would ask me -- i used to be the superintendent of the denver public schools. people would say what's changed in education since you were superintendent until now? what i would tell people is, mental health. mental health, mental health, mental health. that's what teachers talk about in the meetings that i have with them, mental health of their students, the mental health of the families, and their own mental health. it comes up in every single conversation before class size, before how pitifully we pay teachers in this country. and we have to confront that as a country now, too, on top of everything else. and the economic inequality is greater. the folks that have been on the front lines during this pandemic have had the toughest time economically of everybody and

that's why i'm so glad that the administration has come with the package that they have to this floor, $1.9 trillion, a trillion of which is direct aid to families and another big piece of which is to support the public health infrastructure in this kung so that we could -- in this country so that we can actually vaccinate people in a timely way, so we can test people in a timely way, so we can distribute p.p.e. it has been shocking to see how poor the response has been from the united states, a developed country, unable to contend effectively with this pandemic. and we've lost local half a million americans as a result. so that investment in our public health infrastructure, in effect a health force like the one that

kirsten gillibrand and i proposed, what we need if we're going to open school and keep it open. but there's one other piece of this i wanted to mention on the floor and that's the provision in this bill that's based on the work that i've done for many, many years with senator sherrod brown from ohio. one is bennet-brown and the other is brown-bennet and i love both the same even though the order is different. the president has decided to include these bills in his package. it's a dramatic increase to the child tax credit, substantial increase to what's called the childless earned income tax credit. so we'll stop taxing working people into poverty which is what we're doing in this country today. with the passage of the american family act, this child tax credit alone, we will cut

childhood poverty in the united states of america by almost 50%. we'll cut childhood poverty for latino kids by 60%. for black kids for more than 60% -- or for more than 50%. for kids living in tribes, more than 60%. without adding one bureaucrat to the federal government, without creating one more program, just by taking the second credit from $2,000 to $3,000, $3,600 for kids under the age of 6. by making it fully refundable which means that the poorest people in america who have been left out of this tax credit, 23 or 25 million children, now will have the benefit of the tax credit for the first time. mr. president, we will cut childhood poverty in this country by almost 50%.

i can't think of anything that we could do that would better recognize the structural nature of the challenges that the american people are facing in this economy before covid but certainly in the wake of covid. and i hope the proposal will be able to attract bipartisan support in this chamber and that once we've done it, it will make it permanent, will make it last. and we'll imagine that we can live in a country in the united states of america that's actually -- that actually has eradicated childhood poverty because it's no american's choice to be born poor. it's no child's choice to be born poor. there are many things we can do to improve economic mobility in this country, and i think that this new administration is going

to create the beginning of an era that's going to lead us to a place that when the economy grows, it grows for everybody, not just the people at the very top. and families can move themselves up through hard work, save something for retirement, leave something for the next generation, that's all anybody in this country has ever really wanted. and that hasn't been true for most americans for a very long time. this is the beginning of changing that. and that's why this bill has my enthusiastic support. mr. president, with that i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call: