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>> the u.s. senate is about to gavel and get their weak underweight brit lawmakers today considering the nomination of denis mcdonough to be the next veterans affair secretary. final, race vote is set for 5:3. now, live coverage to the u.s. senate here on the span two. the president pro tempore: the senate will come to order. the chaplain, dr. barry black, will lead the senate in prayer. the chaplain: let us pray. lord of life, help us to know you better

that we may love you more. provide our lawmakers opportunities to be guided by your wisdom and strengthened by your presence. may your presence lead them to a spiritual maturity that will honor you. grant that this maturity will inspire them to be a part of a solution and not part of the problem. show our senators what they can do to lead our nation toward a more perfect union. stay close to us, mighty god, for we are your children. we pray in your merciful name.

amen. the president pro tempore: please join me in reciting the pledge of allegiance. 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. ms. hirono: mr. president. the president pro tempore: the senator from hawaii. ms. hirono: i note the absence

of a quorum. the president pro tempore: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call:

the presiding officer: the senator from iowa is recognized.

mr. grassley: i ask that the calling of the quorum be suspended. the presiding officer: without objection. under the previous order, the time reserved. morning business is closed under the previous order, the senate will proceed to executive session to consider the following nomination, which the clerk will report.. the clerk: nomination, department of veteran affairs, denis richard mcdonough of maryland to be secretary. mr. grassley: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from iowa. mr. grassley: in his inaugural address, president biden said his whole soul ,quote-unquote, was in the cause of, quote, bringing america together, uniting our people, and uniting our nation, end of quote. very worthy things to speak, and especially in an inaugural address. he also recognized that americans have serious disagreements.

everyone knows that our country is deeply divided politically. i know from his time in the senate that president biden understands that people of goodwill can have honest disagreements about policy. so he knows that unity does not mean dropping deeply held beliefs and accepting his own policy agenda. as he said, and i have two quotes here, every disagreement doesn't have to be a cause of total war. and disagreement must not lead to disunion. real unity requires rediscovering what binds us together as americans, even when we have strongly disagreed politically. as i have often said, our nation is unique in human

history in that it was founded not on the basis of common ethnic identity or loyalty to, let's say, a monarch, but on certain enduring principles. those principles are best articulated in simple but elegant words of the declaration of independence. and you all read these regularly, i'm sure. quote, we hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal, that they're endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights. among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. end of quote. it is a common commitment to this ideal that has bound us together as americans from the beginning. our patriotic -- our patriot

forefathers concluded that these principles were worth fighting for and took up arms in an improbable quest to defeat the largest and best trained military at that particular time. this included many black patriots who fought for american independence, a unifying fact that i believe deserves a monument on the national mall, something that i've been working for for years. now i want to quote margaret thatcher. she once observed this -- a fairly long quote so bear with me. americans and europeans alike sometimes forget how unique is the united states of america. no other nation has been created so swiftly and successfully. no other nation has been built upon an idea, the idea of

liberty. no other nation has so successfully combined people of different races and nations within a single culture. both the founding fathers of the united states and successive waves of immigrants to your country were determined to create a new identity, whether in flight from persecution or from poverty, the huddled masses have, with few exceptions, welcomed american values, the american way of life and american opportunities. and america herself has bound them to her with powerful bonds of patriotism and pride. the european nations, thatcher

continues, are not and can never be like this. they are the product of history, not of philosophy. end of thatcher's quote. this quote from a british leader is one of the best summaries that i have read about america's exceptionalism. the term american exceptionalism is often misunderstood perhaps due to a quirk of the english language. meriam webster's dictionary gives three definitions of exceptional. one, forming an exception, like as a given example, rare and exceptional number of rainy days. or, two, better than average. superior, exceptional skill is the words they expand on average. deviating from the norm, such

as having above or below average intelligence or physical disability. many people here and abroad assume that those who talk about american exceptionalism are just using the second definition and simply asserting that the united states is better than any other country, and that is a wrong interpretation. american exceptionalism is an assertion of the plain fact that america's foundation is very different from that of most other nations. however, our foundation is increasingly under attack from both the right and the left. both the 1619 project and white

nationalists assert that america's founding principles are a lie and that the united states was founded along ethnic lines. oddly enough, this was the position taken by john c. calhoun in the united states senate when he articulated an alternative to the founding principles intended to justify maintaining slavery in perpetuity. unfortunately, abraham lincoln, who revered the declaration of independence. the notion that our founding principles are a lie isn't just bad history, it breaks the bonds that unite americans of all backgrounds. the 1776 commission was

established specifically to, quote, enable a rising generation to understand the history and principles of the founding of the united states in 1776 and to strive to form a more perfect union, end of quote. the introduction to the 1776 report states that, quote, a rediscovery of our shared identity rooted in our founding principles is the path to where renewed american unity and a confidence in american future, end of quote. i could not agree more. that is why i was disappointed to see president biden terminate this commission the same day he took office, after making his call for unity. the call to unity is exactly

what the president asked for in his inaugural address. what specifically in that 1776 commission document does president biden disagree with? yes, the report is critical of far-left efforts to denigrate our founding principles, but it is also an important corrective to to the alt right effort to import european styles ethno nationalism which is also deeply un-american in every sense. the 1776 report calls for, quote, a restoration of american education which can only be grounded on a history of those principles that is accurate, honest, unifying, inspiring,

and ennobling, end of quote. by contrast, california has proposed an ethnic study curriculum that is rooted in the fundamental divisive tenets of critical race theory, which with its focusing on separate groups of americans into different degrees of oppressor and oppressed. interestingly, despite the california curriculum's focus on victims of prejudice, discussions of anti-semitism is omitted in favor of criticism of israel. this curriculum also totally skips over the life and work of dr. martin luther king jr. remember his dream? so i quote that statement that he made. it is a dream deeply rooted in

the american dream. i have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed. we hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal, end of quote. now that is a very unifying statement. i encourage all americans to read the 1776 report for yourself. see if you don't agree with the central message that shared attachment to our timeless founding principles, is what binds us as a nation. it is no longer available on the main white house website but can still be found on the trump administration's archived website. it is also available on the

hills dale college website. i have another short remark that i want to make on another subject. 12 years ago this past sunday then-vice president biden was in munich, germany, to deliver the obama administration's first major foreign policy speech to world leaders. he said, quote, it is time to press the reset button and to revisit the many areas where we can and should be working together with russia, end of quote. the premise was that the bush administration had been too tough on russia, and a more conciliatory approach was needed. beyond the rhetoric, this involved abruptly scrapping

planned missile defense cooperation with our allies, the czechs and the poles, on the anniversary of the southern invasion of poland. keep in mind this was six months after russia had invaded and occupied territory of our ally, the republic of georgia, an occupation that is still ongoing this very day. that all happened a year after the publication of the book entitled "the new cold war" by about edward lucas, detailing the dangerous nature of the putin regime. the russian reset was not just a failure, the reset was ill-conceived and counter productive from the start. putin's russia, like the soviet union before it, only

understands strength, unilateral concessions actually encourage further aggression like we saw and still see with ukraine. i appreciate now president biden's more recent tough talk on russia. i like his rhetoric better than many things that president trump said. however, i like trump's actions, like sanctions against the nord stream pipeline, arming and training the ukrainian military, and pardoning with our frontline allies. the biden administration no longer talks of a russian reset, but it has already announced the extension of the one legacy of the reset policy, the new start treaty with russia gutted important monitoring and

verification measures that were included in the predecessor agreement. president reagan famously quoted a russian proverb -- trust but verify -- when he was negotiating with mikhail gorbachev. new start, cut out the verifying part, leaving only trust. but surely we've all learned by now that we cannot trust vladimir putin. he has been cut red handed violating other arms-control treaties. so, as recently happened, starting the new start treaty without trying to improve it is a missed opportunity. i hope that president biden's future actions will closely are like his words and resets the

policy. i yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

mr. schumer: president pro tempore. are. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. schumer: mr. president, the senate is steadily confirming members of president biden's cabinet and other key officials. in a few hours we'll add one more to the list when denis mcdonough will serve -- he was the national security council and the white house chief of staff. the v.a. has one of the most sacred missions of all of our agencies, deriving its motto from president lincoln's secretary inaugural address, to

care for those who shall have borne the battle. the task of achieving that mission is one of organization, institutional know how and administrative trouble shootling. i'm -- shooting. i'm sure that he is well qualified to take on the job the even as senators prepare this week to sit as a court of impeachment, the senate will continue its work on other responsibilities. committees will continue to process nomination, including the committees -- the nominees to lead the e.p.a., the department of commerce, department of labor, and the office of management and budget. at the same time committees will continue pressing the work of addressing the covid crisis. last week, in the early hours of friday morning, the senate passed a budget resolution that will pave the way for president biden's american rescue plan. as promised, the senate held an open, bipartisan and vigorous

amendment process. several bipartisan amendments passed with overwhelming majorities and were added to the resolution. the fact that the debate went all night and only concluded at around 5:30 in the morning is a testament to the vigor of the amendment process which, again i note, was bipartisan, the first amendment, in fact, a very important one by the senator from arizona, ms. sinema and mre restaurant industry and it was bipartisan. now our senate committees have instructions to begin crafting legislation to rescue or country from covid-19, to speed vaccination distribution, provide a lifeline to small businesses, help schools reopen safely, save the jobs of teachers, firefighters and other public employees and support every american who is struggling to put food on the table and keep a roof over their heads. this important historic work

will give hundreds of millions of americans the releefl l leaf they -- the relief they need while getting our country back to normal as quickly as possible. now on impeachment. tomorrow the second impeachment trial of donald trump will commence. only the fourth trial of a president or former president in american history and the first trial for any public official that has been impeached twice. for the information of the senate, the republican leader and i, in consultation with both the house managers and former president trump's lawyers, have agreed to a bipartisan resolution to governor the structure and timing of the impending trial. let me say that again. all parties have agreed to a structure that will ensure a fair and honest senate impeachment trial of the former

president. each side will have ample time to make their arguments, 16 hours over two days for the house managers, the same for the former president's counsel. if managers decide they want witnesses, there will be a vote on that, which is the option they requested in regard to witnesses. the trial will also accommodate a request from the former president's counsel to pause the trial during the sabbath, the trial will break on friday afternoon before sun down and will not resume until sunday afternoon. as in previous trials, there will be equal time for senators' questions and for closing arguments and an opportunity for the senate to hold deliberations if it so chooses and then we will vote on the article of impeachment. and if the former president is convicted, we will proceed to a vote on whether he is qualified to enjoy any office of honor,

trust, or profit under the united states. the structure we have agreed to is imminently fair. it will allow for the trial to achieve its purpose, truth and accountability. that's what trials are designed to do, to arrive at the truth of the matter and render a verdict. and following the despicable attack on january 6, there must -- there must be truth and accountability if we are going to move forward, heal, and bring our country together once again. sweeping something as momentous as this under the rug brings no healing whatsoever. let's be clear about that. now, as the trial begins, the forces aligned with the former president are prepared to argue that the trial itself is unconstitutional because donald trump is no longer in office. relying on a fringe legal theory

that has been roundly debunked by constitutional scholars from across the political spectrum. just yesterday another very prominent conservative republican constitutional lawyer, chuck cooper, wrote in "the wall street journal" that republicans are dead wrong if they think an impeachment trial of a former president is unconstitutional. here's with a had he wrote. quote -- given that the constitution permits the senate to impose the penalty of permanent disqualification only on former officeholders, it defies logic to suggest that the senate is prohibited from trying and convicting former officeholders. the senators who supported mr. paul's motion should reconsider their view and judge the former president's misconduct on the merits. that's no liberal. that's chuck cooper, a lawyer

who represented house republicans in a lawsuit against speaker pelosi, a former advisor to senator cruz's presidential campaign, driving a stake into the central argument we're going to hear from the former president's counsel. now, i understand why this fringe constitutional theory is being advanced. for the past few weeks, the political right has been searching for a safe harbor, a way to oppose the conviction of donald trump without passing judgment on his conduct. to avoid alienating the former president's supporters, without condoning his obviously despicable, unpatriotic, undemocratic behavior. but the truth is no such safe harbor exists. the trial is clearly constitutional by every frame of analysis, by constitutional text, historical practice, senate precedent, and basic

common sense. a president cannot simply resign to avoid accountability for an impeachable offense, nor can they escape judgment by waiting until their final few weeks in office to betray our country. the impeachment powers assigned to the congress by the constitution cannot be defeated by a president who decides to run away or trashes our democracy on the way out the door. this trial will confirm that fact. the merits of the case against the former president will be presented, and the former president's counsel will mount a defense. ultimately, senators will decide on the one true question at stake in this trial -- is donald trump guilty of inciting a violent mob against the united d states, a mob whose purpose was to interfere with the

constitutional process of counting electoral votes and ensuring a peaceful transfer of power. and if he is guilty, does someone who would commit such a high crime against their own country deserve to hold any office of honor or trust ever again? consistent with the solemn oath we have all taken to do impartial justice according to the constitution and laws of the united states, that, that is the question every senator must answer in this trial. i yield the floor. i notice the absence of a quorum. the president pro tempore: the clerk will call the roll.

quorum call:

mr. mcconnell: madam president. the presiding officer: the minority leader. mr. mcconnell: i ask consent that further proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: first, briefly, madam president, i'm pleased

that leader schumer and i were able to reach an agreement on a fair process and estimated timeline for the upcoming senate trial. this structure has been approved by both former president trump's legal team and the house managers because it preserves due process and the rights of both sides. it will give senators as jurors ample time to review the case and the arguments that each side will present. on a completely different matter, on saturday, we lost a great statesman and scholar who gave more than 80 of his 100 years to his country. george shultz' service began in the u.s. marine corps. he was among the americans who helped retake the pacific from japan. back home, he earned a ph.d. in economics, he taught at m.i.t., and would later helm the

university of chicago's graduate business school. but public service beckoned and george shultz began a decades-long run of ping-ponging prolifically between academia and top government posts. the first of three presidents who would benefit from his expert counsel, dwight eisenhower, hired him as a senior staff economist back in 1955. a decade and a half later, he was back, this time as president nixon's secretary of labor, where he worked on desegregation and later as o.m.b. director. then at a pivotal moment for the u.s. and world economies, george shultz was tapped to lead the treasury department. he fought inflation and worked to modernize our monetary policy so american leaders could control america's destiny. after an interlude in the private sector, secretary

shultz's country came calling again. he spent six and a half of president reagan's eight years as secretary of state. he helped steer the smart and strong foreign policy that clinched the free world's victory over the soviet union. but even as the reagan administration nudged communism into a box canyon, his top diplomats mastered touch with making sure that tensions did not rise too high. as amazing as it sounds, this impressive resume doesn't fully explain george shultz' incredible reputation. it wasn't just all he did. it was how he did it. he led with thoughtfulness, fairness, and above all integrity. he lived out a maxim he shared in a centennial reflection just a few weeks ago. here's what he said -- trust is the coin of the realm. his honesty and thoughtfulness

won wide admiration that transcended politics. he won the trust of career diplomats and state department staff, including those who did not naturally lean to the reagan right famously, when new ambassadors met with him on their way abroad, the secretary would spin a globe and ask them to point out their country. the unlucky ones who fell for the trap and pointed to their foreign destination were swiftly, swiftly corrected. no, he said, your country is always america. at the mcconnell center at the university of louisville, we host a distinguished speaker series. george shultz was the first-ever distinguished speaker back in 1993. he kept right on writing and mentoring and speaking to young people up until just a few weeks ago. america was his country all right. he loved it deeply and served it

always. the senate's prayers are with the shultz family and all their friends and colleagues he leaves behind. a truly remarkable life. in 2020, a republican senate and a republican administration led to start a pandemic rescue package on a completely bipartisan basis. we marshalled the largest federal response to any crisis since world war ii, about $4 trillion across five bills, all of it completely bipartisan. but now washington democrats have other ideas. even though we are still pushing out $900 billion in relief that congress passed less than two months ago, even though a group of senate republicans met with president biden to discuss bipartisan avenues for hundreds of billions of dollars more, washington democrats have decided they want to go it alone. it was last march, remember, when a senior house democrat

called this disaster, quote, a tremendous opportunity to restructure things to fit our vision. americans are suffering, but their side seems to see an opportunity to ram through ideological change. that's the impulse behind democrats' latest $1.9 trillion proposal. their plan for more massive borrowing puts left-wing myths ahead of scientific evidence and the nation's urgent needs. while the biden administration's own scientists say schools could reopen safely right now with smart and simple precautions, their proposal buys into the myth from big labor that schools should stay shut a whole lot longer. while republicans want to save as many jobs as possible, washington democrats are backing senator sanders' demand to move to double the minimum wage. the congressional budget office says this would kill 1.4 million

american jobs. nonpartisan experts say it would send more people to the unemployment line than it would lift out of poverty. but remember, this is all about liberal dreams, not urgent needs. some democrats even want to break senate rules to jam this through. last week, the senate had a 14-hour voting marathon on amendments to the phony partisan budget that democrats jammed through as a procedural first step. we got senators on record on a host of questions that matter to american families. sadly, democrats blocked our efforts to say that at the very least, the very least, school districts where teachers have been vaccinated certainly need to reopen, to press states to accurately report nursing home deaths, to protect the free exercise of religion, and several more. other amendments divided democrats and were adopted. for example, over some democrats' objection, the senate said illegal immigrants should

not receive stimulus checks, that the keystone x.l. pipeline should not be canceled, and that our government should not declare war on fracking. but, amazingly enough, at the end of the night, the very same senate democrats who sought to appear moderate by supporting these three things turned out and voted in lockstep to strip them all out again. our colleagues who said they supported these things, voted to strip them right back out at the end of the evening. that's about as washington, d.c., as it gets. for sake of america's kids, america's jobs, americans' health, democrats should put the games aside and resume the same kind of talks they demanded constantly all of last year. american families deserve a process and a bill that puts their actual needs at the center. now, madam president, on one

final matter, over the weekend hundreds of thousands of protesters stood up across burma in defiance of the military coup. for week now, the military has detained hundreds of civil society leaders and democratic-elected officials, some on mysterious or obviously specious charges, and others without any charge at all. their actions were illegitimate right from the start, and the treatment of these political prisoners is showing the world of the military regime's disdain for the rule of law. in the face of this tyranny and with the memory of how brutally the military has dealt with protesters in the past, the public unity of so many of berm ma's people is a powerful display of courage. from far-plunged cities and towns, members of the country's diverse ethnic groups, from the burma majority to the minorities have rallied around the

democratically elected government. they are demanding justice and an end to military rule. i've been encouraged over the past year by the diplomatic efforts undertaken by the administration to demonstrate the united states' condemnation of the military's flagrant assault on political rights. today it's time to follow up with meaningful costs on those who aid and abet the sufficient indication of burdensome meese democracy. the people of burma in the streets today are putting their lives on the line. as one protesters told "new york times" over the weekend, i don't care if they shoot because under the military, our lives will be dead anyway. today these protest irrelevance are joining -- today these protesters are joining in the same refrain repeatedly in places like hong kong with democratic progress is too often met with jack ham areas.

they're standing up for basic freedoms and paying close attention to who will stand with them. i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

mrs. fischer: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from nebraska. mrs. fischer: i ask that the quorum call be a vitiated, please. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. fischer: thank you, madam president. i come up to the floor today to discuss the administration's decision to extend the new start treaty by five years. supporters hailed the move with the "new york times" reporting that the president's decision, quote, avoided a renewed arms race, end quote. meanwhile, critics who believe the question of extension had given the united states leverage to extract concessions from

russia as well as china describe the move as a wasted opportunity and a giveaway to putin. as the last bilateral arms control agreement between the united states and russia, perhaps it shouldn't be surprising that the debate over extending new start took on outsized importance with parties on both sides seeing it as the vehicle to accomplish all of their goals. now with the extension decided, it comes with an opportunity to regain our perspective and consider the way forward. this begins with a clear understanding of what the new start treaty accomplishes and what it doesn't. to begin with, the new start treaty is not a panacea. and extending the agreement does not prevent an arms race with just the stroke of a pen. nor is it an unfair agreement

that locks in russian advantages. it is simply an agreement between the united states and russia to limit some, but not all, of the categories of nuclear arms. china is not a party to this agreement. as critics have pointed out, the treaty's counting rules obscure the true number of deployed nuclear weapons, and it has not prevented russia's buildup of other kinds of nuclear arms not covered by its limits. some have described these as loopholes for russia, but they are well-known limitations that also apply equally to both sides. since the treaty was signed, the united states has chosen not to invest in new nuclear weapons outside of the treaty's limits.

well, russia has done the opposite, and they continue to expand their nuclear arsenal. i disagree with my colleagues who see that as a failure of the treaty. it's a failure of the russian government for continuing to build up its nuclear arsenal instead of matching our restraint and lowering those tensions. but it would also be a failure on our part if we had assumed russia would refrain from building these systems out of the goodness of their heart. indeed, russia's behavior since the new start treaty was signed reminds us that it continues to seek a competitive advantage, and in order to achieve its goals, it will go around the limits, as it has done with the

new start treaty, or it'll go straight through them, as it did with the i.n.f. treaty. so russia's nuclear capabilities continue to expand, as does china's buildup of nuclear arms. that new start hasn't prevented these from occurring reflects the fact that the new start treaty simply does not account for the full spectrum of nuclear challenges. and, thus, with the agreement to extend the treaty in place, serious threats still remain that really demand our attention. the growth of both russia's and china's arsenals must be addressed. some have called for the biden administration to immediately pursue talks to this end. while hurrying to convenient another diplomatic summit may

have a reassuring appearance to some, diplomacy is not an end unto itself. it is a means to an end. and it is important to remember that negotiating limits on russia's tactical weapons and bringing china into the arms control process have long been u.s. diplomatic objectives. indeed the obama-biden administration sought these goals, as did the trump administration which deserves credit for elevating them to the highest levels. however, the consistent refusal of both russia and china to engage in serious talks demonstrates that neither nation feels sufficient incentive to negotiate. new attempts at negotiations

without addressing this, it wouldn't achieve a different result. in truth, what's needed isn't another conference in a european capital. it is a serious effort here at home to create incentives for both russia and china to halt their nuclear buildups and to have them choose a different path. congress and the administration should work together to strengthen the hands of our negotiators. and to that end, we can start by rejecting calls being made by some advocates to cut our nuclear forces unilaterally or allow them to age into obsolescence by delaying their much-needed modernization. these calls aren't new.

however, our senior military leaders have consistently advised against such courses of action, and the past two administrations have rejected them as well. they should be rejected again. as most in this chamber know, our nuclear forces have aged far beyond their designed lifetime. after delaying and deferring the modernization of our nuclear forces for decades, we are now at an inflection point. as admiral richard, current strat com commander who testified last year said quote many of the modernization efforts have zero schedule margin and are late to need. end quote. his point is clear, further

delay will result in capabilities aging out, with no replacements available. our nuclear deterrent would literally wither on the vine. this would have a number of disastrous consequences for our security at a time when nuclear threats are growing, and it would also dramatically undermine future diplomatic efforts to negotiate limits with russia and china on their arsenals. after all, why would either nation agree to new rounds of arms reductions if they knew that the united states was cutting its forces anyway, regardless of whether they agreed to do likewise? we must keep this in mind when we hear calls to dismantle the triad or cancel our

modernization programs. doing so would make our country less safe, by cutting the forces needed to deter aggression, and it would make the world less safe by ensuring that the united states is never in a position again to push for real reductions to russian and chinese nuclear forces. instead of reducing incentives for russia and china to negotiate, congress and the administration should work together to strengthen them and set the conditions for successful diplomatic efforts in the future. thank you, madam president. i yield the floor. i would suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

ms. klobuchar: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from minnesota. ms. klobuchar: madam president, are we in a quorum call? the presiding officer: we are. ms. klobuchar: madam president, i ask that the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. klobuchar: madam president, today i rise in support of my friend and fellow minnesotan denis mcdonough as president biden's nominee for secretary of veterans affairs, and no one knows but you, the senator from illinois, madam president, about how important this job is for our veterans. denis grew up in stillwater, minnesota, which is right near the wisconsin border. he is a grandson of irish immigrants, the son of devout catholic parents, and brother to ten siblings. he attended st. john's college in collegeville, minnesota,

and in addition to graduating summa cum laude, he played safety on the very proud championship st. john's football team. i've been privileged to call den is a friend for years and i know he will serve our country well as secretary of veterans affairs. as he has done his whole life, he will honor the promises our country has made to our veterans and their families. denis's commitment to our nation's veterans was clear during his time as president obama's chief of staff, where he made sure that every decision impacting our service members, veterans, and their families was befitting of their sacrifices. showing respect and gratitude for our nation's veterans is not something denis just prioritizes. it's a value for him. as we know from his time as president obama's chief of staff, he is an adept manager

who understands how to tackle complex challenges throughout our government, which will be vital for the next secretary. as we also know, the v.a. is facing a number of challenges from helping veterans to stay safe during the pandemic to improving the quality of care for veterans around the country. these are not simple problems, and these are not simple challenges, and they will require, as you have shown, madam president, true leadership and vision, which have been, again, the hallmark of denis's time in service. i also know that he will work tirelessly to find bipartisan solutions, and i think you see that from support he has gotten throughout the country as well as on the veterans' affairs committee, where i was honored to introduce him when he started on his journey of senate approval. and it is never, been more important than ever to unite our country and get that kind of

support. so much of our work with our veterans is about keeping our promises and showing respect, not just in words but in action. when other senators who don't know denis as well or new to washington, what they may see as time goes on, you will see the qualities of honor and loyalty in denis's commitment to his family, which also includes his family in minnesota. so i know this firsthand. he has so many relatives that you can't go anywhere without running into some mcdonough. you see it in how he has treated everyone he's worked with. when he worked in the senate, when he worked as president obama's chief of staff. and i also will assure my fellow senators that he will listen to senators. he will have respect to the people that work here. you see it every day in how he always puts his country first. during his distinguished career, denis has approached each and every job with a spirit

of respect, honesty and collaboration, and a willingness to make himself accessible to his colleagues and his team. he is deeply committed to supporting the workforce at the v.a., and i want our veterans to know he will do two things so well. he will listen and he will get things done for you. one of my favorite stories about denis involves this -- listening and then getting things done. we were having a lot of trouble up in northern minnesota with the iron ore mines closing down, as you all remember, kind of coming out of the downturn, it never bounced back and then we had steal dumping going on from china and other countries, the illegal steel dumping, and that really spread through the country and led to the closure of much of our mines. we tried, we introduced legislation, and finally i asked denis to come up to northern minnesota since he was from our state, as president

obama's chief of staff and sit down with a bunch of mayors from northern minnesota, from minnesota's iron range with workers, with mine owners. and it was this long, long table, and nearly everyone had spoken. and near the end a miner named dan hill, he was the last to go, and he said, well, everything's been said, so i'll just tell this story. and he said that he was out of work, and he said that his son had just graduated from preschool, and the teacher asked him at the graduation what do you want to do when you grow up? kids were saying all kinds of things, that they wanted to play basketball or they wanted to fly an airplane, all kinds of cool things. and denis's son looked at the teacher, and he said i want to be a miner like my daddy. and at that moment dan hill took this steel worker t-shirt that he had in his hands, and he threw it across the whole long

table. and i remember sitting next to denis thinking you were a football player, catch the t-shirt. and he caught the t-shirt. and dan hill says, mr. mcdonough, make it come true. make it come true. so denis listened, but then he acted. he went back to washington, and he didn't just ignite a fire under the commerce department to get them to do even more work than they were already doing on enforcing tariffs and going after this illegal dumping and bringing things to the international trade commission, but he also looked at other agencies and he helped us along with sherrod brown and so many others to pass legislation that made a difference. and all of this happened, and dan hill got his job back, and then i invited dan hill to come to one of the last state of the unions for president obama. denis invited dan hill to the white house and dan hill got to

practically meet everyone surrounding the president. that is denis mcdonough. he listened but he didn't juster say -- just say i got there, i went, we'll try our best. he actually followed through, through the minutia of government to get things done. i'm going to end with the words of a poet who president biden happens to love, and given denis's irish roots, i can't think of a better person to quote from today's vote, and it was mr. haney who once wrote, anyone with gumption and a sharp mind will take the measure of two things -- what's said and what's done. so denis will not just say words to the veterans of this country as your secretary. he will get things done. with that, madam president, i ask my colleagues to support the nomination, denis mcdonough

as secretary of veterans affairs. thank you, and i yield the floor. i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

a senator: madam president? the presiding officer: the

senator from south dakota. texas. mr. cornyn: madam president, i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cornyn: madam president, it's been more than a month since a violent mob stormed this building and attempted to disrupt the congressional certification of presidential electors, the vote of those electors. rather than a peaceful transition of power, some of the mob turned their grievances into violent action. but, again, that's the problem with mobs. no matter what the intentions were of those who were simply exercising their rights to free speech and free assembly, mobs invariably degenerate into the lowest common denominator. that element of the mob assaulted police officers, destroyed property and trespassed in the halls of the united states capitol. some romeed these -- some roamed

these halls in search of congress in which they actually threatened harm. if not for the heroism of the capitol police, it would have been worse. the acts of the mob were indefensible. regardless of party or politics, there should be no disagreement on that basic point. the people making up this mob came to washington with the idea that the results of the 2020 election were not final. president trump fed that fantasy by repeatedly claiming the election was stolen, even after he had exhaust of all of his legal remedies and dozens and dozens of lawsuits. the president's actions were reckless. he should have known better than to stoke a flame he could not and did not control. but the events of january 6 are only part of the story, and it

is the congressional response, including impeachment, that i now want to talk about. simply put, this snap impeachment raises serious questions about fundamental fairness, due process, or more accurately, a lack thereof. unlike previous impeachments there was no formal inquiry, no investigation, no hearings, no witnesses, no cross-examination, no nothing. we know impeachment is not like a traditional judicial proceeding. it's not a court of law, but it does make common sense, and i think this was the direction we gave the house during the last impeachment trial, that it's the house's obligation to investigate, develop the evidence and then charge, not the other way around. historically this has been true for impeachment proceedings. each time the house has conducted a full scale of

investigation -- full-scale investigation before the vote on the articles of impeachment. as i said, that was the case last year when the house spent months deposing witnesses, holding hearings, building a case against the president before ever anowbsing form -- announcing formal charges. but this time around they took an entirely different approach. in attempting to justify this unprecedented departure from a fair and dignified proceeding, some of our democratic friends claim that no evidence needs to be presented. saying that we were all witnesses to what happened on january 6 and that we can be jurors, witnesses, and in the words of at least one democratic senator victims all at the same time. this week president trump's defense team will have the opportunity to be present its case and i expect a lack of due process to be a major area of

focus, and rightfully so. unfortunately that's not the only problem with this impeachment trial. the constitution requires the chief justice of the united states supreme court to preside over the impeachment trial of a president but since this is the trial of a former president, a private citizen, someone who no longer holds office, chief justice roberts will not be presiding. as a result, the senior senator from vermont will now serve as both a judge and a juror in addition to being a witness, i presume, and in the words of another senator, a victim. i respect senator leahy, but the fact is he cannot be an impartial arbiter. he has a conflict of interest. senator leahy called president trump the greatest threat to the constitution and american

democracy in a generation. he voted to convict donald trump during the last impeachment trial and apparently has already decided to do it again in this trial. the fact of the matter is no american, let alone a former president, should be tried before a juror who's already determined guilt or innocence and who also serves as a judge. i want to be abundantly clear though, madam president, on one point. president trump's words and actions leading up to the attack were reckless and wrong. but as we all know, the constitutional standard for impeachment isn't recklessness. treason, bribery or other high crimes or misdemeanors, those are the -- that is how the house can remove a president from

office. donald trump is no longer president of the united states. he's a private citizen. our democratic colleagues moved so fast that they could impeach the president while he was in office but failed to transmit the articles to the senate until he became a private citizen. legal experts have not only debated not only the constitutionality of trying a former president, but also the wisdom of doing so. and i share concerns on both those fronts. i think this ill-timed impeachment trial sets a dangerous precedent for future former presidents. as politicized as impeachment has become, it could become a reoccurring political exercise that would be toxic for our democracy. prominent democrats have warned about the dangers of using impeachment as a political weapon against an opposing party. during the impeachment inquiry

of president clinton, senator leahy, himself, counseled a partisan impeachment cannot command the respect of the american people. it's no more valid than a stolen election. i agree with him. the problem with one party using impeachment to exact political retribution on an opposing party's president at the end of his term, or even after that president has left office, seems quite obvious do me. -- to me. it's political retribution. depending on which party controls congress and which occupies the white house, this could turn into a regular blemish on our democracy rather than focusing together on our future in a new administration, seeking common ground, immunity as president biden has called for. such a precedent of trying a former president could create an endless feedback loop of

recrimination. i think this is a dangerous and destructive path, and i would implore my colleagues on both sides to consider the long-term implications of this precedent. as justice story explained, the framers saw the senate as a tribunal, in his words, removed from popular power and passions and from the more dangerous influence of mere party spirit and was guided by deep responsibility to future times. so, as before, madam president, i don't take my role as a juror lightly and i'll reserve final judgment until both the house impeachment managers and president trump's defense team has had the opportunity to present their cases. but i do think, indeed i fear, we are skating on very thin ice and are in danger of inflicting grave harm to our country by this rushed, unfair, and

partisan proceeding. may god help us.

mrs. blackburn: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from tennessee. mrs. blackburn: thank you, madam president. when president biden addressed the nation on inauguration day, he promised unity and bipartisanship. it was a big part of his inaugural address. and so far the democrats here in washington are not living up to that promise. their message -- and we saw this last week -- is not unity; it is submit and conform. on his very first day in office, president biden rubber-stamped 17 separate executive orders. since then, he has approved so many changes that a lot of tennesseans can barely keep track of the orders and memos and directives that are flying

out of the oval office. it's safe to say, the only benchmark they have to work with is the number of lost jobs we'll see as a result of all of this paper and pen governance and paperwork. jobs gone, stroke of a pen. madam president, the american people are very unsettled by this. i'm hearing it from democrats, independents, republicans, libertarians. last week i came to the floor and i spoke in detail about how this lack of clarity about the future has made many tennesseans fearful of the impending changes to our national security policy. they are very unsettled. so many of our veterans in tennessee have talked with me about this. they don't like all this

soft-talk when it comes to talking about china and russia and iran and north korea. they're worried about what comes next. the domestic policy mandates have done nothing at all to give reassurances or calm spirits. last week the senate democrats put forth a budget proposal that treats struggling communities like hypotheticals that could work with theoretical changes. all created for a graduate-level economics exam. they're not dealing with real problems and real life. for about 15 hours, madam president, we debated and voted on a fraction of the almost 900 amendments filed in an attempt to do some damage control to that budget resolution. but when friday morning came and went, all the democrats had to

offer was a glaringly partisan resolution that blatantly contradicted president biden's stated commitment to unity and bipartisanship. and, you know what? in a perfect world the solutions the democrats have come up with just might work. but we do not live in a perfect world. we live in a fallen world. this country is not created in the image of the democratic party. to anyone who has ever managed a small business budget, what my colleagues on the other side of the aisle are trying to do just does not make good common sense. one of the top issues i hear about from people back home in tennessee is this proposal they have for a $15-an-hour minimum

wage. i feel i should remind my colleagues that resistance to this mandate doesn't come from a place of stinginess or classist hatred but from a place of absolute confidence that it will destroy small businesses, even with the phase-in period. i have not heard from a single business owner who will be able to pay the wage and employ the same number of people, not one. they'll have to let staff go. a report by the congressional budget office released just today echos and confirms their concerns. by 2025, the democrats' proposal will cut jobs for 1.4 million workers.

at a time, madam president, when workers are struggling to get back to work. so much for job creation, and we all know the best economic stimulus is a job. just six weeks ago, congress passed a $900 billion covid relief package. very little of that money has been spent, and yet democrats and white house continue to demand trillions -- that's right, trillions -- in overbroad spending that targets no specific problem and has no actual bipartisan support. if that's not bad enough, billions of dollars from last year's bipartisan relief packages -- all five of them -- also remain unobligated. so we're $3.6 trillion in

spending. and they're wanting another $1.9 trillion, with little idea of the effect that remaining unobligated fund willing have on the economy. but still the data shows that what has been spent already has made a difference and will continue to do so. relief should be timely. it should be targeted. it should be temporary. those that need the help should get the help. but we do not need overbroad spending. the congressional budget office released another report just over a week ago showing that if we leave the laws governing how we tax and spend alone -- leave them alone on the books, enforce -- the g.d.p. will continue to rise and the economy will get back to its prepandemic health

without -- without -- congress authorizing one more penny in relief spending. so the american people want to know why, why are the democrats claiming that the only solution to our present crisis is to spend as much as possible, as quickly as possible, without considering which sectors of the economy actually need the help, which families need help, which individuals need help? what we do know is what we saw in 2009 and 2010 and 2011 and 2012 and 2013 is and 2014, and 2015. if you get in here and overspend without targeting, without direction, you slow -- you slow the recovery. we know that.

we watched it. we lived through it. they're going to need a better answer than, because we say so. because this is what we're going to do. because the people understand that the federal deficit was historically large even before the pandemic. they know how debt works and that a big deficit means more of that federal debt. they also know that who holds that debt matters and that we're beholden, right now, to china, to opec for trillions of dollars in that debt. scale that down for a minute. when that same thing happens to one of these small businesses, when they max their credit line, if they fall behind in their payroll, they can't plan for the future, they can't plan for emergencies, and they can't

invest in their own success. the same concepts apply to the federal budget. you cannot tax and spend your way to prosperity. you have to have economic growth. so i ask my colleagues, why are you making decisions that are going to slow the recovery and slow the economic growth? the democrats' approach to planning for the future might sound good in theory, it might sound good in hypotheticals, but real-life economics, it's not it. future pandemics are not. the need to stay competitive and stay competitive in the war-fighting domain is not. those are real-life issues. the democrats have been so

aggressive this past couple of weeks -- and president biden -- in taking out the eraser and trying to erase four years of productive policy that benefited millions of americans. and the people are starting to wonder what else they're going to throw away in favor of a very autocratic, authoritarian, empty vision for our nation. i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from montana. mr. tester: thank you, madam president. madam president, i have one request for a committee to meet during today's session of the senate. it has the approval of the majority and minority leaders. the presiding officer: duel lay noted. mr. tester: i would ask unanimous consent that before i be able to finish my remarks before the vote. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. tester: thank you, madam president. i rise today in support of denis

mcdonough. dennis is president biden's choice to lead the department of veterans affairs. though there is a great political divide in our nation, i believe that veterans across the country and members aboth sides of the aisle are united by a very basic expectation -- that the next v.a. secretary be an individual of honesty, integrity, and vision. this individual must listen to veterans and put their well-being above all else. denis mcdonough has demonstrated that he is unequivocally the man for this job. and to be clear, this is not an easy job. denis has shown an exemplary commitment to public service and a willingness to do right by those who have worn the uniform and sackified on behalf of our liberties. he genetically earned the reputation for getting the job done, working across federal

agencies and minding common ground. for the last 20 years he has played a key role in many decisions surrounding sending our military men and women to war and knows that taking care of these folks when they return home is a cost of war and a shared responsibility. veterans need someone like denis fighting in their corner, but the truth is there is simply too much at stake. with more than 400,000 americans dying from covid-19 in less than a year, the v.a. secretary's top responsibility will be ensuring that the department has everything it needs from vaccines to personal protective equipment to additional health care and supportive services to care for veterans and protect the v.a.'s employees. and he will be held accountable when it comes to swiftly implementing a number of historic reforms, from the john scott hattens veterans mental health improvement act, a bill to help our veterans in the

mental health challenges and suicides that have resulted, to the debra samson act, an act to help the largest, or the fastest-growing group of veterans, our women veterans, have access to care, to the expansion of presumptive coverage for additional vietnam veterans exposed to agent orange and overdue coverage for vietnam veterans. not to mention a myriad of other critical priorities that have been in the works for years and need serious attention, such as the caregivers program and the electronic health records modernization effort. but denis is fully prepared to take on these responsibilities. he's ready to build the trust of our nation's service members, veterans, and their families, and treat them with the respect that they have earned. now more than ever veterans need a strong leader who will prioritize delivering timely and quality health care and benefits over making political points. i am confident that as v.a.

secretary, denis will be squarely focused on serving these needs. i ask my colleagues to join me today in confirming him to this role where i have no doubt that he will be successful. our nation's veterans are counting on us. now unfortunately, my friend and colleague, ranking member of the senate veterans' affairs committee jerry moran couldn't make it back in time for this nomination due to bad weather and flight delays, but he was planning on voting to advance this nomination today because he believes denis mcdonough is someone who shares his commitment to taking care of our veterans. i have jerry's statement here. i would ask unanimous consent that it would be added to the record. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. tester: with that, madam chair, i yield and suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the question is on the nomination. mr. tester: i ask for the yeas and nays. the presiding officer: is there

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

vote:

vote:

the presiding officer: on this vote the yeas are 87, the nays are 7. the nomination is confirmed. under the previous order, the motion to reconsider is considered made and laid upon the table, and the president will be immediately notified of the senate's action. mr. brown: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from ohio. mr. brown: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to legislative session and be in a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak therein for up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. brown: thank you, mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from ohio. mr. brown: thank you,

mr. president. today, amazon workers in alabama will begin receiving ballots that will give them finally a real voice in their workplace by choosing to join a union. amazon would not be the massively successful company that it is, jeff bezos wouldn't be a multibillionaire without the hard work and dedication of its hundreds of thousands of u.s. workers. they put in long hours, they risk their own health during this pandemic to meet the increased demand that we all know. as of october 20,000 workers at amazon had contracted covid-19. we know those numbers would be much higher today. because of their hard work, amazon's profits have soared by more than 70%. the company's workers deserve to share in the success that they made possible. amazon claims to recognize the value of its workers.

they call their workers, quote, heroes fighting for their communities and helping people get critical items they need." heroes, they call them. if the company truly believed and appreciated that they were heroes, amazon might come back -- might back up its words with actions. that means letting these workers organize, that means stopping the corporate busting tactics, amazon, one of the most powerful corporations in the world, unleashed all of that power to fight their own workers who are just asking for a voice on the job. they've harassed employees with anti-union propaganda, misleading text messages, websites, flyers. one "washington post" headline said it all, amazon's blitz stalks workers everywhere, even the bathroom. workers have reported they don't

get enough time for bathroom breaks. when they're able to use the raftroom, even -- restroom, even there workers are hit with anti-union propaganda on the stall doors. amazon has repeatedly tried to block mailing and forced workers -- putting -- 20,000 have already been diagnosed back in october, putting its workers at more risk just to suppress the vote. it is all part of a pattern for ama xiong. in 2019, amazon fired a staten island warehouse worker who called for unionization. they monitor employees' online communications. last fall we learned the company planned to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on new software to monitor, their worded, threats like unions. it's little wonder amazon is afraid of workers getting more power. so much of their business model is built on top of exploiting workers. often black and brown workers and women.

instead of employing many drivers directly, they use what they call amazon flex drivers. just like with other gig economy jobs, flex is corporate p.r. speak for denying workers their rights as full employees. they fail to provide complete data on covid-19 spread in the workplace, so we really can't find out whether the company is protecting its workers' health. amazon rolled back its tiny $2-per-hour pandemic hourly rate in june r they rolled it back in june and then they announced a one-time bonuses of $300% worker. not $3,000 per worker. from a company that brought in $200 billion in revenue the previous year. i'm sorry, $280 billion in revenue. they gave workers a bonuses of $300.

amazon is not alone. "the washington post" looked at the 50 biggest corporations and found that between april and september, these companies handed out more than $2400 billion to their stockholders through stock buybacks and dividends. companies like that are making more and more and more money. they're giving it back to executives and stockholders in huge dividends and stock buybacks. yet their workers are exposed to these health hazards, exposed to this virus. they come home always anxious and scared about infecting their families. the workers risk their own health, often at rock-bottom wages to make those companies profitable. even if a global pandemic where america's workers have been on the front line, if even that will not get corporations to rethink their business models that treats works as expendable, then we have to give workers more power on the job. a grocery worker said, i feel

expendable because they don't pay me much and they don't protect me on the job. what should we do? it should mean collective bargaining. it should mean unions. that's why i joined is many of my colleagues last week to reintroduce the protecting to organize act. it a comprehensive overall of our labor laws and protect workers to bargain for fair benefits, safer workplaces. we note corporations have attacked and undermined worker protections for decades, made it harder and harder for workers to even stand a chance at organizing a union when they choose to. look what's happened to our economy as corporations take away workers s. power. corporate profits soar, executive compensation explodes through the roof but wages stay flat and the middle class shrinks. corporate -- workers' productivity goes up, workers are working harder and more efficiently. productive goes up, corporate profits soar.

executive compensation explodes. but wages stay flat and the middle class shrinks. our bill would work to level the playing field, finally give workers a fighting chance against the tactics we see right now today. last week the week before and today at amazon. it would strengthen the punishment against companies that violates the workers' rights to organize and companies that retaliate against union organizers. it would restore fairness by closing loopholes that allow below irrelevance to misclassify their employees as supervisor and independent contractors so they don't have to live under labor law. we can't in this country, whether it's las cruces or dayton have a strong growing middle class without strong unions. union members earn 19% more on the average than similar workers in nonunion jobs, they have better health care, are better able to save for retirement. talk to amazon workers about

their hours and they have more control over their schedules and more economic security. in a time when this pandemic reveals so much about inequality in our society, it's more vital than ever that we empower all workers. it's not a coincidence that so many of the workers and corporations like amazon exploit -- whom they exploit are workers of color. it is true at the amazon alabama facility, a the retail wholesale union organizing in alabama has made respect and dignity central to its campaign. it comes back to the dignity of work. remember what dr. king said. he said no labor, no job is menial unless you're not getting adequate wages. the president of the retail wholesale department store union said we see this as much as a civil rights struggle as a labor struggle. we know where dr. king was assassinated and what he was doing. he was fighting for civil rights, fighting for worker rights, fighting for sanitation

workers in memphis, some of the most exploited workers in america. a union job is a ticket to middle-class life. we fight for economic justice by making it available to all workers. we need corporations to just get out of the way, let workers organize, take workers take control over their careers and futures. when you love this country, mr. president, you fight forethe people who make it work, whether in new mexico or ohio or all over this country. that's what the amazon workers in alabama are doing. its what we can do in the senate by passings the pro-act. mr. president, i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from florida. mr. scott: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the consideration of senate resolution 42 submitted earlier today. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: senate resolution 42 honoring the memories of the victims of the senseless attack at marjorie stone ham douglas

high school on february 14, 2018. the presiding officer: without objection, the senate will proceed. mr. scott: i ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and ma the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. scott: mr. president, i'd like to thank my colleague, senator rubio, for joining me to introduce this resolution today honoring the 17 victims of the senseless attack at marjorie stoneham douglas high school. alicia aladef, scott beigel, martin alehano, aaron fe. iss, jimmy guttenberg, chris hick son, luke hoyer, gina

maltado, alley in a petty, alley in a ramsey, alex shockter, carmin shinter, i think of those lives lost too early at shooting in parkland, florida. these individuals were sons, daughters, parents and partners. they were educators, athletes, musicians. many of them just kids with a life full of promise ahead of them. my heart breaks knowing they'll never get to pursue their dreams. and that their families will always have a piece of their heart missing. since that horrible day, i've worked closely with many of the victims' families to ensure no child, educator, or family have to experience that again. we passed the marjorie stoneham douglas public high school safety act while i was governor of florida to make sure a state does everything in its power to prevent further tragedies. now a a u.s. senator i am

fighting for improvements on the federal level including an act named after luke hoyer. while we can't bring back these lives lost that tragic day, i'll always work to honor those lost. and i will do everything in my power to protect our students and educators and ensure they have a safety environment to learn and succeed. i will yield the floor to my colleague, senator rubio. mr. rubio: i thank the -- my colleague from florida. i recall vividly that day on february 14 is 2018, started like it does most days for people across the country. you take your children to school, drop them off and in this case some of them maybe drove themselves. within hours, the lives of 17 families had been changed forever. it was a horrible tragedy. 17 students and faculty members who lost their lives, another 17 who were wounded in the attack.

and it shocked the country. it was a being should -- it was shocking because they went to do what so many people do on a regular basis in a place where you never think something like that could happen. and as my colleague pointed out, there is no resolution in the senate or words that we can say that will restore the lives that were lost, erase the pain still felt by those victims, their families, their friends, those who loved them. even as we continue to grieve, we must also work to prevent something like this from happening anywhere at any time. i was proud that in the early days after this tragedy, within just a few weeks, together working across the aisle we passed the stop school violence act. it provided federal grant money for school safety. that has been ongoing now for three years. we passed the fix nics act. since that day, i have had the honor of working -- of getting

to know and working with the parents of many of those who lost their lives at marjorie stoneham douglas high school. and i'll say that their grace in the face of the most traumatic loss that any parent, any sibling, any cousin, any grandparent, anyone could imagine working with them has been humbling in the face of that -- in the face of the grace they've shown. their commitment to ensuring that no one else has to go through what they did sin -- is inspiring. i just wanted to take a moment today to recognize one individual, max schechter. i know many of you have gotten to know him. this man works tirelessly. he lost his son alex that day. his commitment has produced significant progress. thanks to his leadership, i must say his leadership -- i spoke to him again last friday.

and he continues to work on these issues and thanks to that, last year the federal government created a federal clearinghouse on best practices. a place that any school request can go to that puts in a central location the best practices and offers access to ray of resources for schools across our nation that are looking to protect their students. and this is important because in the aftermath of this, everyone was trying to figure out, well, what should we do? and there was no central place where you could go to and find that out. and recently, as my colleague from florida just pointed out, we reintroduced the luke and alex safety -- school safety act named after -- partially after his son max, which would make this clearinghouse permanent. it was put in place by the agency but this would make it permanent. i think of parents like max who have poured so much of their lives into this act. he is always churning out new

ideas. we spoke last friday about data that a lot of people don't know is there, data which shows which schools are have suspensions, fights, arrests and violence as a way of finding anomalies in the data. he is constantly not just become a subject matter expert through this tragedy but is constantly looking for improvements that can be not just done in florida but across the country and he's tireless all across the country. there's something else we took that was successful in florida and today we rer introduced along with senator reed and senator king and my colleague from florida, and that is reintroducing the extreme risk protection order and violence prevention act to encourage the passing of these laws that allow you to identify someone who is a danger to themselves or others, go to a court and provide them due process and potentially prevent a suicide or a senseless act like what we saw on that day

three years ago. what this bill would not mandate it, but it would dedicate the department of jumpts funds to incentivize more states to adopt similar measures. it will encourage the rest of the country to follow the lead in florida and to save lives. we know it's prevented suicides and we know it's prevented potential attacks in florida and in the states where it's been implemented, and we don't, we can't force more states to do it but we can try to incentivize it. so it's my hope and my prayer that as we continue to work together, that we can achieve this and other things so that no family, so that no community, no state, no one will ever have to go through what the incredible families of parkland endured on that day and in the three years that have followed. and so today as we remember the lives that were lost, let us pledge to honor them by continuing to move forward towards safer and more secure schools and communities in our

work here. mr. president, i yield the floor. mr. durbin: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: mr. president, i was just noting that the senate chamber has been rearranged because tomorrow we commence the impeachment trial, the second impeachment of donald trump. in the center of the well is a podium and microphone where the attorneys representing the house managers who voted the impeachment resolution will stand to make their case a few hours after we commence the trial. the president's defenders will have the same opportunity. they'll be standing in a spot that is literally four or five feet away from a location still fresh in my mind.

it was there, right in the center of the aisle between the majority and minority leader of the senate on january 6 when two men appeared that i had never seen before, in plain clothes, and stood in the center of the well, holding automatic weapons it was just minutes after the vice president had been removed from the chair where you're sitting, whisked off the floor of the senate by secret service, i imagine. he was pulled off the floor. it wasn't a follow me, mr. vice president. they pulled him off the floor. that was at 2:15. within a few minutes the mob which had invaded the united states capitol was on the march on the way towards this chamber where most of us were sitting, having dealt with our constitutional responsibility of

counting the electoral vote. i remember when they interrupted the quorum call they were conducting for one of the capitol policemen to stand before us and say everyone stay in your seats. we're going to bring in all the staffers, they're going to line all the walls. we're going to lock all the doors. this will be the safe room in the capitol. it couldn't have been more than 10 or 15 minutes when the same capitol policemen said everybody out now. the mob had come through the capitol, through the rotunda, was now on the senate side of the building within easy reach of 100 senators. and so we filed out the back door and down a staircase over to the tunnels and down to the hart building hoping we'd escape them. i watched through the window as i went down the steps and saw all of the flags coming up toward the capitol, american flags, trump flags, flags i didn't recognize. all the people coming up here.

we know what happened later that same day. the mob crashed through the doors into this chamber, posed for pictures at our desks and scrawled messages to us, went through our desks and looked at them, literally interrupted the business of the united states senate, the counting of the electoral votes. was that just an accident that thousands of people were in washington on january 6? was that justice an accident -- just an accident that they gathered on the ellipse for the president, donald trump, to speak to them? was it an accident that within 40 minutes or 45 minutes after the president sent them off to the capitol they were here breaking windows and breaking down doors to come inside? no, it was by design. we're now learning who designed that strategy and that attack on

the capitol, and tomorrow we're going to start a trial to determine whether the president of the united states of america bears responsibility for inciting that mob, for inspiring that insurrection. when you read the history of the writing of our constitution, it's almost impossible, maybe it is impossible to put yourself in the moment. these men, all men gathered in philadelphia, had just fought a bloody, long war, a revolutionary war against one of the most powerful nations in the world, and they were setting up a government on this side of the ocean with the hopes that it would survive. and they were worried. they were worried about the enemy from without and the enemy from within. and they talked about our responsibility to maintain this democracy and the challenges we

might face. at the time they were weary because of what they lived through. as we read about it now, we wonder what was the concern, what was behind all that concern. if you're honest, you know that in 1861, our nation went to war with itself in a civil war with over a half a million lives lost. so it was a fragile democracy, as they thought. but we never dreamed, at least i never dreamed that in the 21st century there would be a concern over an insurrection to overthrow the government of the united states with violence. no, not in america. not in 2021. that's exactly what happened on january 6. and that's why we're meeting tomorrow, for the accountability of donald trump for that event. now there are people who have told us we should get over it.

get over it, he's gone. why do you keep talking about donald trump? let him ride off into the sunset, as one fellow shouted at me at the airport a few weeks ago. why would you want to keep reminding us of our differences and divisions? well, i think the answer is pretty obvious. we can't reach real unity in america until we deal with the reality of america as donald trump left it, and january 6 was a classic illustration. there's one other image i share in my thinking about this trial, when i hear former u.n. ambassador nikki haley, the former governor of south carolina, say get over it to the democrats. i think of that solemn scene in

the capitol rotunda last week as we honored capitol hill policeman brian sicknick who was murdered by that mob. murdered by that mob. i spoke to his mom and dad afterwards. he always wanted to be a police officer, had served in the air force. but he wanted to be a police officer, and his mom said we thought of all places for him to be a police officer, the safest had to be the united states capitol building. and she lost her son to that murderous mob. i can't get over that. i'm sure his fream will never get -- his family will never get over it. and if we can't give an honest people to the american people of what happened and who is responsible for it, shame on us. america came close to losing this democracy on january 6, for this president's design was to make sure an election didn't count, that november 3 was ignored. what happened on january 6 was

an attempted coup, make no mistake. as others have pointed out, an attempted coup that is not punished is a trial run for the next time. over the four years of his presidency, someone decided to take account of the many times that the president lied to the american people. they were in the thousands. many of his lies were attempts to discredit anyone or any institution that stood in his way. it's an old trick straight out of the authoritarian handbook. tell so many lies that people can no longer tell fact from fiction. his last and most damaging lie was over and over he repeated to the american people, they stole the election. they rigged the election. donald trump's apologists will come to the floor of the senate in the next few days and say that he had a first amendment right to say whatever he

wanted, whether it was the truth or not. but no one, not even the president, has a first amendment right to incite an insurrection against this government. that's not a right. it's a crime, a high crime. when he first ran for president in 2016, donald trump said the only way he could lose is if the election were stolen. four years later he tweeted the lie of the stolen election so many times at his rallies. when he lost, he tried to convince the courts. he went to 60 different courts, pleading that the election had been rigged and stolen. they laughed him out of the court every time. he tried to bully officials in swing states and members of his own administration. on january 2, a day as americans were dying of covid-19, donald trump was on the telephone to the republican secretary of the of georgia spending more than an hour pleading and threatening him to somehow find the votes to

overturn that state's votes in the presidential election. trump failed. the republican secretary of state refused his request, was not intimidated by his threats, and had the foresight to tape record the conversation so there could be no denial. for weeks before january 6, donald trump exhorted his followers to come to washington on the day that congress would assemble to certify state electoral votes. he knew that his extremist followers were waiting for their signals and their orders. over the summer, when armed extremists stormed and occupied state capitols demanding an end to covid safety instructions, donald trump cheered them on. on january 6, he whipped them into a frn -- frenzy just a few short miles from here. he spoke for more than an hour at that rally on the ellipse. this is some of what he said,

and i quote donald trump to the mob on its way to the capitol. we will never give up, he said. we will never concede. it doesn't happen. then he said we won this election. we won it by a landslide. this was not a close election. then he spoke of his vice president, and he said, i hope mike is doing the right thing. i hope so. i hope so, because if mike pence does the right thing, we win the election. all the vice president has to do is send it back to the states to recertify and we become president, and you're the happiest people. then he said we have to fight like hell, donald trump said to that crowd before they made it up to the capitol. if you don't fight like hell, you're not going to to have a country any more, donald trump. our boldest endeavors have not yet gun. we're going to -- yet begun. we're going to capitol to give the republicans the pride and boldness they need to take back our country. donald trump wasn't shocked at what happened next. the crowd followed orders. he was excited. according to reports, he

ignored police from the white house who begged him, people around him begged him to do something to calm the mob before they got to the capitol. at 2:11 p.m., the mob smashed through the doors and windows, began pouring into this building. 13 minutes later while the mob chanted hang mike pence, donald trump tweeted mike pence didn't have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our country, giving states a chance to certify a corrected set of facts. the u.s.a. demands the truth. at 6:01 p.m., donald trump again tweeted to the mob, four hours after they had broken into this building, here's what he said -- these are the things and events that happen when a sacred landslide election victory is unceremoniously and viciously stripped away from great patriots who have been badly and unfairly treated for so long. go home with love and in peace. and he closed, remember this

day forever. i will. those of us in this building at the moment will. brian sicknick's family will. now nearly all of our republican colleagues tell us it's time to move on, forget about it, forget the authoritarian president with his contempt for democracy. forget the failed coup without accountability. just move on. polls show that a majority of republican voters in america believe donald trump's lie. they -- they still believe him even after it's been ejected by local and state election officials. that's why the senate proceeding to the second impeachment trial tomorrow, donald trump has gone from elected office, but the poise orn he injected -- poison he injected in the national bloodstream remains and grows even more toxic.

on the inauguration of president joe biden, it was different from any i have seen. the crowd was contained in a small garden area. there were many more national guardsmen on the streets of washington when he was sworn in than the crowd that was assembled on the mall. i used to go to central america and visit countries like el salvador. i can remember being at the capitol of he'll sal have el sa. i remember seeing soldiers on the street corners and i wondered what kind of country can this be like cops on corners -- with cops on corners with automatic weapons. we've reached that point here in the senate. it's a reminder of our

vulnerability of our democracy. there was a great cost to what we've just been through and we continue to incur it to keep the people in the capitol safe and those who visit it. but there's a deeper cost. brian sicknick is part of the cost of january 6. he was proud to protect this capitol and he gave his life in doing it. last wednesday officer sicknick's ashes were carried into the rotunda of the capitol where we honored him. the silence of his return was made more painful about remembering how an angry mob desecrated this building that he loved. brian sicknick paid with his life. for his sake, for all of those wounded on january 6 and for the

safety of our democracy, we have to put an end to donald trump's big lie once and for all and look honestly at the culpability of a man who incited this mob to attack congress, to attack the constitution and to attack our way of life. i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll.

mr. sullivan: madam president of. the presiding officer: the senator from alaska. mr. sullivan: madam president, is the senate in a quorum call? the presiding officer: it is. mr. sullivan: i ask that the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. sullivan: madam president, as many of us know our country is mourning the loss of a great man, a man who i believe was one of the greatest of the greatest generation. yesterday we all received the sad news that george schultz,

secretary schultz decide in his home in california yesterday. he was 100 years. he just celebrated his 100th birthday in december. he was a man of great integrity, courage, exemplified service, was great about this nation and hope for our country, not just this country but countries around the world. democracy itself was something that this great american promoted. he leaves behind his wife charlotte, three daughters, two sons, 11 grandchildren, nine great-grandchildren. of course our prayers for his family are going out to all of them during this difficult time. madam president, there are people who have lived history and there are people who have made history. secretary shultz made history. he lived a life in full.

he was always giving back to his country, to his fellow americans. he was one of only two, i believe, american citizens who held four different cabinet posts in the u.s. government. he was o.m.b. director, secretary of labor, secretary of the treasury, and most importantly secretary of state for almost the entire two terms of president reagan's tenure. during some very perilous times in our country's history. as secretary of state, there is no doubt that secretary shultz, along with president reagan, did so much to win the cold war, to bring down the berlin wall eventually to successfully not just defeat in the cold war the

soviet union but to foster the infrastructure of democracy around the globe. if you read about his exploits, if you read his autobiography, you will see so much of what george shultz did for our country, which was so important. it's not an exaggeration to say we are living in a more peaceful and prosperous world. there is no doubt we have challenges because of men like secretary shultz. now, one of the great honors of my lifetime was to get to know secretary shultz over the last several years. i had the opportunity to meet with him many, many times. to listen and learn. his mind was so sharp. the stories that he would tell. this to me is another great example of leadership, people who even in the end years of their life are still mentoring others, whether senators or

students. he would regularly teach classes out at stanford as part of the hoover institution out there. he kept writing books until his 100th birthday. i had the opportunity to wish him a happy birthday in december and was even on a zoom call with him. i will say in my experience with him, certain things kept coming up, themes of a life, service, of course, patriotism, integrity, trust, and also the united states marine corps. you know, madam president, when it comes to the issue of integrity, you look at secretary shultz' career, his life, and he always had integrity as the highest principle. he talked about that, not just integrity to do the right thing, which meant sometimes saying no, but he did this throughout his

career, and then at the very twilight of his career, he talked about not just integrity but trust, and trust as the coin of the realm of a good life, of service. and as he was turning 100 in december, he put out a little pamphlet. it's right here. i read the whole thing. i encourage my colleagues to read it. "life and learning after 100 years. trust is the coin of the realm. reflections on trust and effective relationships across a new hinge of history. george p. shultz, december 13, 2020." who does that? when they are 100, to put out a pamphlet on trust. well, george shultz does that. in the pamphlet, secretary

shultz wrote that one lesson he learned as a child and retained over and over again was the importance of trust. as he says in this pamphlet, when trust is in the room, whatever room that was, the family room, the schoolroom, the coach's room, the office room, the government room, or the military room, good things happen. when trust was not in the room, good things did not happen. i think certainly we can learn that here in the united states senate where trust is the coin of the realm here. there is no doubt about that. this idea of trust is a lesson that stayed with him throughout his career, and a concept that he believes when you read all his writings and talk to him, the way so many of us have had the opportunity to, he believed helped lead to the end of the cold war, trust. president reagan, general

secretary gorbachev together eliminated intermediate range nuclear weapons which laid down the foundation for the peaceful end of the cold war in which the united states was victorious. so, madam president, at the end of my remarks, i'd like to submit for the record this pamphlet by secretary shultz on trust. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. sullivan: even until the end of his days, he was still looking at providing guidance to the senate. i had a talk with him, as i mentioned, just about five weeks ago about him coming to testify in front of the armed services committee. a tradition started by another great american, john mccain, chairman of the armed services committee, was every january, we would start with some statesmen with a lot of knowledge and

history, and george shultz was always part of that. testifying in front of the armed services committee at 98, 99 years old. with henry kissinger, the junior man in the room, who was just a year or two younger. senator reed and i were just talking recently about bringing secretary shultz back to once again testify in front of the armed services committee, and i am sad to say we have lost this great american before he could do that again. but let me conclude with this, madam president. the other thing i loved about george shultz is that he was first and foremost a united states marine. until the end of his life, he spoke about the pride he gained from serving in combat in world war ii as a marine corps officer, and the many, many lessons he learned throughout his life from his service in the marines. the first time i ever met the

secretary, i went into his office. he thought it would be a bunch of pictures with famous people. there were some of those. but there were marine corps recruiting posters everywhere. secretary of state -- the former secretary of state condoleezza rice, another great american, recounts in her excellent op-ed about the legacy of secretary shultz just yesterday in "the washington post", and he told her that being secretary of state was the best job in government when she got nominated to be secretary of state, he called her, gave her some advice. they were very good friends. he was a mentor of hers as well. he said it's the best job in government, secretary of state. and then he corrected himself. it's the best job except for when i was a marine corps captain. that's what he told condoleezza rice. he was first and foremost a

marine, but for all these reasons, madam president, i will be calling up a resolution, a bipartisan resolution to honor the life, achievements, and legacy of the honorable george p. shultz who has done so much for our great nation. we're working on this. hopefully we'll get it passed in the senate here soon. it's very bipartisan already. i was hoping to get it done tonight. but when great americans leave us, it's really important that we reflect and look on the life of service, commitment, patriotism, honor, courage, and learn from that. even though he's gone, after 100 years, i know i'm going to be learning from george shultz for a long, long time, and i sure hope and i expect and certainly

believe that my colleagues here in the united states senate and our fellow americans will be as well. i yield the floor.

mr. schumer: madam president. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. schumer: i ask consent the senate proceed to executive session to consider the following nomination -- executive calendar number 14, kathleen holland hicks of virginia to be deputy secretary of defense. the presiding officer: without objection. the america will report. the clerk: nomination, department of defense, kathleen holland hicks of virginia to be deputy secretary. mr. schumer: i ask consent that the senate vote on the nomination with no intervening action or debate, that if confirmed, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, and the president be immediately notified of the senate's action.

the presiding officer: without objection. the question is on confirmation of the nomination. all those in favor say aye. all opposed no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the nomination is confirmed. mr. schumer: madam president, i ask unanimous consent that the senate resume legislative session. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: madam president, i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to the en bloc consideration of the following resolutions that were submitted earlier today -- senate resolution 38, senate resolution 39, senate resolution 40, senate resolution 41. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the resolutions en bloc. the clerk: senate resolution 38, establishing procedures for access to the floor of the senate and the senate wing of the capitol, and so forth. senate resolution 39, to

authorize the installation of appropriate equipment and furniture in the senate chamber and so forth. senate resolution 40, establishing procedures for access to the galleries of the senate chamber, and so forth. senate ruse 41, allowing limited latop computer access on the floor of the senate and so forth. the presiding officer: is there objection to proceeding en bloc? without objection. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent the resolutions be agreed to en bloc and motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: without objection,so ordered. mr. schumer: madam president, i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today it adjourn until 1:00 p.m., tuesday, february 9. further, that following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour deemed expired, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day and

morning business be closed. further, that upon conclusion of morning business, the senate resume the impeachment trial of former president donald john trump. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. schumer: if there is no further business to come before the senate i ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order. the presiding officer: the senate stands adjourned until 1:00 p.m. tomorrow. the u.s. senate today confirmed that denis to be the new veterans affairs secretary. he previously served as president obama's deputy national security adviser it was as white house chief of staff or four years presenters have been sworn in to be jurors and former president trump second impeachment trial. it is set to resume tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. eastern party can follow right along here on cspan2, online at c-span.org/impeachment or listen live on the free c-span

radio app. two senate committees will hold confirmation hearings this week for tandon president biden's nominee for the president of the office of management and budget for the first hearing is on tuesday at 9:15 a.m. eastern on c-span three for the senate homeland security and government affairs committee. the second hearing is on wednesday at 10:00 a.m. eastern on c-span before the senate budget committee. watch live tuesday on c-span three and wednesday on c-span. watch live and on-demand it c-span.org or listen on the c-span radio app. tonight on the communicators, ellen powell former ceo of a reddit and current ceo of project include, a diversity consulting company. speckle we are seeing is a change of heart. changing from the system where people get to take their, work with people that look like them that they are most

comfortable with that they're used to working with. they don't want to stop that. i just not matter what the numbers are they will find a way to challenge them. it doesn't matter what the arguments are the find a way to challenge than they really don't want to be, forcing the change in tune before stewards of the system that they were soaks except for when was actually rigged. they're not actually the product of the true meritocracy a true system everybody has a fair chance. it's hard to internalize that. and so i think we will continue to see pushback. that's one of the reasons why we do need these rules. >> watch the communicators tonight at eight eastern on cspan2. earlier today the white house covid-19 response team held a briefing on the biden administration's response to the pandemic. we heard about continued community spread and why the virus is not under control in the u.s. this is half an hour