secretary, linda's linda thomas greenville who was a preapproved earlier as u.s. ambassador to vote on the representative to the general assembly. live now to the senate floor here on c-span2. nomination, department of agriculture, thomas j. vilsack of iowa to be secretary. the presiding officer: under the previous order, there will be 20 minutes of debate equally divided between two leaders or their designees. ms. stabenow: madam president. the presiding officer: you are recognized. ms. stabenow: yes,

madam president. madam president, i am very pleased today to rise to support the nomination of our former secretary of agriculture, tom vilsack. we are very lucky that he is willing to serve again. he's certainly no stranger to all of us, and we are very fortunate that he is willing to once again be part of public service. serving as agriculture secretary during all eight years of the obama administration, secretary vilsack presided over the usda with decisive, effective leadership. it was a pleasure to work with him. the agriculture committee held a bipartisan hearing earlier this month and mere hours later we voted to advance his nomination without any objection. his deep knowledge of

agriculture in rural america is needed now more than ever. for our farmers, our families, our rural communities have so many challenges right now. the covid-19 crisis is continuing to disrupt our food supply chain for farmers, food processors, and essential workers. tens of millions of families still don't have enough to eat and are lining up at food banks in order to put food on the table. the climate crisis is posing an extremely grave threat to the long-term viability of our economy and our food supply. farmers of color who have long faced civil rights abuses and systemic racism continue to experience economic disparities. on top of all this, there is a lot of work to be done to rebuild the usda workforce so the department can fulfill its

very important mission. american farmers, families, rural communities need strong, effective leadership now more than ever, and when it comes to strengthening our food and farm economy, i am very confident that soon-to-be confirmed secretary tom vilsack is more than up to the task. he has a proven track record. he will embrace new ideas in a new era at the department. i know he is committed to addressing the covid-19 pandemic. i know that he is committed to focusing on feeding our families in need. we have more than 50 million americans today that are in a hunger crisis, themselves and their families. i know he cares deeply and is committed to our making sure that they are able to feed their

families. i know he's very focused on tackling the climate crisis and has done a lot of work since leaving as secretary of agriculture a few years ago to focus on voluntary producer-led farmer-friendly efforts that can make a real difference and allow agriculture to lead in addressing the climate crisis. and i know he's very focused and committed on addressing the racial discrimination that we have seen systemically over the years in agriculture and addressing those issues in a very fair and equitable way. so i look forward to partnering with him on these issues, and senator boozman and i have enjoyed our first hearing as his confirmation hearing. i look forward to partnering with senator boozman and our

entire committee to be able to move forward on a whole range of issues that are important for all of us, for everybody in our country, and to do that, we need a great partner, an effective partner as the secretary of the department of agriculture, and i know with great confidence that that person is tom vilsack. i would yield the floor, madam president, and suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

mr. boozman: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from arkansas is recognized. mr. boozman: i ask permission that the quorum call be removed. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. boozman: thank you,

madam president. it's a real honor to be down here with my friend and the chairwoman of the agriculture committee, senator stabenow, and appreciate her cooperation, working so very hard, providing the leadership to get secretary vilsack confirmed. the nomination hearing was held pie the committee -- by the committee on agriculture, nutrition, and forestry a few weeks ago to vet the secretary, former secretary, now future secretary vilsack. the timing was unusual, but it displayed the bipartisan nature of the committee. the committee was not officially organized, and the chairwoman and i, because we didn't want to set a precedent, didn't have any precedent in that situation, led the hearing together. i trust going forward with the chairwoman will continue to work with me and our minority members on the committee to assist the agriculture committee in a truly bipartisan way, and we have the -- the example of herself and senator roberts, the great

job that they did working as a team. secretary vilsack is no stranger to the department of agriculture, having served as a secretary from 2009 through 2017. he has an excellent reputation, putting rural america at the top of his agenda. i'm a strong believer that past performance is indicative of future performance, so i'm confident that secretary vilsack will be successful this go around. i look forward to strengthening my working relationship with the secretary so we can find success in supporting those that work at the department and assisting those that the department serves. whether that success is born from the secretary utilizing existing authorities or exercising new legislation, i trust that the secretary will work with congress as the agriculture community tackles new and existing challenges. and works to build on countless past successes. the department must continue to work with all producers in order

to provide them with certainty and with predictability. farmers and ranchers find themselves in the curious position, curious times battling covid, natural disasters, and turning the tide of a few tumultuous trade seasons. the secretary must ensure that this administration works with producers of all regions and all commodities and that the department does not make the hard work of farmers and ranchers more difficult by throwing up obstacles as opposed to opening doors of opportunity. i look forward to secretary vilsack coming back to the committee in a few weeks to discuss his plans in depth for the department as was agreed to at his hearing. i believe this discussion will help the committee have a clearer picture of the department and the work that lays before us. i will be voting to confirm tom vilsack, former secretary, future secretary. i urge others to do so as well. again, thank you to the

chairwoman for her collegiality and cooperation. with that, i yield the floor and note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: will the senator withdraw his request? mr. boozman: i will take away my request for the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: thank you. ms. stabenow: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from michigan. ms. stabenow: thank you, madam president. i have nine requests for committees to meet during today's session of the senate. they have the approval of the majority and the minority leaders. the presiding officer: duly noted. ms. stabenow: i would ask that the remaining time be yielded back. the presiding officer: is there an objection? without objection, so ordered. under the previous order, the question occurs on the nomination. is there a sufficient second?

there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll. vote:

vote:

vote:

vote:

the presiding officer: are there any senators in the chamber wishing to vote or change his or her vote? if not, the yeas are 92, the nays are 7 and the nominee 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 actions. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the question occurs on the nomination of thomas thomas-greenfield. -- of thomas-greenfield. is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll. vote:

vote:

vote:

vote:

the presiding officer: are there any senators in the chamber wishing to vote or to change his or her vote? if not, the yeas are 78, the nays are 21, and the nomination is confirmed. under the previous order, the motion to reconsider is considered made and laid upon the table, and the president will immediately be notified of

the senate's actions. mr. schumer: madam president, i move to proceed to legislative session. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all those in favor say aye. those opposed no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. mr. schumer: madam president, i move to proceed to executive session to consider calendar number 16. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: nomination, department of education, miguel a. cardona of connecticut to be secretary. mr. schumer: madam president, i send a cloture motion to the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the cloture motion. the clerk: cloture motion, we, the undersigned senators, in

accordance of the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination of miguel a. cardona of cth to be secretary of -- of connecticut to be secretary of education signed by senators as follows. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent the reading of the names be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: thank you, madam president. i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call:

my extended family and generations of ancestors who have sacrificed so much to be here today. i acknowledge on the and accosted has getaway people. as many of you know, my story is unique. today i serve as member of congress and vice chair of the house natural resources committee if confirmed, i'd be the first native american to serve as secretary. this historic nature of my confirmation is not lost on me but i will say not about me. rather, i hope this nomination would be an inspiration for americans. moving forward together as one nation and creating opportunities for all of us. as the daughter of a pueblo woman, i was taught to value hard work. my mother is a navy veteran,

civil servant at the bureau of indian education for 25 years she raised four kids as a military wife. my dad, a 30 year marine who served in vietnam who received civil star at the arlington national cemetery. i spent summers in a small village, the location of my grandparents traditional home it was there that i learned about my culture from my grandmother by watching her cook and participating in traditional ceremonies. those in cornfields with my grandfather where i learned the importance in protecting our resources where i gained a deep respect for the earth. as a military family, we moved every few years when i was a kid but no matter where we lived, my

dad taught me and my siblings to appreciate nature whether on a mountain trail or walking along the beach. i'm not a stranger to the struggles many families across america's face today. i've lived most of my adult life paycheck to protect paycheck, a single mom and at times rely on food stamps to put food on the table. it's because of these struggles i fully understand the roles interior must play in the plan to build back better responsibly manage our natural resources to protect them for future generations so we can continue to work, live, hunt, fish and pray among them. i understand how important the department is for all stakeholders who rely on it and the communities, economies are connected to it. i know the bipartisan accomplishments of this committee stand out in congress your word lead to interior, significant resources and authority especially with great american outdoors act and public lands package i will work

collaboratively with all members of this committee to ensure these acts are implemented well. as chair of the subcommittee on national public land, i also worked on these issues in congress and listen to all my colleagues and constituents about ways to improve management of the department, i'm proud of the bipartisan manager which we move these bills for my subcommittee and to the house floor. as i've learned in this role, there's no questions that fossil energy does and will continue to play a major role in america for years to come. i know how important oil and gas revenues are two critical services but we must also recognize the energy industry of innovating, climate challenge must be addressed. together we can work to position our nation and all people for success in the future. i am committed to working cooperatively with all

stakeholders and all of congress to strike the right balance going forward. as part of this balance, the department has a role in harvesting clean energy potential of our public lands and create jobs and new economic opportunity. the president's agenda demonstrates america's public lands can and should be clean energy production. president biden also knows restoring and conserving our land through civilian climate record has the potential to search up creation. if confirmed, i will work my heart out for everyone. the families of fossil fuel workers to help build our country, ranchers and farmers care deeply for their lands, communities with legacies of toxic pollution, people of color stories deserve to be heard and those who want jobs of the future. i vow to leave the interior department ethically and with honor and integrity.

i will listen to and work with members of congress on both sides of the aisle. i will support public servants and be a careful steward of taxpayer dollars and am sure interior department decisions are based on science. i will honor the sovereignty of tribal nations and recognize their part in america's story and i'll and advocate for our public land. i believe we all have a stake in the future of our country and i believe every one of us, were hogan's, democrats and independents share a common bond. our love for the outdoors and a desire and obligation to keep our nation livable for future generations. i carry my life experiences with me everywhere i go. it's those expenses that give me hope for the future. if an indigenous woman from humble beginnings can be confirmed as secretary of the interior, our country holds promise for everyone. i want to give special thanks to

chairman mansion for calling this hearing today and sharing with me the issues in need of the people you represent in west virginia. if confirmed, i'll listen to all the people represented by members of this committee and this congress. i'm grateful for your time today and i'm ready to serve. thank you, senator for your kind introduction and i look forward to your questions. >> thanks, congresswoman. now we will begin our questions. the u.s. became a net total energy export in 2019, the first time in 67 years we've been in that position partly due to the search in domestic oil and gas production and in your opening statement, he noted false energy does and will continue to play a major role in america for years to come. my question, you believe it's in our best interest to maintain our energy independence? what role do you see playing in this? >> thank you, chairman for the

question. yes, of course, we absolutely need energy independence and i believe president biden agrees with that statement as well. i know we want to move forward with clean energy, we want to get to net zero and as a chairwoman of the subcommittee on national public land, yes. 25% of our area comes from public land. as we move forward with technology you and i spoke about when we had our conversation, we want to move forward with innovation and all of this for energy needs. that's not going to happen overnight. we will absolutely rely on fossil energy that you and the ranking member spoke about in your opening statements but at the same time, i think we can move forward with the technology and innovation as well. >> thank you. you pretty much know my position

on that. i'm totally committed to elimination because i think we can do it in a practical possible way. i have opening statements, a massive agency, as you just heard, responsible is that come with that agency. if you focus on the big picture, what are your top priorities you see might need changed or you would like to have for your leadership? >> thank you, chairman. of course as i mentioned in my opening statement, my mom was a federal employment 25 years. i value the dedication of our career employees and i believe strongly that we need to make sure we are appreciating them the way they should be appreciated so they can do their job. i want very much to help make sure everyone's working together. with respect to clean energy, yes. that is absolutely a priority of president biden, his back better

plan to create clean energy jobs across the country, civilian climate record that i know will engage tens of thousands of americans in the work of restoring our public land is also important. if i will say with respect to indian country, i worked very hard in congress in my first term on broadband internet. i think during this pandemic, we seen disparities a lot of communities face as that has unfolded. broadband internet service and i will say in respect to missing and murdered indigenous women, grateful for the help of senators on this side of the capitol who help me move that forward, i think to build passing, that's the tip of the iceberg. >> 1977, coal companies, and very familiar with the companies

that work in those areas, they've paid a fee for every time they have mind land, we call the aml program, if confirmed, he was seated at ministries program, mining reclamation and enforcement. with that, hard rock mining hasn't had any changes since 1872. they don't adhere to the same restrictions that we do. we've talked about making those changes most responsible and most needed. we are not hindering any company, whatsoever except we have a lot of hard rock mining left unclaimed and unrestored that could be back in productive use. i want to know if confirmed, if you intend to continue supporting the collection of authority, the aml money and people want to eliminate that, i think it would be detrimental to our environment. do support extending the fees

for additional 15 years? that's what we are talking about to take care of all. would you be receptive to looking at the hard rock mining to make sure they come into compliance to take care of their responsibilities? >> thank you, chairman. yes, i am very familiar with the minds and we have a lot of them in new mexico, particularly the navajo nation's and we have seen it polluted water. i agree wholeheartedly we need resources to ensure we are protecting health and safety of our fellow americans. i look forward to working with you on this issue and yes, i think if we have the resources to clean those things up, it will make life easier for everybody. >> thank you. i have many more questions but my time is up. >> thank you. i'd like to follow up senator

mentioned follow-ups, as a general matter, should the federal government continue to permeate oil and gas wells in this country? >> yes, i believe that's happening. >> as general manager, the federal government continue to do coal mines in the country? >> yes, ranking member. i know coal mines were not part of president biden's executive order. >> as a general matter, should the federal government continue to cool, hard rock mines in this country, as he was tensioning hard rock? >> i believe if we do these things in a responsible manner and protect health and safety of worker, i think see us moving forward. the earth is here to provide for us and that's my belief. >> is a general matter, should the federal government continue with natural gas pipelines in

this country? >> senator, as i mentioned in my opening statements, i believe this will go on for quite some time. i know president biden has put a pause on new leases, not existing ones. >> the question was on pipelines. should the federal government continue to permit oil gas lines? >> with respect to the department of interior, however pipelines fall under authority of the department of interior, of course. >> as a general matter, should the federal government continue permit electrical changes in lines in the country? >> i believe that would help our energy needs. >> should the federal government continue permit natural gas or nuclear power plants to the country? >> senator, i assume, what i would like to say as, if i'm

confirmed as secretary, of course i would follow the law on all of these things. >> one of the concerns we have is there are three senators on this committee are medical doctors. doctor marshall is an obstetrician, i'm an orthopedic surgeon in a couple of months ago, you tweeted republicans don't believe in science. a pretty broad statement you made there it was in october 2020, not too long ago. also for republicans. you think as medical doctors, we don't believe in science? how do you stand by this statement. >> senator, i yes. if you are a doctor, i'd assume you believe in science. >> republicans as well. it's concerning to those of us who believe in science and get broadly, we are all disbelievers, it is a concern to those of us as we are here today to ask questions. in this first few weeks and office, president biden issued

several orders, new oil and natural gas on federal land, it's estimated long term leasing band will cause your home state of new mexico $62000 jobs. in my home state of wyoming, 32000 jobs. a run around, the table here, members on this committee, louisiana 48000 jobs. colorado 18000 jobs. mississippi 14000 jobs. north dakota 13000 jobs. utah 11000 jobs. 7000 jobs, alaska and montana. those are just jobs represented by people in this committee. you said you will work your heart out for everyone including fossil fuel workers. my question is, why not just let the workers keep their jobs? >> senator, it's my understanding president biden has put a pause on new leases. you can band new leases, put a moratorium on new leases to review the fossil program at the

federal fossil fuel program. i know there are still thousands of leases and permits moving forward. >> if confirmed, would you tell the president it's unwise to continue to pause as a permanent band? >> i don't believe it's a permanent band. i'm more than happy to work with you and at the pleasure of the president and long, if i am confirmed, my colleagues to make sure we are doing everything we can to create jobs for americans. >> president biden justified ban on leasing on federal land, he cited climate change. are you aware of any evidence suggesting ban on leasing on federal lands and waters would reduce the world total production of oil and gas?

>> no, sir. >> are we aware of evidence that suggests a ban on oil and gas leasing on federal lands and waters will reduce the world total consumption of oil and gas? >> ranking member, i haven't looked at all of these statistics but i believe it's the situation for everyone should work together. >> it seems the president ban on oil and gas leasing isn't going to reduce the world's production or consumption of oil and gas so i'd return to the question, why wouldn't we let americans keep their jobs? we are not seeing any other country with band energy production because of climate change, russia hasn't done it, saudi arabia, iran, india, china. i continue to believe its misguided decision by the president. thanks so much and i was, which for questions for second round. >> thank you, mr. chairman. congresswoman, haaland on your congrats on your position. congrats on your leadership in

the house. you lead the final passage of this settlement bill. to see native american woman standing on the house for helping us get something past that took such a long time. i would venture to say if you had been during that time period, meaning we might have actually gone this done sooner. mark me down as one who very much appreciate the fact secretary interior being native american, will give us extra advantage on these issues that are so important to indian country overall. thank you for that. so glad you mentioned the great american outdoors act. i almost feel your nomination is a proxy fight about the future of fossil fuels. you've already stated very clearly, you're going to carry out president biden's agenda. we very much appreciate the fact

that you are doing that and that's what i think the president deserves, his nominee. i think with the great american outdoors act, we saw the value of public land. we saw the value of creating more outdoor recreation helped an industry, third just behind finance and healthcare as a very big job employer and the united states of america. i hope our colleagues will think about our bipartisan success there and how much the public lands mean to us from an economic revenue perspective. one of the things i wanted to ask you about, obviously on the whole leasing funds, under secretary jewel and obama administration, we were trying to get accurate assessments of the value of federal leasing of coal revenues. i was ranking member, we pushed for this because obviously we have a lot of cool trains

through washington. the impact of that coal price matter because of mining in places like river basins which accounts for 40% of the nation's annual supply and impacts communities all across our country. i want to make sure because the trump administration then came and overturned that assessment. i want to make sure that decision you are going to work to make sure there is fair value for the taxpayers on the price of coal leasing and economic and climate impacts that it has. >> senator, public land belongs to all of us and taxpayers deserve to have a fair return. so i look forward to having more conversations about this and appreciate you raising this issue. >> thank you. on arctic wildlife refuge, i

wanted to make sure you are committed to using a scientist based approach when it comes to protecting the art of wildlife. i'm glad the president has taken action to stop on leasing but what can you tell me about your efforts to promote a science -based approach to protecting the wildlife refuge? >> i can promise you that if i am confirmed as secretary, we will be guided by science and all of those decisions. >> than on the issue of wildfires, which is a big pacific northwest issue, the department of interior has key tools we've now given in the last big fire package we were able to work on together, this is new technology for everything from forecasting to locating firefighters to the implementation of coordination with air support, will you commit to continue to work to

rapidly implement those provisions of the last legislation on fighting fire? >> i believe very strongly that technology can play an incredibly helpful role in detecting fires and yes. i appreciate your caring about that issue as well. >> thank you. then lastly, we were successful chairwoman murkowski and practiced passing the water strategy bill which is really about focusing on helping pacific northwest come up with better strategies for farming, fishing, environmental issues and i hope you will continue to work with us on the basin implementation and caring forward on goodie good water strategy. >> senator, this is our second

conversation, i'm sure we will have many more conversations i look forward to hearing more. i think if i am confirmed, yes. we need to keep moving issues forward for the american people. >> thank you, mr. chairman. >> thank you. senator lee. >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you representative haaland for being here your willingness to serve it comes terms. in 2019, he sent a letter to the department of interior, the department you've been nominated to lead in that letter, you mentioned concerns you had with decisions regarding national monuments. as i recall, the decisions in particular, you were referring to dealing with monuments or things you are worried might have been influenced by those who use water in federal lands. i want to ask you a question, a

brief yes or no answer will suffice. do you think it's appropriate for stakeholders, people who have some sort of economic interest in land or connection to the land, like communities where people use the land for grazing and other purposes, incidental necessary to day to day lives to be involved in the national monument designation process, are you saying you think people shouldn't have a role in it? >> senator, i think with national monument designation, of course folks on the ground, stakeholders, everyone deserves to have a say. we've had some of those come through our committee and i realize it's a long process. >> i'm pleased to hear you're okay with stakeholders having a say in it. people who live close to the land are very much affected by it. in utah, national monuments have

become something of a political football. they are poised to becoming even more of a political football. one that's tossed back and be before between political parties. president clinton and president obama respectively designated some national monuments in utah. president clinton designated the grand staircase national monument back in 1996 and then 20 years later, president obama designated a national monument. president trump reduced those monument consistent with the language antiquities act requiring it is extend no further than space necessary to be set aside to protect the purposes of issue. do you think it's helpful when monuments and up bouncing back and forth between presidential administrations, is that a good or bad thing? for the american people and

those who live near and are affected by these plans? >> i understand what you're saying. i know act is reserved for the president, whoever that may be. not the secretary of interior but i will say that yes, it does appear those things have gone back and forth depending on who is in office. >> you think is ricochet affect we are talking about could be a result of presidents making monument designations not broadly supported by both political parties, particularly within communities most immediately affected by them? >> well, it's been my experience. most of the land bills, legislation thoughts come out of my subcommittee and our committee, of natural resources

on the house side have been more successful when they spent bipartisan. >> yes. in this circumstance with national monuments, we've given 110 years ago, was given presidents sweeping authority over this area, this eliminates as they might see in the moment, need for bipartisan action and i think in order to avoid the ricochet affect we are talking about the we agree is about thing, widespread local and we didn't have that with bears years in 2016, we didn't have that with grand staircase 20 years earlier. i think it's important to point out, i want to make sure you are aware also 11.5 million acres of national monument designations, occurring on land among 40 states over the last 25 years, 3.25 million of those are in utah. that's 28%.

some of these monuments are quite large. in utah, the grand staircase bears years national monuments were 1.9 million acres and 1.3 million acres. added together, that's larger than delaware's. monuments of this size accurately reflect and embody the charge that congress provided and degrees act, to the effect the limits of the parcels shall be confined to the smallest area compatible with proper care and management of objects to be protected. is that usually something in one state will be larger than two delaware's? >> senator, i want to say i am a little jealous you are from utah and i'm from new mexico because i know you have so much beautiful land there. a lot of history. i've been to bears ears and the

pueblo indians ancestral homeland is there and i realize it covers a very wide space. >> i appreciate the compliment in my state, it is beautiful but the monument designations doesn't make them more beautiful. it does tend to make the communities that don't support them impoverished and that's what concerns me. >> thank you, senator. i appreciate you sharing that knowledge with me.

>> waiting for senators to come to the floor to speak. today's was approved tom feels like to be agriculture secretary and linda thomas-greenfield to be u.s. ambassador to the united nations and u.s. representative to un general assembly. senate will work on more nominations this week, you're watching live senate coverage here on c-span2. to serve as the next education secretary. we also hope to do gina armando, secretary of commerce early next

week. each of these nominees received bipartisan support and committee, each of these nominees is undoubtedly qualified with their positions, stark departure on the caliber of nominees the senate was made to consider during the previous administration. make no mistake, the senate is going to move quickly to approve key officials in the biden administration in this work. these cabinet positions and agencies have an immense influence over the policies in the united states. impacting hundreds of millions of american lives at a time of acute national challenge, we need qualified leaders atop our federal agencies and fast. that's what we intend to do. on covid. while the senate will be busy fulfilling its constitutional duty to advise and consent on presidential nominees, democrats remain hard at work preparing the desperately needed covid relief bill. our country is still in the

throes of crisis. yesterday, we passed that grim milestone. 500,000 deaths. in comprehensible figure. millions of americans have reported being thousands of dollars behind on rent, utilities. small businesses are hanging on for dear life. vaccinating 330 million americans as sufficiently as possible is one of the most crucial and complex undertakings of our times. while we need to do, we need to put our foot on the gas to end the pandemic as quickly as possible, get our economy back to normal and repair the damage that's been done. that with the american rescue plan is all about. it will deliver resources to keep small businesses afloat, americans in their homes, teachers, firefighters and other essential employees in the public sector on the job. it will send direct check to

americans struggling with a once-in-a-lifetime financial burden. it will boost vaccine distribution and provide funding and guidance for schools to reopen as quickly and safely as possible. that last part in particular should appeal to my republican friends who've been raising concern about school closures. we all want schools to reopen safely. we are all worried about the cost of virtual learning on children and parents. the solution is simple. it's not giving a speech here on the senate floor, it's not criticizing teachers school administrators.

mr. sullivan: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from alaska. mr. sullivan: mr. 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: thank you, mr. president. i want to talk a little bit about the vote i just took here with regard to our secretary of agriculture. secretary vilsack, who is now the new secretary -- no, on his way to becoming the new secretary. and, you know, what i've tried to do when looking at nominees is i typically look at three

different questions. do they have the experience for the job, the experience necessary for the job? do they have views that i think will help the country, and in particular help my state? and do they care about the people they will be impacting? so that's kind of a bit of a three-part test. i've tried to work with a lot of the new nominees in the biden administration. i voted for a number of them, most of them. as a matter of fact, i introduced secretary austin at his confirmation hearing. i got to know him many years ago when he was a marine, an army officer, and a two-star general. i will say to some of my friends, constituents back home are saying, hey, senator, when the trump administration put forward their nominees, you usually had kind of a party-line vote with a lot of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, my democratic friends who were

just no, no, no, no, no. why don't you do that? well, i don't think it's good for the country. that's why i don't think do that. i'm against some but have been supportive of many. and i'm not sure the way in which it worked with the previous administration was best for our nation. so certainly the secretary -- secretary vilsack pass the first two parts of that test. he clearly has the experience. heck, he was the secretary of ag for eight years under president obama and vice president biden. and certainly he has views particularly with regard to farm country. saw the strong vote he had there with regard to helping the ag sector. i'm sure he is a he a patriot -- i'm sure he is a patriot, of course, cares about our country.

but it was the third question -- does he care about the people that he will be impacting -- that i have had some serious he hadation on. i will talking a little bit about. a lot of our different economies throughout the country, our states have been hit hard by this pandemic. and i would say that my state's economy has been hit really hard, really hard. when you look at what drives a lot of the alaska economy, the energy sector, oil, gas, mining, the tourism sector, the fisheries, commercial fishery sector -- i like to call alaska the superpower of seafood; over 60% of all seafood harvested in america comes from the waters of the great state of alaska, the most sustainable, best managed fishery probably in the world,

but a huge driver of our economy. and also the issue of access to our lands. 66% of alaska is federal lands. we need access to help have a strong economy. it's an issue the presiding officer probably doesn't have to worry about being from connecticut. but in alaska, access to lands is huge. in the last administration we had a lot of progress on these issues fora -- for our economy, anwr, the access to those lands, legislation by the congress. our tourism sector had been doing great. our commercial fishing sector had been doing great. and we even made progress on other access issues like the tongass, something that for 25 years democrats and republicans, whether senators from alaska, whether governors from alaska tried to get access to those lands. really important.

and we were able to do that. so progress and then the pandemic, and that's hurt everybody. it's certainly hurt the energy sector, certainly hurt, crushed the tourism sector. last year alaska was going to have 1.5 million people show up in our state with regard to tourism. a new record just on cruise ships, just on cruise ships. none of them showed up because of the pandemic. and the commercial fishing sector also has had a really rough time with this pandemic. markets, international markets, markets domestically -- so, i'm very concerned about my state's economy, about working families, about the average alaskan who's struggling right now. in the new policies put forward by this administration -- and the new policies put forward by this administration have been

shockingly negative as it relates to my state. one month in, particularly the energy sector. every day we're waking up to a new edict saying, men and women who produce energy in america, who produce energy in alaska, sorry ... you're not favored anymore. you're not viewed in a positive light anymore. it's a real, real, real concern. hundreds, if not thousands, of jobs in my state during a recession are at risk. so these were some of the issues that i raised in my discussions with secretary vilsack. in i can -- in particular, our commercial fishing sector. in the previous administration, the secretary of agriculture helped implement a new trade relief program for fishermen. huge progress. hugely important. just the way the farmers were getting this kind of relief with regard to trade and markets that

have been destroyed by the pandemic. the secretary of agriculture undertook a new program for the farmers of the sea, for the fishermen who are being negatively impacted, the same way that our farmers on the land were. this is an issue that i raised with the secretary on the importance of moving forward, continuing that, and to be honest, mr. president, there didn't seem to be a lot of interest. i was kind of shocked. but there didn't seem to be a lot of interest, and i was concerned. i am concerned. similarly, this progress we made with regard to the tongass -- access to the largest national forests in the country that's under usda management, something alaskans have been working on in a bipartisan way for 25 years, didn't seem to be a lot of interest from the secretary on that either. so these are two issues hugely

important to my state, hugely important to my constituents, hugely important to try to get alaska out of a really deep recession. where a lot of families are worried. and i got the sense that the secretary just wasn't that interested. and i really hope i'm wrong. i really hope i'm wrong. so i plan on trying to work with him. you know, he had a strong -- very strong bipartisan vote, but every now and then, if you really think that the people you represent are not going to be given a lot of attention when they need it, it becomes a harder vote. it becomes a harder vote. he has obviously got strong bipartisan support. but i sure hope that when he becomes secretary of agriculture, he cares as much about the farmers of the sea

where we have made progress on as he does about farmers on the land. i didn't see that in my meeting with him. i hope i'm wrong. and that's why i voted the way i did and also voted the way i did as it relates to this issue of access to the tongass. again, a huge issue for my state, a very bipartisan issue for my state, and again, i hope that the secretary and his team look at it as something that can help the economy of alaska while protecting our environment, which of course we care about, but these are the reasons that i voted the way i did, and i hope that my concerns are going to be proved to be unfounded, and i'm going to continue to advocate for my constituents in the way that i think is going to be very important as we try and get through these challenging times, particularly the alaska economy. i yield the floor.

mrs. blackburn: mr. president. the presiding officer: the

senator from tennessee. mrs. blackburn: are we in a quorum call? the presiding officer: we are not. mrs. blackburn: we are not in a quorum call. thank you so much, mr. president. today the help committee considered the nomination of h.i.v.ier becerra, our -- of xavier becerra, our former house colleague, to head the department of health and human services, and tomorrow the finance committee will take their turn at examining his record. it's hard to think of a nominee more notorious for actively seeking out ways to undermine religious freedom and our religious liberty. his contempt for those whose beliefs differ from his own is well documented, and in many cases, his positions on those issues are far more radical than those held by the majority in his own party. he supports abortion up to the moment of birth, and in 2003,

actively opposed the partial-birth abortion ban. he cosponsored legislation that would have forced religious employers to provide insurance that covers the morning-after pill. in spite of their mainstream and sincerely held religious beliefs. bear in mind the legislation would have forced, not an option, forced religious employers to provide insurance that covered the morning-after pill. in fact, mr. becerra has been so antagonistic toward fundamental constitutional principles that you could almost forget he doesn't have the public health experience most americans would expect the secretary of health and human services to possess.

in fact, he has no meaningful experience in health care at all, zero, none. not in public health or large-scale logistical operations or in any other area that might be helpful as we navigate our way out of a global pandemic. that is right. he has no health care experience. this lack of experience combined with his desire to destroy those who disagree with him places him among the most unqualified and dangerous nominees ever to come before the senate for consideration, and i urge my colleagues to join me in opposing his confirmation. i wish that we could write off this nomination as an anomaly, but we can't. it's part of a pattern of behavior on the left that has

destabilized our already fragile political discourse and convinced the american people that the biden administration will prioritize their radical liberal agenda above the rights of the people they were elected to serve. i have to tell you i hear about this every single day as i am talking with tennesseans mr. president, since the earliest days of the republic, our union has managed to survive because of the people. the people's willingness to return to our founding principles. those first principles upon which we stand. however, much that they disagreed, they knew that they were stronger united than they were divided.

so they would come together in the public square. they would have robust, respectful debate. they would agree to disagree. but they respected the fact that they lived in a free country and they could do this without fear of persecution, without fear of being ostracized, without fear of losing a job. today, americans are looking for that same commitment to unity. oh, they heard about it during the inaugural address. unity. we're going to work for unity. but what has happened is a chord of panic and fear has been struck in their hearts as they see executive order after executive order, as they see executive orders that are

preferencing other countries and not the u.s.a. and as they hear from the left words that are we're not looking for unity, what we are looking for is you to submit to our agenda, conform to our way of doing things. what they are doing is leaving no room for discussion. even on issues of international importance. for decades, the various schools of thought represented in this chamber have advocated for different approaches to foreign relations. some revere international bodies and sweeping multilateral agreements. others approach these constructs with caution, prioritizing national sovereignty over surface level diplomacy. when former president trump formally withdrew from the paris

climate accords in 2019, economists, business owners, and budget watchdogs all breathed a sigh of relief because they knew that adherence to the paris climate accords would put the united states at a competitive disadvantage. this wasn't a partisan debate, mind you. this was u.s.-based companies. u.s.-based companies that were saying thank you for withdrawing because adhering to this when other countries who were our competitor will not adhere puts us at a disadvantage. now, with the climate accords, by 2035, we would have seen hundreds of thousands of people lose their jobs, household

electric bills go up as much as 20%, and an aggregate g.d.p. free fall of -- freefall of $2.5 trillion. that is the cost. that is the cost of my way or the highway. that is the cost of putting other countries and their agenda ahead of us, the cost of their noncompliance. fast forward to a little over a year later, and the biden administration has thrown us back into the accords and back into that predicted economic free fall. this week i worked with my colleague, senator daines, to introduce two pieces of legislation that will hopefully do a little bit of damage control on that issue. the first is a bill that would prohibit taxpayer dollars from being used to rejoin the paris

agreement. it makes sense. the reason it does is because you're taking jobs away from u.s. employers. you're causing employees to become former employees or the unemployed. so it makes sense, if you want to do this, don't use taxpayer dollars. don't make people pay for things that are going to take away their jobs. the second is a resolution that would call on president biden to submit the paris agreement to the senate for approval. it makes sense. where are treaties to come? here. if you want unity, send things to the senate. if you're proud of a step you're taking, send it to the senate. let there be a vote of the

people's representatives. let there be discussion. do we fear discussion? do we fear debate? are we so given to the cancel culture that we just say it's our way or the highway? i would note that submitting these types of agreements for consideration is a bare minimum standard set out in the constitution, and there's no legitimate reason why anyone in this chamber should object to that. they should welcome respectful, robust debate. i think we can all agree that this oversight duty is an important one, and i would ask my colleagues to join me in letting the administration know we're not going to abandon it simply because it would make things more convenient for them. freedom and preserving freedom

is not always convenient. it takes a lot of hard work. it takes this body doing its job. it doesn't take my way or the highway executive orders coming out of the white house. on inauguration day, president biden promised unity. all for it, wanting to see it, going to to work for it. nice words, but so far he's done nothing but hide behind those executive orders and forced through policies that even members of his own party object to. and in tennessee, i talked to many who have for most of their life been democrats, and they are stunned.

indeed, they are very concerned about this authoritarian approach to running the country. sign an executive order and be done with it. hearing that the speaker of the house has a few people that can vote proxy for people, seeing all this fencing around the capitol, it causes tennesseans to say what in the world is going on up there? this is not how we are supposed to act. and i will tell you, to my friends across the aisle, one day this tactic is going to backfire on the millions of americans who are standing up, they're contacting us, they're speaking out, they're having buyer's remorse. it will be something that will backfire because this is not the

way we should be running our country. i yield the floor. mr. grassley: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from iowa. mr. grassley: i come to the floor to reintroduce a bill that didn't get passed last congress, a bill that deals with safety in our schools, and a bill aimed at the disasters that come when schoolchildren are killed by shooters, and to deal with this problem through a program that the secret service has had for decades, and asking the secret service to see what they can do to apply the principles of that program to

stop mass killings at our schools. three years ago, on february 14, 2018, an unspeakable tragedy occurred at marjory stoneman douglas high school in parkland, florida. in less than four minutes, 14 students and three staff members were killed, and consequently their families' and friends' lives were shattered forever by such a senseless act. today, along with my colleagues senators rubio and scott of florida, senators cortez masto, collins, manchin and hassan, i'm proud to reintroduce legislation that will proactively mitigate threats of violence on schools campuses by reauthorizing and

expanding the u.s. secret service's program called the national threat assessment center. the national threat assessment center studies targeted violence and develops best practices and trains to identify and manage threats before they result in violence like we saw at that school three years ago. the bill establishes a safe school initiative, a national program on school violence prevention that will include expanded research on school violence. most importantly, this legislation allows the secret service to directly equip communities and schools with training and best practices on

recognizing and preventing school violence. this bill, which i hope will help us to recognize the signs of a potential attack way long before such an attack occurs, this bill carries the namesake of those it couldn't save -- the marjory stoneman douglas high school mascot. so this bill is called the eagles bill, because that's the mascot of that school. two years ago the secret service conducted a review of school shootings and made a very pivotal finding. all attackers exhibit concerning behaviors prior to engaging in an act of violence. in other words, it should be easy to identify these people,

and if identified, intervention is possible. so had these signs been recognized at an early enough stage, these attacks could have been stopped. in the wake of the parkland shooting in 2018, congress took steps to protect schools and to prevent gun violence, including the passage of the students, teachers, and other -- and officers preventing school violence act, which provided funding to schools to strengthen their infrastructure to make it more difficult for shooters to enter schools. at that same time we passed the fix nics act, a law which penalized federal agencies that fail to comply with legal requirements to report dangerous individuals and violent

criminals to the national instant criminal background check system, so that if they are so reported, they won't be able to purchase a gun. however, by passing the eagles act, we're entering a vital third step in addition to those other two bills to protect our schools. i'd like to encourage all of my senate colleagues to support this bipartisan and i think a very commonsense bill. i hope that we can focus on productive measures like these rather than unfocused efforts to undermine lawful gun ownership. i yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

a senator: mr. president. are we in a quorum call right now? i'd ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection,so ordered. the senator from texas. mr. cornyn: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, my state is no stranger to severe weather. in the past few years we've

experienced the devastation of major hurricanes, tropical storms, and tornadoes. but last week brought something entirely new in the form of extreme weather -- winter storms, prolonged subfreezing temperatures and treacherous roadways across the entire state. and unlike, for example, the state of massachusetts, where that may not be entirely uncommon, we're not used to that subzero freezing weather. our state was not prepared. i think it's clear to say -- correct to say, for these low temperatures or the devastating impact they would have on our critical infrastructure. frozen natural gas wells and wind turbines, among other issues, led to widespread power outages and millions of texans were left without a way to keep their families warm throughout these historic low temperatures. compounding matters even

further, some ten -- excuse me 12 million texans faced water disruptions due to the lasting power outages and frozen or broken water lines. cities across the state issued boil notices, and folks whose taps are still dry resorted to boiling snow as their only option for drinking water or perhaps even to flush the toilet. the weather created incredibly dangerous conditions for many across the state. we know of nearly 80 texans who have died due to this extreme weather and that thumb is likely to -- that number is likely to climb in the days ahead. this unexpectedoutages will affect the reliability of our energy grid. we have a lot of work to do to ensure that these deadly mass

outages never occur again, no matter what mother nature sends our way. there's no reason for millions of people in one of the most energy-rich places in the world to be left without reliable power. senator cruz and i sent a letter to president biden urging him to grant governor abbott's request for an emergency disaster declaration and i appreciate the president's quick action to ensure that our state could receive the federal resources to respond to this crisis. i also worked with the governor and the department of energy to secure an emergency order allowing texas power generators to increase production, and i appreciate the fact that that too was quickly approved. in times of crisis, there's no red team and no blue team, and i want to thank every person who are supported the response to this crisis so far, whether they

are texans or not. i know more will be needed in the days and weeks ahead, and i want to assure the folks back home that i'm listening, i'm working and i'm here to help any way that i can. i know i speak for the entire texas delegation. i know there are still many without water and electric and i want to assure them you are the nation's priority. in the face of hardship when i started my remarks, we've been through a lot in the past few years, i am always in awe of texans way that they show up and help one another, neighbors helping neighbor. we've seen countless inspiring disorries in the -- stories in the past and this disaster is no exception. there are stories of people like ken everily from grand prairie. he was on hospice care.

he relies on a breathing machine to keem him alive and -- keep him alive and a special air mattress that prevents bed sores. when his home lost power, he was in danger of losing his life, the breathing machine cut off and the air mattress deflated leaving him struggling to breathe. his son-in-law pleaded for help on facebook and within hours help arrived. nate said i don't know where it came from, but a generator showed up. thanks to the generosity of a stranger, mr. everly had his breathing machine operating, a comfortable mattress. in ways big and small we've seen another example of neighbors going out of their way to help one another. jeep drivers in north texas

teamed up to offer free triedz to and from work -- free rides to and from work. restaurants across the state offered free food to folks without power and countless texans shared offers on social media to deliver warm meals, bottled water and a range of other supplies to those in need. one of the big issues that folks back home have faced is a lack of safe drinking water, a need houston-area breweries stepped up to fill. the breweries already had a supply of clean water on hand for their brewing process and they spread the word to their communities. come by with a container and we'll give you some clean water. these breweries collectively donated thousands of gallons of free drinking water free of charge. across texas, schools,

nonprofits, commune centers and schools opened their facilities for heating centers. mattress mack has opened the doors of his stores to help those impacted by extreme weather. over the last several days gallery furniture, his furniture business, has been opened around the clock for texans to stay for as long as they need whether it's an hour nor a hot meal or for several nights. these stories warm my heart, mr. president, and they are a reminder of the strength and generosity of texans and an encouraging reminder of the endless amount of goodwill that still exists in the world. the outpouring of love

exemplifies a quote sometime ago from a texas county commissioner after a particularly terrible accident in west texas. he said being a texan doesn't describe where you are from, it describes who your family is. well, i'm grateful to those countless texans who supported our communities across our state during the crisis. first responders and 9/11 dispatchers have gone above the call of duty. health care workers, fighting a pandemic already, have now had to deal with power outages, staffing shortages, and water disruptions because of this storm. utility workers an energy providers have worked, of course, around the clock in dangerous conditions to restore power and safe drinking water to texans. and millions of unsung heroes have helped their fellow texans get through these darks days, checking -- dark days, checking on an elderly neighbor, helping drivers whose vehicles were

stuck in the snow, welcoming people into their homes, donating supplies to those in need and so much more. i'd like to offer a special thank you to members of my staff in texas who have continued working throughout this crisis while battling power and water outages themselves. because of their diligence, my office has connected texans in need with local resources to provide shelter, food, and water. we've stayed in contact with state and local emergency officials about the ongoing crisis and we've assisted local critical care facilities in need, including a large covid testing lab in austin. we received additional fuel for its generators so millions of dollars of covid testing materials and pathology tests would not go to waste. the past year has dealt us a

tough hand. i would say that's true for america, but i have faith that we'll come through this crisis just as we always have before together. i continue to say a prayer for those impacted by the storm and assure my constituents, my friends and neighbors in texas, that i'll continue to do everything in my power to help our state recover and rebuild. mr. president, on another matter. the senate will continue to evaluate president biden's nominees for critical positions throughout the federal government. yesterday and today the senate judiciary committee, on which i'm privileged to serve, heard from judge merrick garland and others who have testified in connection with his nomination, and, of course, judge garland has been nominated to serve as the next attorney general. i said before publicly that

judge garland is highly qualified for the drive. he's a widely respected judge with the right experience and credentials and the right temperament to lead the department and manage its many critical missions. i was struck by judge garland's humility and humanity. i believe he's a good man and good person for this job. but i have to say, mr. president, i'm under no illusion that he's going to be able to stop the policies of this administration, some of which i'm not going to agree with, some of which i will fight and try to oppose. i am encouraged by judge garland's pledge to keep politics out of the justice department, which is a significant improvement over the past. i know our democratic colleagues like to act like all of the concerns that we had about the justice department were just during the trump administration, and so i did have to remind them that the obama administration

justice department had a few problems of their own. nevertheless, judge garland, while we don't agree on everything, it's true of other nominees of the president that i've supported. i don't think that's the standard by which i should provide my consent as a senator. but i do believe he has the right experience and character to serve. unfortunately, i don't -- i can't offer the sort of full-throated enthusiastic support for the president's nominee to lead the office of management and budget. the announcement of tannen's nomination led me to do something that caused conservatives to be on the same side of the argument. she has made false statements against both democrats an republicans. she's referred to republicans as evil and monsters.

she's villainized leader mcconnell and called senator cotton a fraud and senator collins the worst. she's gone toe to toe with senator bernie sanders who accused her and her progressive organization of maligning his staff and belittling progressive ideas. she even peddled a false conspiracy theory that russian hackers changed votes in 2016 to help president trump. in short, she has consistently made comments that stand in stark contrast to the biden administration's top goals of promoting the facts and unifying our country. last friday, the senator from -- from west virginia, senator manchin announced he will not support ms. tannin's nomination that would have a detrimental

impact with the office of office of management and budget. yesterday, senator collins, who is known for working across party lines said she will not support this toxic nomination. mr. president, i agree with our friends from west virginia and maine and i think these announcements create a nearly impossible path for confirmation for this nominee. in order to be confirmed, she would need the support of at least one republican senator and more if they are additional democrats who share the views of senator manchin. based on her well-documented history of devissive comments, i think this nominee faces long odds to say the least. my friendly advice to president biden is to withdraw ms. tannin's nomination and select who has not promoted wild conspiracy theories an openly bash people on both sides of the

aisle that she happens to disagree with. if president biden is truly interested in unifying our country, i would expect him to select a nominee with an ability to work respectfully with those who have different views from his or hers. mr. president, i yield the floor and note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call: mr. durbin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: i ask consent the quorum call be suspended. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the statement i have in my hand here related to the impeachment trial of donald trump be placed in the

congressional record. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. durbin: i ask consent that the statement i'm about to make be placed at a separate part of the record. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. durbin: mr. president, more deaths in 2020 than in any year in over a decade. that's what the chicago sun types headline read last week. but this wasn't a story about the coronavirus. it was an article about suicide. there were more suicides by black residents of cook county, illinois in 2020 than over the past ten years. all told, 437 of our neighbors in cook county took their lives. at the same time more than 700 cook county residents died from opioid overdoses between january and june 2020 alone, double the number from a year earlier. while the human suffering of

covid-19 has captured our attention as it should, two other deadly epidemics in america still rage on. provideds and the mental health crises. even before the virus took its toll, we had been in the midst of the worst drug overdose crisis in our nation's history, and we're witnessing skyrocketing rates of suicide, but covid-19 has deepened these epidemics which sadly feed on isolation and despair. with the convergence of coronavirus emergencies, we are failing those most vulnerable to addiction and mental health challenges. and like the coronavirus, mental health challenges and addiction can occur with any one of us and any family at any neighborhood. earlier this month, "the new york times" profiled three american mothers on the brink of chaos and crisis. the story chronicled their relentless stress and burdens of

working mothers over 11 months of this panic, struggling to balance remote learning duties for their kids, keeping their families safe and healthy, keeping food on the table, paying the bills, and knowing every morning they have to get up and do it all over again that day and the next day with no end in sight. one of the mothers described the struggle this way. she said, we are holding together with the same tape that we've been using since march, tapes barely working but we're still here. she speaks for millions of mothers. experts and advocates warn that covid-19 has created a perfect storm for surge in mental health and addiction, isolation, fear, grief, financial hardship all come together and can feel overwhelming. at the same time the pandemic has made it more difficult for many to connect with lifesaving care and social services.

peer recovery meetings have moved to zoom. routine human connections have been lost. treatment access restricted. it's trauma on the brain and body and it fuels the alarming spikes in addiction, overdose, and suicide. last week i spoke with advocates from the illinois society of addiction medicine and a group called live for locally, a community organization focused on recovery and harm reduction. these community leaders provide lifesaving care through recovery programs, street medicine, and the test strips and distributing the overdose reversal drug that naloxone. the statistics she chaired with me on opioid overdose deaths during this pandemic are devastating. in the last year opioid deaths have soared 23% in lake county, 37% in du page county, and

staggering 64% in mchenry county. every morning we look at the posting on cnn on the deaths in america from the coronavirus. heartbreaking. over half a million people dead. but we're not posting the increase in deaths from opioids during the same periods of time. addiction is an equal opportunity killer, but like covid the opioid epidemic strikes communities of color with a disproportionate veracity. in chicago black residents are dying from overdoses seven times the rate of white residents. let me tell you about one person who sought help from live for locally, a woman named tanon who recently moved to lake county. when the pandemic hit, the recovery meetings for substance use disorder shifted to zoom and the weight of the challenge led tanya to struggle. she knew her recovery was in danger. for days she called for

treatment programs but no beds were available. desperate she called 911 for emergency care at a hospital. tanya was evaluated and sent home. feeling hopeless and ashame, she decided to take all the pills in her mother's bottle of blood thinner medication. she was taken unconscious back to the hospital and pronounced dead. too many like tanya are being left alone at their darkest hours and it's not just in the chicago land area. according to the c.d.c., emergency room visits for suicides and overdoses have spiked nationally once the pandemic ripped our -- gripped our nation. by may the country had experienced its largest one-month spike in overdose deaths. a new survey conducted by the c.d.c. also found that one in four young adults had considered suicide in the past month, one in four. this should set off alarm bells at every direction. there's no vaccine against despair and addiction.

but there are programs and treatments and strategies. we must give communities and health care providers the support they need now more than ever. the american rescue plan proposed by president biden provides those resources. the house is expected to vote on the president's plan this week. the senate has to show the same sense of commitment and urgency. the american rescue plan includes nearly $4 billion in addiction and mental health treatments for health care providers. it has $7.6 billion for community health centers to address behavioral health disparities. it includes a plan that i crafted with senator rubio to increase the availability of health care, including behavioral health treatment by providing scholarship and loan repayment awards to build a pipeline of health professionals who agree to serve in areas. special efforts were made to recruit people of color into

these healing professions which could help attacking disparities. the president's rescue plan also expands health insurance coverage through the affordable care act and medicaid. this money will save lives. america has arrived at the heartbreaking milestone, half a million covid deaths. as we work to expand vaccinations and end covid-19, we cannot ignore the lethal epidemics of addiction and suicide which are soaring in the cold shadows of this pandemic. every day we wait more people in every zip code in america struggle. more families grieve, more lives are lost. we need to get help to the people who need it now. mr. president, you and i are veterans of congress. we've been doing this for a few years. some things happen that give you hope. a year ago we passed the cares act. nothing short of amazing but we

did it at a moment of real fear. we just saw this pandemic starting to rise. we saw businesses starting to close. we moved quickly, decisively with the biggest spending bill in the history of the united states. more than $2 trillion for the cares act. and it passed this senate in this hopelessly politically divided america by a vote of 96-0, the cares act. well, it took us a while to come back with a reprise or an answer to what happened after it passed. the pandemic raged through america. the economy floundered. millions were unemployed. and in december just a few short weeks ago, we passed the second bill, the december relief bill,

$900 billion. a sizable investment. and we characterized it as an emergency response, a special response, a temporary fix to go into the system and pay for unemployment benefits and many other things. $900 billion, substantial sum of money. and it passed here with 92 affirmative votes. 96 on the first. 92 on the second. still amazing roll calls in a politically divided chamber like the united states senate. then came the new president. i won't put in all the other chapters that occurred. seemed like an endless novel but it was serious. but this president came in. president biden came in and faced the reality of what we have in america today. last night he did it as well. he and the first lady as well as vice president harris and the first gentleman stood in silent prayer for the half million americans that we've lost.

not ignoring the problem but facing the problem. president biden said come together, america. unite and let's with common purpose address this pandemic and the problems it's created. it's much different approach in his presidency. to me it's honest. it's refreshing. it's hopeful. but he's turned to this congress and asked this congress to pass the american rescue plan. it's a measure that cost $1.9 trillion. it's huge. it has to be. considering what we face in america, we need nothing less. maybe we won't need to spend every penny. i hope we don't. but we better be prepared to pay for it if we are. money for more vaccine and distribution of that vaccine. money for cash payments to families that need a helping hand. money for unemployment benefits that are supposed to run out in just two short weeks, on march

14. money for rental assistance for people who are facing evaix. money for -- eviction. money for schools so that they can prepare the classrooms for teachers and students to return safely. the list goes on and it's an important and valuable list. as i mentioned, money for mental health treatment and addiction treatment that is still a very real challenge in america today. the difference is this. in the cares act with 96-0 and in the december bill which we passed with 92 affirmative votes, those were under the trump administration and there was a strong bipartisan support of that legislation. as you can tell from the numbers. the roll calls tell the story. now comes president biden asking for another rescue package for america which is still languishing fighting this pandemic, we don't hear the same calls for bipartisanship or at least we don't hear the same responses to the calls for

bipartisanship. why? what's different? the only thing different is we have a different president. when it was a republican president named trump, democrats like myself and virtually all others stood by and said let's do it together. we can disagree on everything under the sun, but when it comes to this pandemic and what it's doing to america, we're going to stand together, both political parties, but when president biden makes the same proposal, we don't hear the chorus of support from across the aisle that we once did. that's disheartening to me. the problems are real. sure, there are ways any legislator could perhaps write the bill better. but let's get that done. and let's respond as the president has called with the resources that america needs to get back on its feet. that's where we are today. the house is going to pass their measure this week and in the next couple of weeks, the senate

will get its chance. it's time for us to stand up and do something. the american people didn't send us here to squabble or to find reasons for differences but rather to come together in a bipartisan way and solve the problems facing this country. the president believes, and i share the belief, that a united america with the resources can conquer this challenge as it has so many in the past. we can do that. but we need to do it by coming together. mr. president, i yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call: a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: is the senator questioning the presence of a quorum. mr. barrasso: the senator from wyoming requests that the quorum

call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. the senator from wyoming. mr. barrasso: i come to the into of the to talk about the $1.9 trillion spending bill that's under consideration by this congress. as president biden has said repeatedly, he said, if you want to know someone's values, look at their budget. well, that's what we are doing, mr. president. because i believe that president biden is right. if the american people want to know the democrats' values, all we need to do is look at the budget. democrats are making clear what they stand for. it seems that they're standing for teachers' unions and job-crushing mandates on american businesses. republicans stand for ending the pandemic, for getting people back to work, for getting kids about a being to school. -- back to school. the differences could not be more clear. senate has debated the democrat budget. we did it a couple of weeks

agoment and we voted on -- a couple of weeks ago and vietnamed on many amendments. every senator had a chance to make some propose am changes. every senator went on record on a umin of amendments and items related to the budget for the united states of america. now we know where we stand. i introduced an amendment that had to do with energy, an energy production in my home state of wyoming. wyoming feels like we're being targeted by president biden because of his ban on oil and gas exploration on public lands. you know, those projects are a major source of jobs in my home state. they fund our schools, our roads, our bridges, our teachers, our students. additional services for working families. my amendment would provide funding for our public schools, schools that have been punished by this ban announced by president biden.

that amendment on this floor received 98 votes out of 100. got the support of every single democrat in the united states senate. so i'm grateful for my colleagues for that support of the amendment to protect our students and our schools and our teachers. yet i have to say that by voting for my amendment, the 98 people in this body -- specifically the democrats -- are admitting that there is a problem created by the actions of president biden. they're admitting that president biden's executive order signed on day he was inaugurated are hurting families all across the country. so to my democrat colleagues, keep working with us. keep working with us to address the needs of the nation. stand up to these overreaching radical proposals by the biden administration. on issue after issue, that

really has not yet happened, mr. president. many of my republican colleagues on this side of the aisle offered good ideas that the democrats refused to support. senator blunt introduced an amendment, an amendment to reopen american schools. now, that's an idea that science has supported for months. every republican voted yes. every democrat voted no. i've yet to hear one of my democratic colleagues make the case for keeping the schools closed. yet those how they voted when this came to the budget. just like president biden trying to have it both ways. they say they want the schools open, yet they don't do what needs to be done. president biden has claimed time and time again he wants the schools open. yet his chief of staff says, there's no money to reopen.

well, mr. president, that's absolutely wrong. last year president trump signed into law $68 billion for our schools, specifically died -- specifically tied to coronavirus relief. only $5 billion of that motion to proceed has been spent. that leaves $63 billion still available. in the democrats' budget being proposed right now, almost all of the money for schools is not even for this year. 95% of the motion to proceed is from the years 20 -- 95% of the money is from the years 2022 to 2028, after coronavirus is behind us. democrats are still putting the teachers' unions ahead of students. joe biden has surrendered to the teachers' unions. they have written to him a

ransom note, and he has been happy to pay it. teachers are putting politics ahead of science, and so is this administration. so i join with senator scott of south carolina to introduce another amendment to the budget bill of the democrats. it says that if we give money to states and there is a lot of money in this proposal to give to money to states -- new york, illinois, california -- that the states have to give the american people accurate data about the coronavirus and specifically in their nursing homes. people want to know the answers about coronavirus and the impact on nursing homes. because there's a real problem there. now, new york now admits that they gave the public false information. the numbers weren't just wrong; they were nearly off by half. the governor's top aide in new york said that they were afraid

of being investigated by bill barr barr's justice. don't the people of new york have a right to know the truth about what's happening in the nursing homes in that state? when people are losing parents and grandparents and people with coronavirus are being moved from the hospital back into the nursing homes to spread the disease to others. and yet the governor of new york wanted to cover it up. people would agree, sounds like a cover-up. so senator scott and i came to the floor and said, that's unacceptable. states have to tell the truth. every republican voted yes. every single democrat voted no. every senate democrat voted to

protect governor cuomo instead of telling the truth to the american people. during the budget debate, there were some good ideas that some democrats supported. yet even then in the wee hours of the morning, a number of democrats who had voted for those amendments flip-flopped on a later vote to head the other way. what they did is they had another amendment to strip out the amendments that had been put on. for example, senator young of indiana, he had an amendment so that money in the bill would go to american citizens, not to illegal immigrants. eight democrats voted, they agreed with with that. they said, you shouldn't be sending collection to illegal immigrants. -- you shouldn't be sending checks to illegal immigrates. a few hours later, they voted to strip it out. so every democrat in the senate

is now on the record, every democrat in the senate has voted in favor of taking people's hard-earned taxpayer dollars and giving it to people who are in the country illegally. now, senator daines brought an amendment on a different topic. he said that we should proceed with the keystone pipeline. president biden stopped work on the pipeline resulting in the loss of hundreds and hundreds and likely thousands of jobs. several democrats voted and said we should reopen the pipeline, let it go, let it work. a few hours later, in the wee hours of the morning reversed themselves and voted to strip it out. senator braun from indiana offered an amendment to prevent president biden from banning fracking.

now, this is something that president biden promised to do during the campaign. of course, that would end millions of jobs across america. it would put us at a disadvantage from a standpoint of energy. seven democrats voted with brawn to protect american jobs. hours later they flip-flopped and took it out of the bill. democrats keep trying to have it both ways. they want to look like moderates, pretend to be moderates while still getting their left-wing spending bill. they're not playing it straight with the american people. well, it's not going to work. the people in their states aren't going to be fooled. they're going to remember the votes and they will certainly be reminded of those votes in the future. so we've talked about what senate democrats blocked. now let's take a look at some of

the things that the senate democrats support. the bill includes a mandate from washington, d.c., to double the minimum wage. nothing to do with coronavirus. in fact, it would actually make things worse. the congressional budget office look at look at this and said what would the impact be on the economy. they say that there are 1.4 million people who have jobs right now who would lose their jobs if the federal government came in with a mandate to double the minimum wage. it's not a stimulus. according to one report, the new washington mandate would also raise the cost of child care by about 21%. how's that going to work for hardworking families who are trying to get back to work with coronavirus and need day care for their children? with schools closed in so many locations across the country, that is the last thing that work being families need -- that working families need, an increase in the cost of providing care for their

children. so the big democrat spending bill also includes a $350 billion bailout for states and local governments. the money is especially targeted to states that have stayed closed the longest. this is money rewarding big cities in states like california and new york and illinois who have had financial trouble due to financial mismanagement for many, many years. it has nothing to do with coronavirus. those states were in trouble long before coronavirus made it to our shores. multiple studies show that state tax revenues are actually up in many states across the country. some states -- in some states they fell. but on average states continue to do quite well. most states are respecting more tax revenue this year -- are expecting more tax revenue this year than they had before the pandemic. if a state needs a bailout, it's not because of coronavirus. it's because of years and years

of mismanagement, and this bill rewards mismanagement. so those are the priorities of the senate democrats, not just, not opening our schools. the priorities are mandates and bailouts. only about one of every $20 in this entire proposal goes for public health. but it does contain $4.5 billion for senator schumer's new york city subway system. it does provide $112 million for the subway system in silicon valley. it does provide money for the arts and humanities. and $12 billion in foreign aid. this is supposed to be for coronavirus in america here. so what does $1.trillion get for you, for people at home?

the american taxpayer. not much when you look at this democrat shopping list. it's a wish list of liberal priorities. as president biden says, if you want to know somebody's values, look at their budget. we've just done that. if the american people want to see the contrast between republicans and democrats, they should look no further than this bill. republicans are offering the american people jobs, a vaccine, and opening our schools. democrats are offering excuses and a liberal wish list. well, we still have time to fix a final bill. so i'd urge my democratic colleagues to join with us, work with republicans for real coronavirus relief, help our small communities and small businesses keep the doors open, get our kids back in school, target the funding to american

citizens who need it the most. we have done five bipartisan coronavirus bill. a sixth coronavirus bill should be done in a bipartisan way as well. that's what the american people with a 50/50 senate are asking us to do thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor. i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call:

the presiding officer: the senator from pennsylvania. mr. casey: thank you, mr. president. i ask consent to vitiate the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. casey: thank you, mr. president. i rise tonight, and it's again my privilege to come before the senate as i have since my very first year here in the senate to celebrate black history month in a particular way by paying tribute to a number of pennsylvanians. i'm honored again to have the opportunity to highlight the extraordinary leadership of pennsylvanians who dedicate their lives to improving their communities and to wake up every day to rededicate themselves to that effort.

this year i'm grateful to be able to recognize three honoree, justin parker fields and dr. alason sanford, and to recognize each of these individuals in a very personal way in terms of their work in their communities in pennsylvania. each of them are having a remarkable impact in their communities. the theme of this year's recognition is, quote, bending the arc, celebrating catalyst for change, unquote. we know that dr. martin luther king jr. spoke of, quote, bending the arc on many occasions but most notably at the conclusion of the selma montgomery march. when he said, quote, the arc of

the moral universe is wrong but it bends towards justice. our late and beloved congress, congressman john lewis, carried that same spirit with him. he lived it and he believed that we will get there some day -- get there to a better day for justice. congressman lewis also said, quote, we will redeem the soul of america and in doing so we will inspire people around the world to stand up and speak out, unquote. we know that justice, of course, takes hard work. in the face of adversity and exhaustion, to be the voice that stand up and speaks out, as john lewis suggested, is not a decision that a person makes once and then just follows a

well-worn path. it, of course, requires perseverance, it requires hope and faith. dr. king reminds us that justice is the, to use his words, is the fierce urgency of now. dr. king and congressman lewis understood that while the arc of the moral universe does bend towards justice, this is not something to which one can attach themselves a path that you can follow passively. to bend that arc towards justice requires strenuous exertion that often gets you enemies before it makes you any friends. it does not bend on its own but bends only -- only under the weight of acts of courage and the hard work of those who have committed themselves to the

struggle for justice and equality. president obama, as well, in his work every day of his presidency did work to bend the arc on issues of racial, economic, and global justice, and he continues to do so in his years as a former president. congressman lewis not only gave all of us words to -- to live by and inspiration, he also gave all of himself to the cause of justice, but his example, the example of john lewis, still serves as an inspiration for the next generation of leaders. it's why dr. king spent his entire life fighting for racial equality, voting rights, nonviolence and the rights of the poor. king's work for the lives of others cost him his very own. we should honor his sacrifice

daily and not simply during black history month. but we know that behind every man and every woman leading the fight for justice stands a multitude. behind dr. king, millions labored and labor still for civil rights an voting rights. we saw that this summer when millions of americans across the nation took to the streets to condemn the mistreatment of black hearns at the hands of law enforcement. and we saw it last month when african american voted in extraordinary numbers in the georgia special elections to send reverend raven warnock and john ossoff to the united states senate. for every leader who rises to national prominence, saysy abrams, president obama, kamala harris, there are leaders across

the country who are themselves doing transfor -- transfor marble work who are bending the arc. today it's my privilege to highlight three such leaders from pennsylvania. i'll start in my home region and my hometown, scranton, pennsylvania, glynnis john's. first i speak as a son of scranton, the city i was born in and still live in. i am proud to honor a daughter of scranton, glynnis, john's, she is the founder and c.e.o. of the black scranton project, a public history venture dedicated to archiving and celebrating the black history of our hometown that too often has been overlooked, has been obscured.

she received a b.a. and an m.a. in sociology from st. john's university and currently a doctorate student at rutgers. she did not always plan to be a local historian, but like so many she became one because she saw a need and she responded to it. while working on a research project during her master's program at st. john's, the stories called to her and she knew she needed to share these stories. for her project she investigated why the black community is overlooked, overlooked and seen as transient in ha city like scran -- in a city like scranton. she kept uncovering stories through newspaper archives and historic memorabilia, she knew she had to return to her hometown to share these stories an rebuild a community. she is proud to shift local

perspectives on culture, inclusion, representation, and history within the stiff of scranton. as a native and as a resident, i am grateful for her work to uncover these stories for our entire community to learn and to enjoy. i first met glynnis just last year, 2020. it was the juneteenth jubilee, which she organized in our hometown, along with her fellow black scranton board members. it was both a celebration and a call to action, that was in the midst of black lives rallies and marches. from the moment that i arrived at that event and saw hundreds, at that time socially distanced and masked attendees, i saw her dedication, i saw her commitment

firsthand. in events like the juneteenth jubilee, glynnis and her colleagues are working to reopen the black scranton project center for arts and culture. it will provide a safe, secure, and diverse environment that will lead to equity and inclusion for all residents by offering support like job assistance, career readiness training for adults and also afterschool and summer programs for children. the plans for the center are ambitious, and i know that glynnis and her team are up for this important task. i'm looking forward to walking through the doors of the center to see their work for myself as soon as it opens. having spaces for the community to come together to learn is necessary. it's necessary to build up and support a community and i'm grateful for glynis's commitment

to do this work in our hometown. i know first hand how scranton can benefit from people like glyn is who dedicate their time to make our city and region a better place to live. we're lucky to have her talents and her drive. we know that in march of 2020, she was named one of the most influential women in northeastern pennsylvania in happenings magazine and named a top 20 under 40 young business professional as part of the 2019 honors, and that was in the northeastern business journal. glynis has accomplished so much and i look forward to her contributions to our hometown for years to come. our second nominee is justin parker fields from the lehigh

valley, where the city of allentown is and it's on the city border many he is a resident of allentown, following the deaths of breonna taylor and george floyd, she brought attention to -- he brought attention to these and other injustices. this gathering gained attention across the city and attended by hundreds, including the mayor from allentown and the police chief and residents. it gave the residents of allentown an opportunity to express their thoughts and frustrations surrounding racial injustice, and from there, justin and his colleagues founded black lives matter hie valley. -- lehigh valley. she founded to create a -- they

founded it to create a platform. he worked to form a collective with other local community and other nonprofit leaders in the area to brain storm about new initiatives for racial justice, for equity, for equality for black and brown residents of the lehigh valley and his work is not going unnoticed. i spoke with justin and his colleagues shortly after their first event and over the past year he has remained in regular communication with my office to discuss the progress that black lives matter lehigh valley is making in allentown and in surrounding communities. he also provided testimony to the pennsylvania house democratic policy committee, partner with the city of allentown to review their use of force policy and he also worked with the allentown city council to draft recommendations for police reform in the city. his activism has been inspiring

to me and to so many others. and i know that that same inspiration draws other young people to his work. his hope is that those who attend his rallies or follow black lives matter lehigh valley on social media are motivated to jump-start their activism and their fight for equality. justin lives in allentown with his partner kevin and their children shylee and shamer, there is no doubt that his work is creating a healthier and more inclusive community for his children and others like them. justin and kevin have founded change now, a local nonprofit that serves families in need in the greater lehigh valley. they've hosted food drives, delivered emergency food relief packages to families. they hosted a friends giving dinner for the city and

sponsored christmas presents for over 100 children. just irn said that if -- justin said if there's anything this pandemic taught him, it was that anyone, any family, was just an illness away from needing serious help. through his work with both change now and black lives matter lehigh valley, justin continues to make allentown and the greater lehigh valley a better place to live and i thank him and now i speak on behalf of so many pennsylvanians in thanking him for the many contributions to his community and to our commonwealth. third, and final, going further south to the southeast corner of our state in the philadelphia region, dr. ala stanford, as we honor change may, i'm honored to recognize the contributions of dr. stanford many she is an experienced physician, board

certified by the american board of surgery in both general adult and pediatric general and thoracic surgery. she founded the black doctors covid-19 consortium. it goes by the acronym, bb dc. so many people have heard about it in our state and beyond. this consortium is an initiative established to provide african americans who we know are suffering disproportionately from the incidents of and mortality surrounding covid-19. it provides that this consortium provides those americans, those pennsylvanians with testing and education. her work not only addresses the urgency of the present moment due to the pandemic, but also a legacy of systemic and structural racism that left the black community with significant health disparities and i think that's an understatement and a

mistrust of the health care system. i've had the privilege of engaging with dr. stanford on many occasions. she provided her subject matter expertise to my office countless times and she's been an unrelenting and passionate advocate for the communities, the people, the families that she serves. it is important to note that she started the consortium bb dc with her own money which is a true testament to her commitment to -- to delivering quality care to black americans. dr. stanford stepped up at an extremely volatile and uncertain time for the people of our state. this speaks volumes about her leadership and her dedication to addressing the enormous disparity in health care, both health care access and health care outcomes for african americans. last month i was honored to again participate in the annual

celebration of the life and legacy of dr. king at gerard college where bdcc set up a testing site which they've done in every neighborhood throughout the city of philadelphia. at that event, someone shared a powerful yet sobering quotation from dr. king. here is that quotation. in march of 1966, at a press conference ahead of his address to the medical community for human rights in chicago, dr. king said, and i'm quoting dr. king here, of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health is the most shocking and the most inhuman because it often results in physical death. unquote. so said dr. king about the

terrible inequity in health care. visionary leaders and health experts like dr. stanford are on the front lines every single day working to fix a broken system, a system, frankly, that's been unfair to so many communities of color. however, dr. stanford is committed, committed to making change happen in our health care system so it can better serve the african american community. she and her team have made national headlines and garnered the well-deserved attention and support of many across the nation as a result of the work of this consortium. so i thank dr. stanford for being an advocate, for being an anchor for the community, and, of course a trusted leader. mr. president, as i conclude, i think it goes without saying that this year has been a long, difficult, and dark year.

i have to say, though, in the midst of all of that darkness and all of the pain, we just left the front of the capitol in remembrance of the 500,000 americans who have died from covid-19, despite all that pain, all that loss, all that darkness, this month of february just happens to be black history month gives me some hope. in so many ways i think our hope can be renewed. while the pandemic still rages, especially in those communities of color i spoke of, we also see that with continued education and leadership and courage such as someone like dr. stanford provides, and of course with vaccines available, covid-19 will begin to recede and we will once again be able to hug our friends and family members and to move on from this pandemic.

so we commend and salute people like dr. stanford for helping us through this difficult time, providing some light in that darkness. leaders like justan parker fields have stood up to confront injustice and to proclaim to law enforcement and elected officials that the lives of black men and women matter and are deserving of the same protection as any other life. as we saw people go through the polls this fall, voting, voting and then -- others voting in january in georgia, all these americans refusing to be intimidated by misinformation and threats, i was more hopeful. young leaders in communities of color have insisted on telling their own stories and writing them into the book of history that for too long has been kept hidden from them.

just as glynis johns is doing in our hometown of scranton. each of our honorees and so many like them have indeed bent the arc of the moral universe towards justice. and for those brave acts, for those courageous acts, we honor them today in black history month. may god bless their work. and, mr. president, i would not yet yield the floor. i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to legis legislae 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. casey: i ask unanimous

consent that when the senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 12:00 noon wednesday, february 24. further, that following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be 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, upon conclusion of morning business, the senate proceed to executive session to resume consideration of jennifer granholm to be secretary of energy, that the cloture motion with respect to the granholm nomination ripen at 4:00 p.m., that the mandatory quorum call be waived. finally, that the senate recess from 3:00 p.m. until 4:00 p.m. for the all senators briefing. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection.

mr. casey: if there's 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 senate stands adjourned until the senate dabbling out. today they prove tom bill sucked a big agriculture secretary and for u.s. bass urged the united nations and representative to the un general assembly. the senate will work on more nominations will have live coverage when they return on cspan2. >> was a deceased fan podcast weekly this week doctor michael and expert on infectious diseases and what of america's leading epidemiologist talks about the road to hell and in dealing with the coronavirus. we have long road ahead. i can say that without any

doubt at this point, expect more curveballs to be thrown at us. if we had this interview ten weeks ago, we would not have been talking about variance in the way we are now. and yet look where we are at today talk about the severest challenges they present i would expect the unexpected it's still out there. there's much we can do, but at this point this is not going to be over with anytime soon. >> finds he spans the weekly where you get your podcast. >> bryan is joining us now he is the president i and ceo of the foundation here to talk about the role of public health for the covid-19 pandemic. what is yournd foundation? >> good morning thank you so much for having a. it's a private philanthropy was founded