compromise on the $15 . speech of the compromise will be between members of the senate who may have discriminate on where the minimum wage consistent with the process should be . the first step is the birdbath . and then members will be hopeful that that will conclude with a minimum wage. but that's up to the parliament . ... ... this and is about to return. ... ... calendar number 9, jennifer mulhern granholm of michigan to be secretary of energy, signed by 16 senators. the presiding officer: by unanimous consent, the mandatory quorum call has been waived. the question is, is it the sense of the senate that debate on the nomination of jennifer mulhern granholm of michigan to be

secretary of energy shall be brought to a close. the yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule. the clerk will call the roll. mr. blumenthal, mr. booker. [roll call vote] [roll call vote]

vote:

is

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 67. the nays are 32. and the motion is agreed to. mr. grassley: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from iowa. mr. grassley: last week i held 12 meetings in iowa.

those meetings are for the purpose of having dialogue with my constituents, mostly answering their questions. as many of my colleagues know, i hold face-to-face meetings with iowans in all 99 counties every year. i've been privileged to get to every county in every corner of the state every single year for the past four decades. people have asked me why i do this. the simple answer is in our system of self-government, i'm one half of the representative government. my constituents are the other half. my county meetings are a good way for me to keep in touch and see for myself the challenges and successes going on in communities and across my home state. in recent years it's an important way for me to counterdisinformation, correct

misinformation, and side step censorship that americans digest daily in the mainstream and social media. big tech and big data companies, much like state surveillance and big brothers share something in common. if left unchecked, big tech can undermine the privacy, civil liberties, and constitutional freedoms that every american should hold sacred and should never take for granted. responsible digital citizenship is more important now than ever, particularly with the censoring that's going on. consumers must be mindful about their digital footprint. anything typed into a search engine is effectively a digital

diary saved in the cloud for some rainy day. consumers must be mindful about what's posted, what's downloaded, what's shared, and what's liked on the social media platforms. the road to responsible and accountable digital citizenship isn't solely the consumer's responsibility. social media companies as well as content and internet providers aren't exempt from ethical corporate stewardship, especially when the welfare of the next generation is at stake. keep in mind that human trafficking is a pervasive crime that grooms and blackmails young people on main street but also in online communications. however, having said all those

question marks about big tech, i think we all rlings that big -- all realize that big tech isn't all bad. technology companies have revolutionized our way of life and how we connect with friends and family. during the pandemic -- and we're still in that pandemic -- technology delivered invaluable connections for e-commerce, for digital learning, for teleworking, and for telehealth. however, that doesn't give big tech and big data companies license to undermine constitutional protections or disregard harmful impacts their products and services have on civic life and public trust in our american democracy. titans of technology need to

take responsibility for the products they build, sell, and profit from, fellow americans. policymakers and regulators have a duty to shape and enforce the rules of the road. big tech and all of its stakeholders from content makers, social media platforms, and internet service providers all bear responsibility to understand how their business model puts freedom at risk. red flags are popping up all over the digital frontier, from recruiting data breaches to online censorship, misuse of user profiles and the recent mess with the online brokerage app. in the last two presidential elections, big tech has had a

big influence on information that appeared or didn't appear in america's social media feeds. big tech can't hide behind its business model when its revenue streams cash in on an infrastructure which sows division and distrust among americans. this ecosystem has been exploited to radicalized political extremism and mobilized civil unrest. social media companies have reaped the benefits of their enterprise. so these companies bear some of responsibility to help repair cracks in the architecture of our civic institutions and also to heal the wounds festering in american life. our economic freedom allows social media companies to create

a business model that grows their bottom line. americans need to understand their personal date take -- data is harvested for profit. advertisers buy the data to influence consumer and voter behavior. the bottom line for every american ought to be ensuring constitutional protections aren't archived, out of sight, out of mind in the annals of history. i'm not saying big tech is a bad actor but i am calling on big tech to be a good actor. take responsibility for the on-line ecosystem you created. congress also must take a good, hard look at this famous section 230 we all talk about that has given these platforms great protection, more protection than

they probably deserve. and whether in regard to section 230 whether there's a need to reform immunity laws on the books, and i think there's great reason to do that. we've seen what happens when conversations take place online versus in person. take it from me. the tone of conversation is neighborly and civil when i talk with these iowans last week in forest city, iowa, or ogden, iowa to answer their questions. however civil that is, it sure offset by the incivility on these platforms. incivility outflanks kindness ten -- i think tenfold in the responses posted on my twitter

account. we need to work together to heal the unholy civil divide that's taken root online. it's bleeding into our way of life, pitting neighbor against neighbor, and harming the ability of elected leaders to build bipartisan consensus for the public good. i'm here to put social media platforms, the mainstream media, congress, and the american public on notice. the digital landscape needs a reboot. what we do with this space will influence how young people participate in civic and political life for generations to come. so in closing, in the coming days i'm going to have more conversation with my colleagues

on this through a series of speeches. i'll be talking more about social mainstream media, censorship and freedom of speech, particularly on college campuses. i yield the floor. the presiding office the presiding officer: the senator from maryland. mr. cardin: madam president, each february we mark black history month by highlighting the contributions of black americans to our national story and remember the centuries of struggle that have shaped our society. at every turning point in american history, black american achievements and calls to action have driven our nation's cultural, economic, and social progress forward, helping to hold to account the promises of freedom and equality for all people that our founding doctrine failed to uphold. for too long this history and the names and faces of those who

marched, sacrificed and fought for change have been obscured by prejudice and hate. it is our charge to remember those who marched for justice and the forces they marched against. when we ignore the injustices of our past, we cannot make amends in the present. the consequences of such inaction are grave and live on in present day. the ongoing racial and religious profiling, brutality, and killing of black americans by police, the high rates of covid-19 transmission and death in black communities and disproportionate impact in current economic crisis has had on black workers and black-owned business. the unemployment rate for black workers reached 9.%, far beyond the national average of 6.7%, according to the bureau of labor statistics. these issues, including the broader economic and health

consequences of the pandemic, result from systemic failures in place before the current crisis and they threaten to worsen racial gaps in wealth, health outcomes and opportunities for years to come. last year our nation's fight against racism gained new urgency by a police officer's callus killing of george floyd in may. the response to peaceful protests further displayed the double standard that still exists in our society today. protesters were attacked with tear gas and rubber bullets across the nation and here in our capitol as they organized and march to make known that black lives matter. we watched on television as the national guard forcibly removed peaceful protesters from lafayette park to make way for president trump to walk to st. john's episcopal church.

he brandished a bible while he continued to fan the flames of bigotry, hate, and racism. the historic election of camera harris as our first black female vice president serves as the power of collective action. the biden-harris administration gives us opportunity to take meaningful action in government to create a more just society. in the year ahead, we must work to advance the george floyd justice and policing act to bring accountability to law enforcement and the john lewis voting rights act to combat voter suppression and restore voting rights act of 1965. it is our charge to mobilize at all levels, from our communities to the oval office, to advance social, economic, and civil rights and justice to all americans. it's time to expel all remaining vestiges of slavery and white supremacy that continue to plague our nation. as our national youth poet

laureate said so eloquently in her inaugural day address, being american is more than just a pride we inherent. it's the past we step into and how we repair it black history month is a reminder to look to this past and act on our responsibilities in the present, to make our nation a better place for all of us. we are still fighting against the vestiges of the institutions of slavery, of targeted violence and resistance and the reconstruction and jim crow era and the tactics to keep black americans from polls and out of government. they are not merely footnotes in our history textbooks. they are the lineage of our nation, the obstacles that have left millions of our citizens behind in an effort to obtain the american dream. the realization of justice and true equality depends on our work to build a country committed to righting historic wrongs, closing gaps in the

opportunity to achieve, and dismantling vestiges of inequality in our foundations. the 28 days in february must set the tone for the entire year, a continued commitment to justice, equality, and opportunity. celebrating black experiences and culture contributes to the greatness of our diverse society. such a celebration is aspirational, highlighting one of the many fundamental components that make this nation a beacon around the world despite our flaws. for the past 40 years, house majority leader steny hoyer celebrated black history month by hosting a breakfast for political and civic leaders and inviting illustrious keynote speakers. past speakers included then-senator barack obama and congressman john lewis. congressman anthony brown joined the effort to bring so many of us together for this 40th annual black history month celebration and features vice

president harris as the honored guest and keynote speaker. i would like to acknowledge the planning committee for this year's event, including jackie rone and former chair betty richardson. it is a true success that everyone who participates looks forward to year after year. this year's event focuses 0en the diversity of the black family. maya angelou once said, i sustain myself with the love of my family. the lost -- the lasting bonds we have sustain us for life. for many of us, our family is the home base. the past year was a tom mutt with us year from the covid-19 pandemic which has disproportionally harmed african americans more severely than others to the resounding calls for racial justice and racial equity which have long been overdue.

through all of the turmoil of 2020 brought us together to appreciate and celebrate the gifts of life, family, and diversity. as we celebrate black history month and moving forward, we can recommit ourselves to promoting and celebrating diversity and advancing civil rights in our society. black history is american history. it's the story of oppression, having struggle and if we are to be true to our founding promise, redemocrats and equality. with that, madam president, i yield the floor. and i would suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call:

ms. collins: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from maine. ms. collins: madam president, i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. collins: thank you, madam president. madam president, i rise today to introduce the american broadband buildout act. this legislation would help ensure that rural americans have access to broadband services at

the speeds they need to participate fully in the benefits of our modern society and economy. i want to thank my colleague, senator rosen, for joining me in introducing this bill today. madam president, 25 years ago, americans typically accessed the internet using their home phone lines via modems capable of downloading data at just 56 kilo slow to even support mp-3 quality streaming music. today the federal communications commission defines broadband service as having a threshold download speed nearly 500 times faster.

many areas of our country, particularly our rural communities, simply do not have the infrastructure to achieve these speeds and fully tap into the opportunities that digital connectivity can deliver. according to a 2019 pew research center survey, nearly 37% of rural americans lack a broadband connection compared to 25% of urban americans. similarly, disparities occur in terms of broadband adoption. that is, the rate at which americans subscribe to broadband service once they have access to it. the survey also found that 15% of rural americans don't use the internet at home compared to

just 9% of urban americans. madam president, the current pandemic has brought these connectivity challenges into stark focus as many families have had to move their education, their workplaces, their health care services online. andrea powers, the town manager of fort fairfield in northern maine recently described a number of challenges in her community. students who have to sit on the town's library steps in order to finish research projects and submit their papers, a business owner who was forced to relocate his company to another community in order to have a chance to succeed.

a senior citizen who requires the care of distant doctors but does not have the capacity to travel nor access to telehealth options. andrea told me the story of one family whose jobs rely heavily on access to high-speed broadband. they were told that it would cost them $15,000 to bring that connection to their doorstep. andrea summed up the reality facing so many rural communities that lack access in this way. she said we will continue to see a loss of business retention and expansion along with job creation. we simply cannot afford to allow this to happen. online schooling, business growth and development, telehealth care and economic

agriculture success are all dependent on affordable fiber-optic broadband. madam president, tell -- telehealth services are an essential piece of the national broadband conversation. often rural communities struggle to attract and retain health care providers that they need to ensure access to quality care. broadband is vital to bridging that gap to enable innovative health care delivery. let me give you an example. hospice workers at northern light home care were able to use the internet and video technology to help support a patient living on an island off the coast of maine. not far as the sea bull -- sea

gull flies, but hours away in travel time. although the connection was poor, the video enabled nurses to monitor the patient's condition and symptoms and equally important to provide emotional support to her and to her family. as one hospice worker put it, our hospice team could be doing so much more with video and telemonitoring technologies if only maine had better connectivity. the american broadband build-out act would help close this digital divide between urban and rural america by providing up to $15 billion in matching grants to assist states and state-approved entities in building that last mile of

infrastructure to bring high-speed broadband directly to homes and businesses in areas that lack it. projects would have to be located in unserved areas. that is, areas where broadband is unavailable at speeds that meet the f.c.c. standards. focusing on those areas will direct support where it's most needed and will protect against overbuilding where infrastructure is already in place. the federal funding authorized in our bill would be matched through private -- public-private partnerships between the broadband service provider and the state where they provide service. this means that states and their

private sector partners will have skin in the game so that the projects will be well thought out and sustainable. this model will also incentivize existing service providers to extend their networks to rural areas and swiftly connect new households. third, the bill would require that projects be designed to be futureproof, meaning that the infrastructure installed must be capable of delivering higher speeds as broadband accelerates in the future. we want these investments to serve rural americans now and in the future without having to rebuild every time technology advances. our bill would also prioritize projects in states that have traditionally lagged behind the

national average in terms of broadband subscribers and those that are at risk of falling further behind as broadband speeds increase. finally, the bill would provide grants for digital literacy and public awareness campaigns to encourage wider broadband adoption once access is available. increasing broadband adoption will help drive down the costs of the service and make it more affordable for everyone. madam president, rural americans need access to high-speed internet just as urban americans do. in fact, one could argue they need it even more. especially during these times that can require remote work,

education, and health care. the bill that senator rosen and i are introducing today would help bridge this digital divide by funding futureproof broadband where it is needed most. and give a boost to job creation in rural america. as the presiding officer well knows, businesses will not locate in areas that do not have this essential service in many cases. i urge all of our colleagues to join in supporting this bill. thank you, madam president. madam president, seeking -- seeing no one seeking recognition, i would yield the floor.

mrs. blackburn: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from tennessee. mrs. blackburn: thank you, madam president. we are not in a quorum call, correct? thank you, madam president. i know that some of my colleagues and indeed in tennessee, that is a topic that has received a good bit of conversation, and all but two of our school systems have been open and working this entire school year, and those other two systems have recently

opened since the first of the year, and our school superintendents, our directors of school, our parents, our teachers, and the students have all worked together as a team. a solid, cohesive team to make this happen. i think there are two main points that we have seen, and as we are holding meetings with our county elected officials and city officials and they talk about the efforts that they have put in to getting children back into the classroom, we hear a lot about one point, and that is that our governor, tennessee governor bill lee, made it clear that the districts, the school districts, would be responsible for the -- how they were going

to open and the when they would it be reopening. and i really thank him for listening and recognizing that local officials and individuals in the community really do know what is best for their school district and their students. the second point is that these plans didn't just drop out of the sky. as i said, this has been a team effort in our communities. and it has happened because there was this agreement between the administrators and the parents and the teachers that they were going to make decisions that were going to be best for the children. so when you look at tennessee and how they have approached this, indeed, schools reopening and how they proceeded was done

with the children in mind. last week i had the privilege of speaking with school administrators from west tennessee who played a part in developing their own reopening plans. i cannot adequately describe to you with the time that we have on the floor today the amount of work and the thoughtfulness that they put into these schedules, from health and safety considerations to scheduling changes to the complicated logistics of social distancing in cramped classrooms. they thought it all through by walking through the day, listening to what teachers and parents had to say as to how they would walk through this day. they took the millions of

dollars in cares act funding that the area received, and what did they do with that money? they invested in the best possible plan for these kids. no federal mandate or sweeping litmus test required. they said, we are going to do what is right by these children. then, of course, they turned on the tv and they saw that the biden administration was busy walking back their own enthusiastic scientific guidance on safely reopening schools. walking it back. and they didn't have to flip too far too many channels to figure out why. powerful teacher unions had taken their own stand, refusing to make a plan, refusing to think things through, and in some cases refusing to go to work at all.

not doing what is best for the children but doing what was going to serve their interests first. and in their opinion what would best serve their interests. that i think they will see were regressable actions. -- regrettable actions. educators in tennessee weren't just confused about what they saw. they were insulted because they knew exactly what was happening. on january 26, c.d.c. officials released a study showing that if we were careful, safe reopening was indeed possible. administration officials touted that report as a light at the end of a very long covid pandemic. but now, just a few weeks later, those same officials are defying their own experts, insisting

that safe reopening can only happen if congress approves additional funding contained in the democrats' latest untargeted spending bill. madam president, students in this country are suffering. they're lonely, they're bored, and many of them are struggling with clinical depression and anxiety. teen pregnancies, teen alcohol, suicides, those rates are rising. children need to be in in-person school. the american academy of pediatrics has repeatedly stated -- bear in mind, this isn't something that i'm saying; it isn't something that is partisan; it is the american academy of pediatrics has

repeatedly stated that it is not only feasible but it is necessary for students to be back in school, back in the classroom, back to seeing their friends, back to participating in extracurricular activities and sports. i would ask my colleagues across the aisle to keep this in mind when they hear from so-called stakeholders who are willing to hold a child's mental health hostage in exchange for a political win that will serve their power and their purpose and not that of the child. they might have a powerful voice in the cable news circuit, but those sound bites will provide you no cover back home with the teachers and administrators who have rolled up their sleeves, who have gotten to work and have

figured out a way to get schools open for the children. i yield the floor. mr. daines: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from montana. mr. daines: madam president, outrage. that's what american families should be feeling right now. many are. we're seeing president biden and the democrats support opening the border, the southern border, for illegal immigrants while bowing to political pressure and keeping many of our nation's schools closed for our students. opening the southern border for illegal immigrants, closing our nation's schools for our students. schools across the nation remain closed to in-person instruction largely due to teachers' unions and their influence on many of our local and federal leaders on

the other side of the aisle. all, unfortunately, to the detriment of the education and the health of our students. in states and localities where schools remain closed, america's youngest and our brightest minds are posed with challenges that generations before have never dealt with. students are having to cope with the unprecedented lack of social interaction with their peers and other impediments to their education. but this isn't because of the pandemic itself. it is because president biden, democrats, and local leaders have caved to the political pressures of teachers' unions and have kept many classrooms closed and students at home in spite of the available science or what the experts are telling us. and the science is clear --

schools are not major covid-19 spreading grounds, and younger students are a low-risk group. studies indicate that students across the country are months behind where they should be academically. the hardships our students face go back academics because the mental and physical health of children has also taken a toll. we're seeing depression and anxiety rates among our young people skyrocket. i was on a call today, a zoom call, with several elementary school principals of montana, hearing their firsthand, frankly, tragic accounts of what's happening with the mental health of our students -- elementary school. hearing about elementary school students assaulting teachers. a whole year without full-time

in-person teaching has done irreparable damage the status quo is truly devastating. despite this, despite the science, despite the overwhelming data that schools across the country, many parts of our country remain closed. te intent on jamming through this partisan $1.9 trillion covid package which does include billions of dollars for schools. incidentally, we passed five bipartisan covid relief packages

working together, yes, it's harder to work in a bipartisan fashion but that's why we're sent back to washington to work together, yet president biden and the democrats say we're going to do this alone. it's going to be their way or the highway. the more the american people hear about what's in this $1.9 trillion package the more they're not going to like it. most of the money is not to be spent now. in fact, 95% of it will be spent over the next seven years after the crisis. we should not use this covid crisis to be a liberal wish list of items here that 95% of it gets spent in the out years. how does this help our students and our schools now? the answer is it doesn't. this is not how we solve the problems our students are facing. there is a pretty simple

solution. it's this, listen to the experts, listen to the science. reopen our schools and let's get our students back in the classroom. thank you, madam president. i yield back my time.

mr. cornyn: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from texas. mr. cornyn: i ask unanimous consent the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: we are not in a quorum call. the senator is recognized. mr. cornyn: i appreciate that. thank you very much, madam president. madam president, we've had some bizarre weather in my state in the last week or so. we're still reeling from a deadly winter storm that hit all 254 counties in the state of texas last week. the storm brought snow, ice, and prolonged sub freezing temperatures. we don't have temperatures below zero in texas -- or at least we haven't for a long, long time,

but we did last week. as a result, it paralyzed much of our critical infrastructure, leaving millions without electricity, leaving them without heat, and leaving them without running water for days on end. the good news is that power has now been restored for the vast majority of texans and cities are slowly lifting water boil notices as water filtration systems come back online, but a number of families are still facing outages, and as we have seen during previous disasters, low-income and minority communities are the hardest hit. our top priority is to restore power and clean water to every single texan. throughout this episode, tragedy, really, my staff and i have been in contact with local, state, and of course federal officials to determine what kind

of things we can do to help and how we can mobilize resources as soon as possible. as recovery efforts continue in the coming days and weeks, i will continue to try and do that. this is not unlike what we have to do periodically for hurricanes that seem to find their way to the state of texas. but in this case, we know that some of the problem was not an act of nature. it was a failure to anticipate these sub freezing, sub zero cold temperatures. so we have got to ask not only what happened but how can we prevent it from happening again in the future. as i said, we experience from time to time hurricanes, occasionally tornadoes, and tropical storms or record low temperatures, but we cannot allow our infrastructure to go offline for days on end. i want to thank the countless texans who supported each other during this crisis.

there are those that have gone above and beyond the call of duty in their official capacities, whether it's as first responders, emergency dispatchers, utility and energy workers, health care workers, the list goes on and on. but there is also the unsung heroes, those who invited neighbors into their homes, delivered hot meals to those in need, checked on an elderly neighbor, those who towed vehicles stuck in the snow and so much more. i just want to assure all of my constituents that we are in this together and we will do everything we can not only to find out how this happened but what we can do to make sure it never happens again. madam president, on another matter, as you know, this week our democratic colleagues in the house are continuing to take action on president biden's relief bill using the budget

reconciliation process. it's really not so much an issue in the house where you can do anything you want basically with a majority vote. but if all goes their way, our democratic colleagues will write a $1.9 trillion check funded by taxpayers, future taxpayers because it will be borrowed money without the input of a single republican in congress, either in the house or the senate. we know that there were ten republicans who went over to the white house, had a very pleasant meeting with president biden, but were essentially told my way or the highway, and rejected any effort to try to come up with a bipartisan compromise was rejected. but regardless of your political affiliation or views on this particular bill, the fact -- that fact alone should trouble every single american. after all, there was no need for a partisan maneuvering to pass a coronavirus relief bill last year.

as a matter of fact, we passed five of them. all of them were signed into law with overwhelming bipartisan support. no bill received fewer than 90 votes here in the senate. one even passed unanimously. of course, the reason for the widespread support wasn't because members thought these relief packages were perfect. there were things i would have changed if i had had a chance, and i'm sure others would have made other changes, but each bill was a clear response to the crisis at hand and free from any unrelated partisan priorities. in other words, it was focused on covid-19 relief. suffice it to say that the same cannot be said about this latest piece of legislation, this $1.9 trillion bill being rammed through congress by our democratic colleagues. overall, i have three concerns with this legislation. first, it would dramatically overspend in areas that aren't

even in need of additional funding. in the early days of the pandemic, we had no real expectation about how long the crisis would last or how big a blow it would deal to our economy. after the cares act was signed into law in march, late march, it made sense to hit the pause button so we could see how what we did was working, what was working well, and what was not working so well. where was more assistance needed, where was it sufficient? and these needs became obvious pretty quickly. one example was the paycheck protection program. within two weeks of passage of $350 billion worth of relief, it ran dry in two weeks, so we quickly came together on a bipartisan basis to replenish the fund with additional money. we did so again at the end of the year. this sort of bipartisan

step-by-step approach is the most effective way to get funding where it's needed without wasting money on already well-funded programs. but unfortunately, our friends across the aisle didn't apply that same logic to this $1.9 trillion piece of legislation which sends hundreds of billions of dollars to areas that are nowhere near running out of money. one example is public education. so far, congress has provided more than $110 billion to support k-12 education, including $68 billion in the relief bill passed just in december. schools in texas have used this money to update their ventilation systems, purchase masks, and personal protective equipment and make other investments in classroom safety, but the vast majority of the funding that was provided in

december is still waiting to be used. in other words, there is no current need for any more money from congress. as a matter of fact, as of february 9, states have spent just under $5 billion of the $68 billion we have already provided for k-12 education. they just spent $5 billion out of the $68 billion. as a reminder, in december, the c.d.c., the center for disease control, estimated schools would only need about $22 billion to reopen safely, meaning there is already more than enough money to support safe school reopenings. but that data-driven estimate from the experts doesn't seem to matter to our democratic colleagues or the administration who are preparing to drop another $130 billion for public education. so $5 billion has been spent out of the $68 billion we have already appropriated, and our democratic colleagues now want

to spend another $130 billion. since most of the existing funds remain to be spent, the nonpartisan congressional budget office statements that the bulk of spending of this new proposed funding would occur after this year, after 2021. that is, the majority of the funding in this new so-called covid relief bill wouldn't even be touched until, god willing, the pandemic is already in the rearview mirror. i have advocated for funding to help our schools prepare for a safe return to the classroom, and the experts tell us that there is more than sufficient funding already out there to make that happen. so i'm left to conclude, as i think any reasonable person would, that it's irresponsible to have taxpayers foot the bill

for another $130 billion when there is no need for the funding, and this isn't like we are spending money that we have. we are actually borrowing money from future generations, exacerbating already a huge federal debt. that brings me to the second concern i had with this bill, is that it completely ignores the trajectory of our economic recovery. at the start of the pandemic, we all know the economic hammer came down hard and fast. as states imposed lockdown measures, businesses closed their doors, people lost their jobs, and consumer spending plummeted. but as the pandemic has gone on, even the more moderate predictions about an economic depression have proven wrong. by any measure, our economy has recovered faster than any of us expected. that should be a positive thing.

we should be happy about that. the unemployment rate is -- has steadily declined, going from 14.8% in april to 6.3% last month. state tax revenues have largely rebounded. as a matter of fact, california has fared so well that it's adding money to their rainy day fund. in other words, they don't need any more money. their revenues have exceeded their revenues from years before the pandemic even hit. the congressional budget office projects that the u.s. economy will return to its pre-pandemic size by the middle of this year. even if congress doesn't approve another penny of money. let me say that again. the congressional budget office projects the u.s. economy will return to its pre-pandemic size in the middle of this year, just a few months away.

even if congress does not approve any more federal money to aid the recovery. well -- while it's tough to rifle that fact with the claim from our friends across the aisle that we need to spend another $1.9 trillion, money that we don't have. and despite all the data that shows our economy is recovering, rebounding in a robust way, this bill sends another $350 billion to state and local governments that are not facing the dire budget shortfalls that we worried about last march. and it's not without negative consequences. larry summers, who served as the treasury secretary during the clinton administration, and who was an economic advisor to president obama, offered a good observation on the situation in a recent opinion piece. he wrote, whereas the obama stimulus was about half as large

as the output shortfall, the probed biden stimulus is three times as large as the projected shortfall. relative to the size of the gap being addressed, it's six times as large. for this administration to make public comments about following the science, certainly following the facts, listening to the experts, it's hard to reconcile that with this bill that is so divorced from reality. i don't think you can do it, which brings me to my third big concern with this bill. this is not a covid-19 relief bill in its entirety. it includes a range of completely unrelated liberal priorities that should not be included in this emergency spending, let alone one that's rushed through on a partisan, in a partisan manner through the

budget process. one case in point is the proposed increase in minimum wage to $15. regardless of the cost of living, businesses in small towns and major cities alike would be required to pay their employees $15 an hour by 2025. now for big companies in big cities, that may be doable. that may be the going rate to get the kind of quality workforce you want. as we know, companies like amazon have already implemented their own $15 an hour minimum wage back in 2018, and they can afford it. but for small businesses that are the backbone of our economy and are key to our economic recovery following this pandemic, this could lead to massive layoffs or permanent closures. the congressional budget office again, that i referred to earlier, estimates that this provision alone could put1.4

million americans out of work. do we really want to pass a provision that would put 1.4 million americans out of work? that's 50% more than it could potentially lift out of poverty. as a reminder, our colleagues are trying to rush this massive change through congress as part of the pandemic relief bill because they know it's the only shot at passing a bill that would have this sort of dramatic negative effect on jobs, all under the guise of economic relief and stimulus. there's simply no way to justify a one-size-fits-all mandate that treats silicon valley the same as it does mom and pop businesses in rural america. and the range of unrelated provisions don't stop there. this legislation includes $30 billion for public transit agencies, a blank check to bail

out mismanaged union pension plans without any reforms, and a funding for a bridge to connect the majority leader's home state of new york to canada. so we're going to build the majority leader a bridge to canada as part of an emergency covid-19 relief bill. it's outrageous. everyone remembers the infamous earmark now known as the bridge to nowhere. at least in this case we know where the bridge will end up. but a pandemic relief bill should not serve as a trojan horse in order to pursue such parochial and local desires, or any other part of an unrelated liberal wish list. so the biden bill of $1.9 trillion actually creates more problems than it solves, or it tries to solve nonexistent problems. it drives up our national debt

by spending money that experts say is not needed. it ignores the data, the facts about our economic recovery, and it creates even more problems all in the name of securing a win for the administration and our democratic colleagues. it's as though this bill were drafted in a vacuum with no attention paid to what has already been done, how things are going, or what we anticipate the need will be in the future. if the evidence and the experts tell us that more funding is needed to bolster our response to the virus, i'll be one of the first people to advocate for additional targeted relief, but this race to spend money for the sake of spending money and ignore what the experts are saying is absolutely disgraceful. the two parties have done much better than this. as i said, last year we passed five covid-19 relief bills on a bipartisan basis, because we

all were trying to come together and meet a common enemy, the covid-19 virus, and the consequences of the pandemic. but it seems like this $1.9 trillion wish list is divorced really from the covid-19 relief that we did in the past and is designed purely for partisan political purposes, and i think it's an unfortunate, unfortunate development in an area where we have so successfully worked together in a bipartisan way. mr. president, i yield the floor.

ms. smith: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to legislative session and be in a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak therein for up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. smith: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to the consideration of calendar number 6, senate resolution 70. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the resolution by title. the clerk: calendar number 6, s. res. 70, authorizing expenditures by committees of the senate for the periods march 1, 2021, through september 30, 2021; october 1, 2020 --

2021 through 2022. the presiding officer: is there objection to proceeding? without objection, the senate will proceed. ms. smith: i ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: without objection,so ordered. ms. smith: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of s. 422 which was introduced earlier today. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: s. 422, a bill to allow senators, senators-elect, committees of the senate, leadership offices and other offices of the senate to share employees and for other purposes. the presiding officer: is there objection to proceeding? without objection. ms. smith: i further ask that the bill be read a third time and passed and the motion to reconsider be considered made

and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: without objection,so ordered. ms. smith: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the consideration of senate resolution 74 submitted earlier today. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: s. res. 74 designating february 28 as rare disease day. the presiding officer: is there objection to proceeding? without objection the senate will proceed. ms. smith: i ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. ms. smith: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the consideration of senate resolution 75 submitted earlier today. the presiding officer: the clerk will report.

the clerk: s. res. 75 celebrating black history month. the presiding officer: is there objection to proceeding? without objection, the senate will proceed. ms. smith: i ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. smith: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today it adjourn until 11:00 a.m., thursday, february 25. further, that following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour deemed expired, the journal of proceedings be priewmbgd to date -- be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day and the senate be in a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak therein for up to ten minutes each. that at 12:00 noon the senate proceed to executive session to

resume consideration of the granholm nomination, that there be up to ten minutes for debate equally divided in the usual form, and that upon the use or yielding back of time all postcloture time be considered expired and the senate vote on confirmation of the nomination. that if the nomination is confirmed, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate and the president be immediately notified of the senate's action. finally, notwithstanding rule 22, the cloture vote on the cardona nomination occur at 1:30 p.m. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. ms. smith: if there is no further business to come before the senate, i ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order following the remarks of senators lankford and portman. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. lankford: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from oklahoma.

mr. lankford: it's the end of february, almost exactly a year ago america was getting its first cases of covid-19 that were being reported in the media. we were learning about it but didn't know much at that point. we knew it spread across china. we knew what was happening there. but in the weeks ahead and by the middle of march, just a few weeks from now, our country started going into lockdown. we experienced something we had never experienced as a country -- a mandatory shutdown across the entire country followed by instructions to senior adults and people with comorbidities to stay in their homes, not get out. for millions of those senior adults, they asked the same question almost a year ago -- when can i get out of my home? when can i see people? and the answer consistently was

once there's a vaccine. when we get a vaccine in place, this will be better. we don't know how long that will take, but once we get a vaccine, we'll be able to turn this around. seniors heard that over and over and over again for the last 11 1/2 months. and now thankfully millions of seniors have been vaccinated. we have 42 million americans that have gone through the full regiment. in my state almost 20% of my state have had their vaccine. we're one of the top states getting vaccines out to individuals. almost every person in every assisted living, nursing home, critical care facility, staff and residents have been vaccinated. almost every single senior adult in my state has been fully vaccinated and we're into the second round now of teachers, those with comotion is agreed -s

have begun. seniors are still asking the same question -- i had my shot, i had my second shot, it's now been the ten days past my second shot but nothing has changed. a couple of weeks ago i asked c.d.c. a very simple question. it's the question that i'm getting asked that i continue to ask c.d.c. when will instructions come out on what seniors need to do now? can they get out? can they hug their grandkids? can they go to walmart? can guests come to assisted living facilities? they were all together during christmas and halloween and now valentine's day, and they're used to having kids come in and sing songs and people come to be able to visit them. none of that happened last year, and now they're asking a simple question. when will c.d.c. give guidelines

for what happens now? c.d.c. currently has said over and over again, wait, we're thinking about it. we're researching it. c.d.c. needs to act on this. seniors have been cooped up for a year. they were told months ago once you get a vaccine, this will get better. and they're now finding they had their vaccine and nothing's getting better. they need hope. they need to know the next step. so my simple challenge to c.d.c. has been do what you did for the seniors, what you did for the schools. c.d.c. put out extensive guidelines. here's how schools can reopen. it's safe to reopen schools. here's what needs to be done. help our seniors out by getting clear guidelines out into the public, give instructions to assisted living facilities, give instructions to these grandparents.

what do they need to do now that they have been vaccinated? how much travel can they have? what are the risks? and let them make the decisions on it. folks are counting on them to be able to lay some of the science out there, and it's time to be able to get the information out to those folks so they can make the right decision. c.d.c., we need you to step up. with that, i yield the floor.

mr. portman: mr. president, i'm here on the floor today to talk about the need for all of us to redouble our efforts to combat drug addiction. one of the top priorities i've had in my time in public service is to combat this crisis which has devastated so many families, destroyed so many communities, impacted us in so many negative ways. unfortunately, under the cover of the coronavirus pandemic, there is an epidemic that is growing and that's the drug addiction epidemic. it's heartbreaking because we actually had several years of

progress. we were making progress finally and turning the tide and now it's coming back with a vengeance to the point that overdoses and overdose deaths and all the negative consequences of drug addiction is being raised up again in the context of the coronavirus. here in the congress, we've taken a leadership role on addressing this issue. over the last several years, congress has appropriated billions of dollars, and not that money solves everything, but the money's been pretty well spent on programs that are actually tested, evidence-based programs on prevention, on treatment and longer-term recovery, one is called the comprehensive addiction and recovery act which i authored with my colleague, sheldon whitehouse on the other side of the aisle. there is the 21st century cures act.

all of this provided help that goes down to the community level to be able to create a network to be able to push back against the addiction crisis. in 2017, ohio's overdose opioid epidemic death rate was almost three times the national average. ohio was one of the worst states in the country in terms of our opioid epidemic addiction -- opioid addiction. in terms of opioid deaths, we were top 3 in the country. nearly a dozen ohioans were dying from these drugs every single day. this was in 2017. it surpassed car crashes as our country's number one killer for young people and for ohio, the number one overall. but that next year, in 2018, much of what we were doing here in congress, the work, again, on the cures act, and other things done at the state level and local level that were being

supported by our federal legislation, they were starting to work. so in 2018, ohio led the country again, but this time it wasn't in overdose deaths, it was in the reduction of overdose deaths. we had a 22% reduction from 2017 to 2018. by the way, the same thing happened nationally. we had a reduction in overdose deaths in 2018 for the first since 1990. think about that, from 1990 until 2018, every single year we had more people dying from overdoses in this country. driven in large part by opioids and most recently by the most deadly of opioids, synthetic opioids, like fentanyl and car fentanyl. again, drug addiction has flourished and positive progress has been reversed. it's heartbreaking.

while we need to remain committed to solving the health care challenges of covid-19, there is increasing evidence that the stresses of this unprecedented time are driving a spike in drug abuse and subsequent overdoses that's making 2020 the worst year in the history of our country in terms of overdosed deaths and other measurements of drug addiction. why? well, i've asked a lot of people that. common sense would tell you people are loner, many people are distraught. maybe they lost their job. maybe they had someone in their family die of covid-19. people are feeling anxious. people are unable to access recovery programs in person so they can't go sit down with their recovery coach which they might have been able to do. but for covid-19 and the isolation that's required. many of those in recovery from addiction are stalled in their progress or they are suffering

from relapses. there was a story that ran last week about a record number of overdose deaths in my home state of ohio. it was on fox 8 in cleveland. one of the people they interviewed was a cleveland woman who lost her son to an overdose. she talked about how important it was for people fighting addiction to have the network of support that is thard to find during covid-19. she said, and i quote, an addict needs to talk to someone. they need constant reassuring from their support group. she's right. there are a lot of troubling statistics out there that should be a cause for concern and call to action for all of us -- for action. centers for disease control reported that more than 31,000 people died from overdoses at the end of 2020. the highest 12-month total in our nation's history. so, again, it looks like 2020 is going to be the worst year ever. the american medical association

reports that more than 40 states have an increase of opioid related deaths. in jamma, psychiatries general, the overdose death was the biggest death. it would be worse in my view without the response to the coronavirus pandemic, including some measures that those suffering from addiction can get the help they need through telehealth. we cut red tape and provided regulatory relief. like eliminating rights for in-person visits before prescribing lifesaving drugs. without these expanded services, i believe the overdose spike would be even worse. although there's no substitute for face-to-face interaction to

help along an individual's recovery. telehealth has allowed physicians to prescribe medicated assisted treatment remotely. in talking to those recovery coaches and those who specialize in addiction, they tell me that they believe the telehealth option has been extremely important. so even though it's gotten worse, it would have gotten even worse if people had not had the ability to access their recovery program through a remote means. interesting these telehealth options if for addiction treatment were put in place temporarily, but they've proven to be a viable option for addiction treatment that now people are talking about making them permanent. i agree with that. i don't think it makes sense to get away from them as this pandemic goes away, which is why yesterday, along with my colleague, sheldon whitehouse, i introduced legislation called

the telehealth response for e-prescribing addiction services treatment act. the reason that's such a long name is that we wanted the acronym treats, which it is, the treats act, makes permanent a number of temporary waivers for telehealth services and bolsters options for treatment services. it will do a couple of things. it will allow for a patient to be scheduled lower scheduled drugs through a telehealth visit on their first visit as opposed to having to go in person for the first visit. current law requires an in-person visit when you need a prescription, but this has been a deterrent for patients in crisis and an urgent need for schedule three and schedule four drugs or drugs for reoccurring mental health addictions. it limits abuse of practices by

limiting the -- to be able to interact with the treatment providers when it's your first visit. it would keep the existing requirements when prescribing two drugs like opioids or estimate lants that are more -- stimulants that are more likely to be abused. we are provisions to avoid abuse, but it is it important to have the telehealth option when other option are not there. medicare would bill for audio only or telehealth services for mental health and substance abuse treatments if it's not the patient's first visit. due to distance or access to broadband, in-person visits are not always possible for our seniors. we need to focus on safety and robust treatment options, but in order to balance the needs of patients, we proposed to allow our seniors to use telehealth

when they don't have access to the internet and where face-to-face interaction just isn't as necessary. i believe this treats legislation will make a difference in the addiction treatment space and will help us prevent more untimely overdoses, but it's also important that we ensure that law enforcement officials can continue to go after the supply of lethal drugs coming into our communities. lethal drugs that are fueling it these overdoses. the most important thing, in my view, is reducing the demand, dealing with prevention, treatment, and recovery, but by stopping some of the flow of it these drugs, among other things, you're reducing the supply which raises the cost of these drugs on the street and unfortunately some of these drugs are unbelievably inexpensive given how incredibly powerful and deadly they can be. data from the centers for disease control shows that the biggest driver of this surge in

overdose deaths has been a class of drug called synthetic opioids. we talked about that a moment ago. they are deadlier than heroin, but still cause far too many overdoses. the most well known of these drugs, fentanyl, is about 50 times deadlier than heroin and it is often less expensive. it is illegally manufactured primarily in china and smuggled across the border or through the mail. a pound of fentanyl is able to kill half a million people. think about that. we made some progress keeping it out of the mail system. the stop act is now in effect. we're working with the postal service and also working with customs and border protection to properly implement that legislation which i offered on a bipartisan basis here several years ago and it is finally being implemented to keep our mail system from delivering poison into our communities. but the traffickers have changed

patterns and a lot is going to mexico than going across the southern border. across the country law enforcement have had their hands full trying to stop the flow of synthetic opioids. ohio state patrol troopers ceased 1229 pounds of fentanyl -- 129 pounds of fentanyl, enough to kill 60 million people. our troopers have just in ohio seized enough fentanyl is kill 60 million people. in cuyahoga county there were more than 700 seizures in 2020. one d.e.a. initiative that started just last august of 2020 has resulted in the seizure of nearly 440 pounds of fentanyl. fentanyl itself is a schedule 2 drug which means law enforcement are able to take appropriate

actions to crack down on it and that's good. but there's a hidden challenge with fentanyl. it's that manufacturers can alter its chemical makeup in a lab to make what's known as a fentszle analogue or a copycat -- fentanyl analogue or a copycat. it's all synthetic. so some evil chemist somewhere can adjust the formula and make it an analogue that's not subject to the schedule 2 charges that law enforcement can bring. because the chemical makeup is different than fentanyl, it's not automatically illegal at all in fact. what's worse, these copycats can often be deadlier than fentanyl. take for instance carfentanil which is a hundred times as deadly as fentanyl and about 10,000 times more deadly than morphine. just handling carfentanil. if you were to spill some on yourself can kill you. in 2018 the drug enforcement agent d.e.a. made the right call by temporarily making these fentanyl-related subbanses

illegal -- substances illegal to possess, transport or manufacture. thanks to that designation, our law enforcement officials have been better able to protect our communities by diseasing and destroying these fentanyl-related subsubstances. -- substances. unfortunately the temporary extension by d.e.a. ends in only a few months. after may 6, 2021, these incredibly dangerous substances will no longer be subject to strict regulation by law enforcement. it will be easier for drug manufacturers in china and elsewhere to flood the u.s. with carfentanil and other synthetic opioids. we can't allow that to happen. of course we can't allow that to happen. which is why yesterday i introduced the bipartisan federal initiative to guarantee health by targeting fentanyl or fight fentanyl act along with my colleague senator joe manchin from west virginia, another state that's been devastated by the opioid epidemic. our bill simply codifies the existing d.e.a. precedent to permanently schedule fentanyl-related substances, allowing our law enforcement

officials to continue to crack down on synthetic opioid in all of its forms. let's provide some certainty, some predictability here, and make this permanent. just as importantly, it's going to send a signal to both the american people and the manufacturers and smugglers that produce synthetic opioids that we have not forgotten about this threat and we're going to do everything in our power to keep these deadly drugs out of our communities. the fight fentanyl act and treats act are a couple of things that we could do right now. on a bipartisan basis. and we should. i urge my colleagues to support them. but we've got a lot more work to do in the months ahead. the authorization for the comprehensive addiction recovery act, the care bill we talked about earlier expires in fiscal year 2023 and senator whitehouse and i will soon introduce a cara 2.0 act to build on the successions of cara with an unprecedented investment in expanding access to proven treatment and recovery programs.

again, programs that are shown to work by evidence for treatment, recovery, and lon longer-term recovery. cara 2.on include -- 2.0 includes dozens of provisions. research, education, treatment and recovery, criminal justice reform, dealing with prescription drugs, making it the most comprehensive legislation in our country's history. when added with the existing cara programs that are reauthorized through 2023, we would be investing well over a billion dollars to address this long-standing epidemic. again, at a time when under the pandemic, the epidemic is growing. we need to be sure that as we continue to invest in the coronavirus vaccine development and distribution, we're also focusing on this epidemic. as we come out of this coronavirus pandemic and i believe we're starting to see

some signs of that, let's be sure we're not leaving in its wake more and more deaths, more and more addiction with regard to the drug addiction crisis. we need to all recognize the urgency of working to reverse this surge in nationwide overdoses and overdose deaths. as we emerge from this coronavirus pandemic, let's act now to ensure we have the tools in place to also turn the tide on this disease and get those affected the help they need. i yield my time. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the senate stands adjourned until stands adjourned until

also this week we expect the senate to take up the nomination to be education secretary. watch live senate coverage when they return here on cspan2. ♪ ♪ you are watching cspan2, your unfiltered view of government. cspan2 was created by america's cable television company and today were brought to buy these television companies to provide cspan2 to viewers as a public servant. earlier today british prime minister boris johnson fielded several questions from members of the house of commons. during his weekly question time. questions on the government's response to the pandemic the distribution of vaccine and the uk, safely reopening schools and supporting businesses dominated the 30 minute session. >> that brings into the