text and tweets for elizabeth colbert sunday at noon eastern on tvs in depth on c-span2. before the program be sure to visit c-spanshop.org to get your copies of her books. >> you are watching c-span2, your unfiltered view of government. c-span2 was created by america's cable-television companies and today we are brought to you by these television companies who provide c-span2 to viewers as a public service. >> the senate about to gavel and for more debate on the nomination of rhode island governor gina raimondo to become commerce secretary. a boat set for 2:15 p.m. eastern. after after that senators moved to the nomination of the chair

of the white house council of economic advisers. democrats and republicans are also holding their weekly lunches today. president biden is expected to speak virtually the senate democrats during their closed-door session. now live to the senate floor. the chaplain, dr. barry black, will lead the senate in prayer. the chaplain: let us pray. .eternal god, restore us and bring us back to you. .give us back the joy we once felt in your presence. by your mercies, we have been -- we have navigated through dangers, toils and snares.

.mighty god, you have been faithful. today give our senators wisdom to seek your guidance. may they daily read your word to find light for the road ahead. lord, help them to experience the are certainty that comes from embracing your precepts. inspired by reverence for you, may they find and stay on the right path. we pray in your sacred name. amen. the presiding officer: please join me in reciting the pledge of allegiance to the flag. i pledge allegiance to the flag

of the united states of america, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. the presiding officer: the clerk will read a communication to the senate. the clerk: washington d.c, march 2, 2021. to the senate: under the provisions of rule 1, paragraph 3, of the standing rules of the senate, i hereby appoint the honorable raphael warnock, a senator from the state of georgia, to perform the duties of the chair. signed: patrick j. leahy, president pro tempore.

the presiding officer: under the previous order, the national will proceed to leftionz -- legislative session. under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved.

mr. schumer: mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority leader is recognized. mr. schumer: thank you, mr. president. now today the senate continues its steady progress in approving highly l qualified nominees to serve in the executive branch. last night the senate confirmed dr. miguel a. cardona as the secretary of education, fulfilling president biden's promise to elevate someone with public school experience. gina marie raimondo will soon become the former governor of rhode island as she prepares to take the top job at the commerce department. and pending the senate's approval, dr. cecilia elena rouse will soon become the chair of the council of economic advisors. this morning i want to pause for a moment to recognize the historic nature of the nominees that president biden has

nominated and that the senate has confirmed in the first month of the nation's administration. so far the senate has promoted the first black secretary of defense and the first woman to serve as deputy secretary of defense. after an unbroken streak of 77 male secretaries in a row, all the way back to alexander hamilton, the senate confirmed the first woman to serve as treasury secretary. by the end of the day we'll have confirmed the first black woman to lead the council of economic advisors, the first latino and the first immigrant to lead the department of homeland security, the second black woman to serve as u.n. ambassador, the third latino to serve as education secretary, and the first openly gay secretary of any cabinet agency. cabinet agencies, we all know, have an immense influence over the policy of the united states. it's critical for their leaders to have lived experiences that represent the broad spectrum of americans those agencies serve.

not only that, but the nominees i just mentioned are some of the most qualified public servants in america and are already hard at work at delivering results for the american people. the senate will continue to confirm more nominees as quickly as possible. the process can certainly move more quickly with the cooperation of our republican colleagues whose states and constituents benefit equally from having these qualified nominees in place. now on covid, as early as tomorrow the senate will begin work on the american rescue plan. as the country faces a series of historic challenges, we must meet the moment with an historic response. millions of jobs and trillions of dollars have been taken out of our economy. thousands of small businesses are holding on for dear life, and tens of millions of americans are struggling with the rent, groceries, medicine and utilities. only a week ago the united states crossed the tragic

milestone of 500,000 deaths from covid-19, a stark reminder that the pandemic isn't done with us yet. over the past year congress has stepped up to the plate to pass important relief measures, but the job is not complete. the american rescue plan is designed to finish the job, to patch up the holes in our economy and lay a foundation for recovery, to keep struggling businesses and families and workers afloat until brighter days appear on the horizon. to send our children back to school as quickly and safely as possible. and to defeat this evil disease once and for all. that's what the american people sent us here to do. that's what our government is for. not to sit back and wait for problems to fix themselves. not to cross our fingers and hope the economy will recover on its own. our job is to end through action the current state of the crisis and hasten the day when our country and all of our lives can return to normal.

the bottom line, if you look at the trajectory, every time we put in a relief bill in march, the economy got better in june and july. we put a relief bill in december and now the numbers look a little better for january. but the economy is not strong enough to sustain things on its own. we need strong relief to get the economy going so it can continue on an upward path on its own. that's what this bill is designed to do. i fear most economists, secretary yellen, chairman powell, if we do too little or nothing, the economy could stayen mired in recession for all too long a time, just as it did when we didn't do enough in 2009 and the economy stayed in recession for many years after the financial crisis. now, on voting rights. in our american system, we talk a lot about perfecting our union, a reference to the preamble of the constitution. a document which effectively

gave only white male landowners the right to vote in our fledgling democracy. suffice it to say, there is a lot of perfecting to do. as i think about my democratic caucus, incidentally, it's probably so that less than half of them could actually vote in the elections of 1789, as i believe in many states you had to be white, male, protestant property owner. not so many of those around here. so over the course of 230 years, we have passed scores of laws and amended the constitution to reflect the flaws in our democracy and expand these franchises to all our citizens, including the civil rights act of 1964, the voting rights act of 1965, the 14th, 15th, 19th, 23rd, 24th and 26th amendments, just to name a few. despite all this progress, there is now in the 21st century a

concerted effort to roll back voting rights in state legislatures across the country. alarmingly, making it harder, harder for americans to vote and particularly aimed at americans of color, african americans, latinos, and native americans. and it's becoming a feature of one of america's major political parties. yesterday, i detailed a number of laws pushed by republicans in state legislatures to limit the amount of time that americans have to vote, to frustrate election administration in urban areas and around college campuses, to impose overly burdensome i.d. requirements and absurd witness and signature requirements for absentee ballots. maybe most pernicious of all, republicans in georgia have coalesced around the plan to end all early voting on sundays, a day when black churches organize voter drives, with no good

reason given, none. the threat to voting rights in america is now very real. it must be opposed in every statehouse and governor's manages in this country, and the threat extends all the way to the supreme court of the united states. eight years ago, a conservative majority on the court gutted the voting rights act by essentially rendering meaningless section 5 of the statute, a provision which prevented the implementation of undue voting restrictions in states with discrimination. chief justice roberts suggested that the era of widespread discrimination which led to the enactment of the voting rights act was over and there was no longer a need for the critical portions of the statute. well, within 24 hours after the ruling had been handed down, texas announced it would implement a strict voter i.d. law. soon thereafter, mississippi in

alabama followed with laws that had previously been barred by the justice department. republican leaders in the state of north carolina passed a suite of voter suppression laws that a federal judge found, quote, targeted african american voters with surgical precision. think about that. this was not a ruling from the reconstruction era or jim crow. it was only a few years ago. at a time when an african american man elected by the most diverse coalition in the history of american politics occupied the white house, republicans in north carolina passed voting laws so pernicious that even the roberts court among most conservatively seen on this issue of voting rights could not ignore the overwhelming stench of discrimination. that's what it was, a stench rooted in america's sordid history of voter suppression and discrimination against black voters. well, today the supreme court will hear another case

concerning the voting rights act, this time about section 2, a section which chief justice roberts referred to in his shelby county ruling as a necessary fail-safe to police discriminatory voting procedures nationwide. as one news outlet reported this morning, there is every possibility that the high court could make it more difficult or practically impossible to challenge voting restrictions in the future, unquote. warning that another ruling against the law could render the voting rights act, quote, a dead letter, unquote. that is what's at stake in america right now. as state legislatures move to restrict voting rights from one end of the country to the other, the law we rely on to prevent outright discrimination at the ballot box is at risk of being, quote, a dead letter. it's one of the most appalling things i have seen in this

country after four years of an appalling administration. this is just incredible. it burns my blood and should burn the blood of every fair-minded republican -- american, republican, democrat, independent, liberal, conservative. after centuries of expanding the right to vote, of struggling to get that right to vote, these pernicious, self-serving proposed laws to cut back on the right to vote, will the supreme court let that happen? so against what america is all about. so we cannot stand by and do nothing as these rights are diluted or stripped away. congress must pursue a restoration of the voting rights act, and by all accounts should be working in a bipartisan way to make it easier, safer, and more convenient for all americans to vote. the judgment of history has

never been kind to those who work against the full participation of their fellow citizens in our democratic experiment. i yield the floor.

mr. mcconnell: mr. president. the presiding officer: the republican leader is recognized. mr. mcconnell: there's been a lot of discussion about the democrats' decision to load up their partisan spending bill with liberal items that are completely unrelated to the pandemic. we're at a key turning point in this crisis. the nation has just endured an historically painful year. the virus has stolen half a million american lives. it's thrown millions of children out of classrooms and workers out of jobs, but on every front there seems to be signs we're actually turning the tide. new cases, hospitalizations, and deaths have been declining.

the c.d.c. reports that one in five adult americans have already received at least one vaccine dose. that's 50-plus million people. one in ten have gotten both shots and the supply of vaccines is continuing to ramp up with yet another authorized just last weekend. meanwhile, science keeps confirming it's quite safe to get kids and teachers back in the classrooms with simple precautions that we can accomplish right now. all indications suggest our economy is poised for a roaring comeback for workers and for families. this crossroads should give washington a golden opportunity. we could get together on a bipartisan basis, like we did five times last year -- five times -- and pass more targeted policies to help finish the fight and get the american people their jobs, their

schools, their lives and their country back. a number of senate republicans went to the white house just days after president biden was sworn in proposing we continue the streak of overwhelming bipartisanship that has defined the covid-19 response all this time. our democratic colleagues said no, they wanted to go it alone and when you look at their partisan bill, you can certainly see why. less than 9% of their massive proposal would go to the core health care fight against covid-19. and listen to this. less than 1% goes to vaccinations. you see, they had to leave room for all the completely unrelated left-wing priorities, like sending $350 billion to bail out

long mismanaged state and local governments, things like massive expansion and obamacare subsidies that would disproportionately benefit wealthier people. things like hand crafted tweaks to medicare so it pays more money to just three states, rhode island, new jersey, and the president's home state of delaware. you might call it a special kickback for the excela corridor. they had to make room to back roll silicon rail and upgrading a bridge and giving money meant to rescue mom and pop main street businesses. sadly, the parts that actually do relate to the pandemic aren't much better. at the same time the democrats refused to follow the science on

in-person schooling, they want to pass deluxe benefits for federal government employees, including 15 weeks of paid vacation including folks who have the option, just the option, of virtual or even hybrid learning. they want to keep schools closed and then pay a special bonus only to parents who are federal employees because -- because their schools are closed. now this isn't a recipe to safely reopen america to the degree that it even addresses the -- address the pandemic, it is a plan to shut it down. mostly it is what democrats promised almost a year ago, taking advantage of the crisis to check off unrelated liberal policies. now, mr. president, on another matter, we recently learned that iran balked at the prospect of direct nuclear negotiations with

the united states and europe. this sort of resistance and gamesmanship is nothing new. we've seen this before. iran has long flouted international restrictions on its nuclear program, played hide and seek with u.n. inspectors and failed to disclose the full scope of its nuclear research. this happened before, during, and after the obama administration's iran deal. now thanks to the firm approach taken by the republican administration which stored much of the leverage president obama had thrown away, president biden inherited a much, much stronger negotiating position. let me make it clear. republicans do not oppose nuclear diplomacy. we hope the administration will secure a better, stronger and more lasting deal than president obama's, but to do so, president biden's team must avoid the

mistakes of the jcpoa. here's how you do that. coordinate closely with partners and allies who are most immediately threatened by tehran and treat congress as a partner to be consulted, not a problem to be managed. and most importantly, don't give up any leverage for free. of course the mullahs are playing coy. they want concessions before they come to the table. in december, after president biden was elected, iran's parliament reaffirmed their intent to continue acting out if sanctions were not eased. well, i hope it is only the iranians and not the administration's negotiators who need this reminder. look, the united states holds all the cards.

president biden is the commander in chief of a superpower. there are no circumstances, none, in which iran should get money for nothing. and there's no need to rush into the talks. the administration should take care not to squander our upper hand just to spite the last administration nor should president biden's team discount the value of the growing regional unity against iran that is embodied in the new abraham accords. every day headlines remind the world of the threat iran and its proxies pose to peace and security. for example, the iranian journalist was lured back to the region from europe kidnapped and hanged after a sham trial just in december. the lebanese activist was an

outspoken critic of hezbollah until he was shot dead in his car. the regime has kept escalating its support for the houthi rebels in yemen, sending in deadlier, longer-ranged weapons and inciting terrorist threats. the hooties have -- houthis have escaped attacks and launched a military offensive. a military offensive that jeopardize the peace negotiations being undertaken by u.n. special envoy. just last week an israeli civilian shipping vessel pulled into port with a gaping damage from a missile attack and the pet militias in iraq have fired rockets at our diplomatic

facilities. they are communicating to the biden administration in the mula's -- mullah's preferred language, violence. like i said over the weekend, president biden was right to respond to this threat by authorizing strikes against targets belonging to iranian proxy groups. the right decision. and he is right to recognize the need for new binding and enforceable constraints on iran's nuclear capabilities. but ultimately we need a comprehensive approach to confronting iran. it must be built on bipartisan foundations to endure for administration's and congresses yet to come. to get there the administration must continue to meet iranian aggression from a position of

strength and consult closely with congress for the sake of our own security and that of our friends and partners in the ayatollah's backyard. the presiding officer: morning business is closed. under the previous order, the senate will proceed to executive session to resume consideration of the following nomination, which the clerk will report. the clerk: nomination, department of commerce, gina marie raimondo, of rhode island, to be secretary. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from wyoming. mr. barrasso: mr. president,

i've come to the floor on several occasions now to talk about this $1.9 trillion spending bill that will be soon before this body. i talked about different parts of the bill on different occasions. i talked about the mandates, the bailouts, and the billions and billions of dollars of spending completely unrelated to coronavirus. now, it these are all reasons enough to oppose this piece of legislation. today i'd like to talk about another problem that i see with the bill and that's that this bill would now subsidize health insurance far beyond what was ever imagined when the house and the senate passed the obama health care law. way beyond the subsidies ever envisioned in that. one analysis shows that this bill would give a family of four making close to a quarter

million dollars a year -- a family of four making close to a quarter million dollars a year up to $9,000 in free subsidies in health care. that's not four times the poverty level, that is almost four times the average income of a household in the united states. government aid is supposed to be for those who need it, people who can't make it on their own, but that's not been the focus of the democrats with this legislation. this legislation is not about coronavirus, it's not about coronavirus testing and vaccination. they've already been paid for so that someone who wants to get a test or vaccine, they get it. it's paid for previously, the vaccines are free. we don't need additional money to pay for the shot. we voted on that last year.

it's the law of the land. this new proposal with these additional subsidies is just going to get us this much closer to one size fits all socialized medicine. now, democrats have realized for many years that the obama health care law has failed america. they though it's unaffordable for working families, people understand that the copays are so high, the deductibles are so high the people that have been mandated to buy it find they didn't really get any value for their money. many people i've talked to said with obamacare the premiums were so high, it was actually higher than their mortgage at home. well, republicans want to lower health care costs, actually the cost of care. democrats seem to just want to raise what government pays. and democrats are also trying to pressure states into expand

medicaid, there are about a dozen states that chosen not to expand medicaid. i'm a doctor, i know the importance of medicaid and the importance of providing care for people who cannot care for themselves, often it's families, low-income families, disabilities, you know the original intent of medicaid, a huge value for the american people, but not with what they've seen with the obamacare expansion. we should work together for these most vulnerable of individuals so that they can get the care that they need. yet, it's not what democrats are doing with this proposal, not with the additional subsidies, not with the additional expansion of medicaid many they are trying to bribe states -- bribe states to give free care to able-bodied working adults, not the people that were originally intended to be helped by medicaid, but for able-bodied working adults. mr. president, they should get

their health insurance through their job through work. that's the best way this works for them, ensures that they can use without these extraordinarily high deductibles and copays that we see with obamacare. the contrast could not be cleaner, mr. president. republicans are offering the american people a stronger economy and opening schools. that's what we ought to be focusing on. democrats and the health care is subsidizing health insurance for the rich. it's astonishing. you wouldn't think it would be that way. it doesn't make sense. it's not coronavirus relief. people want to get their kids back to school, get back to work and put the virus behind them and that's not what i see in the $1.9 trillion bill that the senate will soon be considering. i think only one dollar out of 11 of this $1.9 trillion bill

actually goes to get people back to work, kids back to school, focuses on the coronavirus. they say there's money to get kids back to school, 95% of that money doesn't even start to get spent until 2022. coronavirus crisis is going to be behind us by 2022. mr. president, we should be working together, targeting support for the american people who need it the most, not subsidizing people who don't actually need the subsidies. 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:

mr. thune: mr. president. the presiding officer: the republican whip. mr. thune: is the senate in a quorum call? the presiding officer: yes, it is. mr. thune: i ask unanimous consent the quorum call be lifted. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. thune: mr. president, democrats continue to push forward with their partisan covid legislation. the house of representatives passed the democrats' $1.9 trillion partisan wish list on saturday and the senate is pected to take -- is pected to take it up later this week. weeks after the president expressed his commitment to unity after his inauguration he and his party are pushing through extremely partisan legislation despite republicans' clear willingness to negotiate. mr. president, when it comes to the democrats' covid bill, president biden keeps asking, what would you have me cut, as if there's no way anyone could dispute the necessity of anything in this legislation. well, mr. president, as i said last week, i have some suggestions because this bill is rife with unnecessary and

problematic provisions. democrats are presenting this as a covid relief bill, but a lot of this bill has little to do with responding to the pandemic. in fact, in fact, mr. president, less than 10% of the p bill is directly related to combatting the covid health crisis. if president biden would like to know what to cut, let me suggest starting with the bill's $350 billion slush fund for states. there's no question that covid has placed additional pressure on states, which is why republicans supported targeted funding for states in previous covid legislation. but at this point the vast majority of states are not in crisis. a number of states actually saw higher tax revenues in 2020, and a majority of states, including my home state of south dakota, have the resources that they need to weather the rest of the pandemic. even if the federal government bailed out those states that are still struggling, some at least

partially because of their own mismanagement, $350 billion far exceeds the amount that would be needed. democrats are simply providing a large and unnecessary giveaway to states with the distribution formula heavily weighted in favor of blue states. then there's the bill's funding for schools. now republicans are committed to getting schools reopened so our kids can get back to the in-person learning that they need. it's why we voted for $68 billion in covid funding for k-12 schools last year. but right now, mr. president, schools don't need additional funding. so far k-12 schools have spent just $5 billion of the $68 billion that we provided them. yet the democrats' bill would provide nearly $129 billion in

additional funding. and despite all that additional and unnecessary money, nothing, nothing in the bill would require schools to actually reopen. schools could collect this money while still depriving students of the benefits of in-person learning. and another thing, mr. president, democrats are billing this legislation as a covid relief bill and suggesting that it's providing urgently needed funding. yet, 95% of the bill's money for schools, 95% would be spent after this year. that's right, just 5% of this quote unquote emergency funding would be spent in 2021. the rest would be spent between 2022 and 2028.

are we really supposed to believe that money that would be spent in 2028, years after the pandemic is likely to be over, is somehow urgently needed covid relief funding? well, mr. president, i could go on for awhile here with suggestions for what to cut in this bill. i'm pretty sure that $100 million for a silicon valley underground rail project doesn't have a lot to do with getting our country out of the covid crisis. or how about $1.5 million for a bridge in the democratic leader's home state? and then there's the $86 million bailout for multiemployer pension plans. billions, billions for environmental policies. and a provision to ensure that planned parenthood and labor unions can apply for paycheck protection program programs designed to help small businesses.

i'm not sure how far that will go toward helping our economy, but it will certainly help fill the coffers of some of democrats' political allies. mr. president, democrats will really just focus on covid relief, this would be a much smaller and targeted bill, but democrats' ambitions were much larger than just addressing the covid crisis. as a democrat political operative famously said, never allow a good crisis to go to waste. well, democrats have taken that advice and are using the covid crisis as cover for a whole list of partisan priorities with potentially very negative consequences. the democrats' covid bill runs a very real risk of overstimulating the economy, as evidenced by the large increase we've seen in money supply which

could, among other things, drive up prices on the goods that americans use every day. in other words, inflation, mr. president. even some liberal economists have sounded the alarm over the size of the democrats' coronavirus legislation. and then of course there's the danger posed by further driving up our debt. we had to borrow a lot of money last year to meet the demands of the coronavirus crisis. and while it was money we needed to borrow, we need to be very aware of the fact that we added a substantial, substantial amount to our already very large national debt. we need to be very careful about any additional borrowing and ensure that we're only borrowing what's absolutely necessary. i think it goes without saying, mr. president, that the more that we borrow, the more debt we have to retire, if something

negative happened on interest rates and interest rates normalize, went back to a more normal setting, that the interest itself on that amount of debt would literally dwarf anything else that we do in our budget, including defending the country. and that, mr. president, i believe is a very, very real threat. because if you look at what's happening right now with the economy and with all the money that we've flooded out there so far, and another $2 trillion if the democrats have their way in this particular proposal, and all that money out there starts pushing up those costs, we start seeing inflation in the economy, it doesn't take very long for interest rates to go with it. in fact, they already are. if those interest rates start pushing up very quickly on the amount of debt that we are piling up, financing that debt, the amount of interest, the cost of interest on that debt would be absolutely

overwhelming and devastating to this country. and so, mr. president, we need to be very, very careful about any additional borrowing and ensure that we are only borrowing what's absolutely necessary. that means making sure that anything we do in terms of additional pandemic relief is targeted and fiscally responsible. and that does not include money for a bridge in new york or a taxpayer bailout for mismanaged states. mr. president, it's deeply disappointing that democrats chose to turn their backs on bipartisanship. republicans were ready to work with democrats on additional targeted relief. and as i have pointed out before, the pandemic has been an issue on which at least up until now there's been very much bipartisan support. last year when republicans were in the majority, we did five, five coronavirus bills, all bipartisan.

all done at the 60-vote threshold that governs most legislation that moves through the senate in a cooperative way. in this case the democrats are plowing forward, pushing this legislation in a very partisan way, mr. president, and i think that's unfortunate, given our history on this issue of bipartisanship and the importance of making sure that we are doing the right things on behalf of the american people to help them get through this pandemic. choosing to pursue a partisan process allows democrats to stuff the bill with unnecessary spending and political payoffs. but that is not the way to help our country or our economy recover. 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:

the presiding officer: the senator from washington. ms. cantwell: i ask the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. cantwell: i have five requests for committee hearings today. the presiding officer: duly noted. ms. cantwell: i come it the floor this morning to urge my colleagues president biden's nominee to be secretary of commerce, governor raimondo. she was the first woman to serve as governor in that state and made tremendous impacts to that state. we're excited that the president nominated her to that position and will put the same skill sets to work here in washington. the mission of the department of commerce, at least according to their website, is to foster, promote and develop foreign and domestic commerce. i can tell you she's going to

inherit a big challenge because our domestic economy is still reeling from the impacts of covid-19 and certainly needs to think about the continuing transition to a digital economy in an information age and the foreign economy that she also will be charged with trying to help and impact as it relates to the united states is certainly plagued by the same pandemic and the impacts of that. so we're looking for someone who can come in and help with private sector experience to really move the agenda of this administration forward. so, for me, governor raimondo's private sector experience means a lot .is she knows how to invest in new technologies and things that will help us grow jobs for the future and knows how to match up to workforce with those job tiewrnts that is also -- opportunities that is also critical as we move on to

other policy issues. as governor she matched workers with relevant small business experience, called her rhode island job initiative. the program served over more than 1,700 employers and 11,000 people throughout the state. she was able to send her state's unemployment rates tumbling to a 30-year low simply by doing a really focused job of matching workforce training to the needs of those industries that were growing in her state. so i certainly appreciate the fact that she has that private sector experience about knowing where to invest and bringing people together and she certainly created successful programs on matching the workforce for tomorrow. but make no mistake, the department of commerce is going to have a very challenging role as we try to deal with the impacts of covid-19. one of the most important responsibilities, i believe, will be dealing with the sectors most hard hit by the covid

pandemic. i'm glad that governor raimondo is governor of a coastal state because one of the most impacted industries we've seen is the seafood industry which affected greatly by covid-19 since early january 2020 when the lockdowns in china and around the world impacted the fishing seafood sector. u.s. seafood exports to china dropped by 31% in january of 2020 and 40% by february of 2020. lobster, crab, shellfish and everything was experiencing severe declines and west coast fisheries have seen as much as a 40% drop in reeve new. -- revenue. this is upon for coastal communities. i know that governor raimondo gets that. she understands that commercial fishermen and the impacts they have will impact not just

seafood trade but our restaurant economy and marine anglers took in 149 fishing trips which fueled our tourism economy. i'm glad that governor raimondo, from a coastal state, is going to oversee the key functions at the department of commerce, particularly at noaa and help manage these economies and keep them focused on science. i know that she understands that as secretary she can use those good scientific agencies within the department of commerce to better understand the impacts of climate and the impacts of covid and what we can do. we know in the state of washington that just a little bit of science done at the university of washington helped us immensely in saving our shellfish industry, now we need to do more for fisheries across the united states. we need to invest in things that i call salmon infrastructure to

keep as we continue to grow our economy and continue to move forward on infrastructure that we're also keeping ways to return salmon. i think that this is one of the most important things that governor raimondo can do as secretary of commerce, restore the respect for the scientific process, the scientific community, and the important issues that are going to be at heart of how our coastal economies are impacted by climate. i invited governor raimondo to take one of her first trips to the state of washington to see exactly how our state has dealt with these fisheries issues. i know the presiding officer from california knows how important the seafood industry and the impacts to our coastal communities because of climate are as well. we need a leader in the department of commerce who will help us mitigate and adapt to those impacts. i'm also counting on governor raimondo to help us with our

export economy, everything with our ports, to farmers to aerospace, exports means jobs and about one in four jobs in the state of washington are related to trade so frankly, i think she's a departure from the last president and the last secretary, i think she and -- they shook their fists at the world community than engaging on economy that will help us move forward with getting our products in the door. 96% of the world's customers live outside of the united states and prior to the covid pandemic, half of the world's population reached middle class, that is a big market, almost four billion people, u.s. sporters need -- exporters to grow u.s. jobs. we need to work with our allies like europe and japan to meet the real challenges we face from china a and we need to increase u.s. exports around asia around

and around the world. and commerce helps our company enter new markets and u.s. commercial service officials are on the front lines of these issues around the globe. so i know governor raimondo understands the importance of this export market and she understands that the department of commerce can play a very big role in it and i hope that she will get to work soon on working with the biden administration to make this a big priority. and i also want to say that i know she is going to on other science agencies within the department of commerce play a critical role, everything from the national institute of science and technology, a small agency that doesn't get a lot of attention but it is consistent based on standards and fostering growth and a number of industries that are so important to communications and manufacturing and public safety. and so i hope that she will use,

again, her private sector experience in knowing where to invest in new technologies to help us continue to grow economies like the space economy that we have in the state of washington. we're very proud that we have as commercial space travel has started to be a major focus of the private sector have grown many businesses and many jobs in our state in that area and we want to see it continue to grow. but we need governor raimondo's leadership on the important policies that decisive us -- divide us. the e.u. privacy agreement is such a notion. i know my colleague, senator wicker, who has been involved in these discussions and negotiations know how important digital trade is and commerce is leading up these talks to lead these -- between the u.s. an europe. a lot is at stake. u.s. and e.u. digital trade is worth more than $300 billion

annually and includes more than $218 billion in u.s. exports to europe. every business that exports or imports or has a presence in investment in the united states or europe will face difficulties if we don't resolve these issues an barriers to cross border data transfer. so all of this is a very big risk and we want governor raimondo to get to work on this very quickly and help resolve these issues. the free flow of data between the u.s. and europe is critical to 5,000 tech companies in my state and more than $2.8 billion of digital exports in our economy. so i'm pretty sure that this is the same as i said to the presiding officer, i know he gets how important digital trade is to the state of california and would like to see these issues addressed as well. so, mr. president, these are very big challenges for the department of commerce and the

next commerce secretary to basically make sure that the impacts of covid are dealt with in our economy and to usher in a new era of an information age by making the right investments and depending ons science to help our -- depending on science to help our key communities and harnessing the aspects of noaa and bringing in the leadership we need at the department of commerce to resolve our problems as a new digital age emerges here on an international basis and continue to allow our economy to grow. i know she's the right chis 0. i urge my colleagues to support her nomination. mr. president, i thank the president and i yield the floor and 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 texas. mr. cornyn: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cornyn: mr. president, this week, our democratic colleagues are striving to break congress' perfect record of bipartisan pandemic relief. last year, five relief packages were signed into law, each with overwhelming bipartisan support. no bill received fewer than 90 votes here in the senate, and one even passed unanimously. the reason why these bills received such broad support is because they addressed the crisis at hand in a targeted manner.

no controversial provisions or unrelated partisan priorities, just clear-cut relief for the american people. as i said, the perfect record of common sense bipartisan relief packages will apparently end this week. the bill our democratic colleagues are preparing to bring to the senate floor have been drafted by only one party. as you can imagine, that process lends itself to a sort of partisan christmas tree decorating. democrats have taken the framework of the covid relief bill and added a range of liberal priorities that have absolutely nothing to do with covid-19. a silicon valley subway system, a blank check for mismanaged union pension plans, a bridge from new york to canada, and funding for climate justice. it's no surprise that this bill passed the house on a strict

party-line vote, but the covid-19 relief label isn't fooling anybody. this is a partisan wish list that does more to advance a political agenda than respond to the legitimate public health and economic needs of our country. that's why our democratic colleagues have chosen to abuse the budget reconciliation process in order to make a law. and based on the price tag of this bill, you would think it was march, 2020 all over again. despite the fact we have made serious headway in vaccinations that our economy is recovering by leaps and bounds and all signs show we're moving toward that light at the end of the tunnel, our democratic colleagues are prepared to spend another $1.9 trillion of borrowed money. that's about half as much as all

previous bills combined. what's even more concerning than the cost is how the money is going to be spent. one great example is funding for education. so far, congress has provided more than $110 billion for k-12 education, including $68 billion in the relief bill that was signed into law just in december, just a couple of months ago. schools in texas have used this money to update air filtration systems, purchase personal protective equipment, and implement regular disinfecting so students and teachers can safely return to the classroom. after all, we know in-person instruction is best for our children. i have sections of my state where at least a third of the lower income students don't have dependable access to broadband, much less the kind of supervision that they would need in order to continue their

learning. study after study have shown that kids have fallen behind while learning virtually, especially in foundational subjects like math and reading. and the learning deficit is even greater for students of color and those in high-poverty communities. one study found that for math, white students began this school year about one to three months behind in learning while students of color were more likely to be three to five months behind. and the impact on our students isn't purely academic. as we know, there are serious mental, social, and emotional tolls to be paid as well. we need our schools to open, and of course we need to do so safely. the experts tell us not only is that possible, but it has already been done in states across the country. the center for disease control

published a report in january that found, and i quote, there has been little evidence that schools have contributed meaningfully to increased community transsignificance, close quote. the lead author of that report affirmed that even in places with high infection rates, there is no evidence that schools will transmit the virus at a higher rate than the general community. in short, schools are not a breeding ground for covid-19 as long as appropriate precautions are taken, and they can be reopen safely. the good news is there is already plenty of funding to make that happen. in december, the center for disease control estimated schools would need about $22 billion to open safely. as of february 9, of the $68 billion that was provided for k-12 schools in the combined relief packages, only about $5 billion has been spent. $68 billion has been provided,

and only $5 billion has been spent. despite clear evidence that, one, kids are struggling with virtual learning, two, schools can safely reopen with the right precautions, and three, that there is plenty of funding to help schools implement these measures, our democratic colleagues are prepared to spend another $130 billion for k-12 education without any sort of incentive or requirement for children to return safely to the classroom. sadly, many of our school children are coming up on the one-year anniversary of their virtual learning. unfortunately, there seems to be very little momentum for letting those students return to the classroom, and unfortunately by default, they are falling farther behind. since most of the remaining funds remain to be -- most of the existing funds remain to be

spent, the nonpartisan congressional budget office estimates that the bulk of spending of this new proposed funding would occur next year and beyond. in other words, this isn't an emergency relief bill designed to deal with the present need. this is about spending money in 2021, after which hopefully virtually everybody in the united states is vaccinated and we have established herd immunity. only $6.4 billion would be distributed through september of this year, and the remaining $122 billion would trickle out the door through -- not just 2021, but through 2028. that is the majority of the education funding in this so-called covid -- misnamed covid-19 relief bill wouldn't

even be touched until the pandemic has been in the rearview -- put in the rearview mirror. now, i have advocated for funding to help schools prepare for a safe return to the classroom, and of course the experts, as i said, have told us that more than enough funding is already available to make that happen. so i ask what is the rationale for asking the taxpayers to foot another $130 billion bill if there is no need for that funding in the first place. and i would add to that this is not money that actually exists. this will be money borrowed from future generations that is added to the deficit and to our debt. there is certainly no excuse to ram this and a range of other partisan priorities through congress without the support of a single republican. it was january 20 when i thought that president biden gave a very

eloquent and appropriate speech at his inauguration talking about the need for the nation to heel the divisions, for unity, but during this partisan reconciliation bill when there is no demonstrated need for this deficit spending is not healing the divisions in our country or promoting unity. saturday will mark one year since the first covid-19 bill was signed into law. since then, we have tragically lost more than a half million americans. families have struggled with job losses, small businesses have closed their doors, and children have fallen farther and farther behind. the list of hardships endured over the past year is long indeed. but now our colleagues across

the aisle are trying to cappize on that -- capitalize on that pain by passing the so-called and misnamed covid-19 relief bill that does more to advance partisan goals than to bring an end to this national nightmare. it does nothing to get our kids back in school or american workers back on the job. it doles out taxpayer dollars for favored infrastructure projects. these are colloquially called earmarks, like the bridge in the majority leader's home state in new york and a subway system in the speaker's home state of california. what do those have to do with covid-19? where is the emergency there? why should we borrow money from future generations to fund these infrastructure projects that have nothing to do with the pandemic? we can deal with infrastructure, and we should going forward, but opportunistically exploiting the

public's concern about covid-19 in order to fund these infrastructure projects in new york and california is simply inexcusable. only 1% of the funding in the massive $1.9 trillion bill goes toward vaccination efforts. we all understand that vaccinating the american people is the key for ending this crisis. so far -- and i'm sure i'm a day or so behind -- a couple of days ago we vaccinated 68 million people. 68 million vaccinations perhaps. some of them involved two shots. and we are vaccinating people at the rate of three million shots a day. that's really, really encouraging. but only 1% of the funding in this $1.9 trillion bill goes toward that eventual key to unlocking the future. and as i said, every penny

that's spent on pandemic response is borrowed from our grandchildren and our great-grandchildren. somebody's going to have to pay the money back. not us, not now apparently. so we're going to borrow the money, add to deficits and debt. as larry summers and others have said, we're even risking inflation by throwing so much money into the economy so quickly at a time when it's growing at more than 4% a year. and we're not, if this effort is successful, spending this money responsibly. being responsible means doing what is needed. no more, no less, to bring this pandemic to an end and get this country back on its feet. mr. president, i think this bill is a shameful waste of

taxpayer dollars, and it's outrageous that it's entitled the covid-19 relief bill when so little of this bill actually deals with the pandemic. as we say where i come from, if you put lipstick on a pig, it's still a pig. well, mr. president, i didn't know our colleague from new mexico was going to be the presiding officer now, but being our next-door neighbor maybe he'll appreciate a little short speech about texas independence day. 185 years ago on march 2, 1836, texas adopted its declaration of independence from mexico. this happened in the context of a struggle that perhaps is best remembered by the battle of the alamo which laid some of the groundwork for the texas, for texans, or as they called thms

back then -- themselves back then, texians victory. virtually everybody died at the alamo, the battle of san jacinto that won the war. but one week shy of that momentous day a 26-year-old lieutenant colonel in the texas army named william barrett travis and fellow soldiers were outnumbered nearly ten to one by the forces of the mexican dictator antonio lopez desanta ana. colonel travis wrote a letter that has arguably become the most famous document in texas history. here in the senate both republicans and democrats from texas have had the honor of reading that letter every year since 1961, when then-senator john tower began that tradition. so today i'd like to express my gratitude for these texas patriots, many of whom would go

on to serve in the u.s. congress, including sam houston, ■whose senateseat iam honored to occupy. and it's my great honor to read the travis letter here on the senate floor. the letter was addressed to the people of texas and all americans around the world. fellow citizens and compatriots compatriots, trough wrote, i am besieged by a thousand or more of the mexicans under santa anna. i sustained a continual bombardment and cannon aid for 24 hours and i have not lost a man. the enemy has demanded a surrender at discretion. otherwise, the garrison is to be put to the sword if the fort is taken. i've answered the demand with a cannon shot and our flag still waves proudly from the walls. i shall never surrender or

retreat. then i call on you in the name of liberty, of patriotism and everything dear to the american character to come to our aid with all dispatch. the enemy is receiving reinforcements daily and will no doubt increase to 3,000 or 4,000 in four or five days. if this call is neglected, i'm determined to sustain myself as long as possible and die like a soldier who never forgets what is due to his own honor and that of his country -- victory or death. signed william barrett travis. as i said, mr. president, in the battle that ensued, all 189 defenders of the alamo gave their lives, but they did not die in vain. in fact, we texans might not be around if it weren't for them. we might still be part of

mexico. the battle of the alamo bought precious time for the texas revolutionaries allowing general sam houston to maneuver his army in in the position for the decisive victory as i said in the battle of san jacinto. for nine years the republic of texas thrived as a nation. that's the reason we fly our flag at the same height as the united states flag, unlike other states. but then in 1845, we were annexed to the united states as the 28th state. every single day i'm honored to represent the people of my state here in the united states senate, an opportunity that would not be possible without the sacrifices made by brave men like william barrett travis 185 years ago. mr. president, i yield the floor.

a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from nebraska. mrs. fischer: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, i would thank my colleague from texas for sharing the texas letter again this year. it is always inspiring to hear those words, to remember the sacrifices that were made in texas reminds us all of the sacrifices that are made daily across this country by people who love this country and stand for its unity. so thank you, mr. president, to my colleague from texas. mr. president, i come to the floor today because the senate will likely vote soon on the

biden stimulus bill. i think all of us in this chamber agree that we want to get relief for the american people. that was our objective when we passed the cares act last year which allocated $2.2 trillion for the relief effort. it was our objective when we passed four other covid relief bills in 2020. and these brought the total up to $4 trillion. all of these measures were the result of bipartisan cooperation and negotiations. democrats and republicans working together. but right now the president and congressional democrats are pushing a completely partisan product through a totally partisan process to promote their progressive agenda. they call it the american rescue

plan, and the price tag is $1.9 trillion, more than double what we spent after the financial crisis starting in 2008. when combined with the five covid packages we've already enacted, the total cost to the american taxpayers would be close to $6 trillion, more than the g.d.p. of every country other than china and the united states. and as of the end of january, hundreds of billions of dollars from these bills has yet to be spent. december's relief bill dedicated $284 billion to the paycheck protection program, but only a quarter of those funds have been obligated. that same bill provided $20

billion for economic injury disaster loans. none of it had been spent by february 1. the same is true of the cares act spending for community planning programs, for which hundreds of millions of dollars remain unspent. over 90% of these bills combined funding for mental health programs were sitting idle as of late january as well. the white house calls this bill, quote, emergency legislative package to fund vaccinations, provide immediate direct relief to families bearing the brunt of the covid-19 crisis, and supporting struggling communities, end quote. each of these things is important, and support for them should absolutely be part of any package we pass.

but when you look somewhere other than the white house website to find out what is actually in this bill, you see that many parts of it don't belong in a package that's meant to help us recover from our fight against this virus. let us start with what will make the biggest difference for working families, the direct payments to individual americans. for months i have supported sending these checks. i went on the record in december to say that people are hurting and that we should help them with more aid in the form of direct payments. i think these payments are a good idea, but they should be targeted to those who truly need them, not sent to people who haven't been affected in the same way as the millions of americans who have lost their jobs. if this once-in-a-century

pandemic hasn't put you out of work at one point or another, you've been lucky. but this plan would give you a check even if you have never lost your job and struggled to pay your bills. that is not right. this administration had time to work with republicans to make sure those who need help get it. they didn't do that. instead people who never lost their job get a check. people who were never furloughed get a check. and financially stable families who earned as much as $200,000 last year, well they still get a check too. mr. president, if so many americans are hurting, as we all know they are, our only focus should be getting this aid

into their hands, not using their insecurity as a chance to pass a bunch of wish list items from this progressive agenda. the white house wants congress to spend billions of dollars on things that no covid aid bill should be addressing. many other senators have expressed similar concerns. we belive that every cent of any covid relief bill needs to go toward recovery from the effects of covid, on families and on communities. the new administration has a chance to show that they really are interested in bipartisanship and unity, two words president biden uses just about every day. they could prove that today by

reaching out to republicans in good faith. but so far any effort by the administration to do so has only been to provide an appearance of working together, not to make any actual progress on any kind of bipartisan product. instead they are focusing on filling this package with progressive priorities. so let's take a look at some of the items on that list. giving $30 billion to public transit authorities. even though president biden only asked for $20 billion and several major agencies have said the december relief bill would get them through at least until summer. spending $50 million on family planning programs that wouldn't

have hyde protections, meaning that our tax dollars would pay for elective abortions, allowing planned parenthood to receive those small business funding from the paycheck protection program. dedicating another $50 million to the trugling, vague -- troubling, vague goal of, quote, combating the climate crisis, end quote. sending $12 billion overseas in aid. this does not belong in a domestic covid response bill. and spending over $100 million on a subway system near speaker pelosi's district in the bay area. i will leave it up to my democratic colleagues to explain how expanding a subway in northern california would help all americans build back better in this pandemic.

so far, they are silent. this is supposed to be an emergency rescue plan for the americans who have been hit hardest by covid, but instead the biden stimulus plan doesn't make any of the tough decisions we need to make, and it uses americans' hard-earned tax dollars as a blank check. this proposal also pays lip service to the importance of getting students back into the classroom while asking this body to vote for things that would do exactly the opposite. even though almost $70 billion of the funds dedicated to schools in december's relief bill still hasn't been spent, this american rescue plan would give them nearly $170 billion more. my colleagues on the other side

of the aisle say this money is necessary for a majority of k-8 schools to safely reopen in the president's first 100 days, but their bill would reserve 95% of that new money for the years 2022 to 2028. how does that help families today? who wants their -- families today who wants their kids to get back in school? they want them back in school now, so how does it help? this bill goes even further than that. it would treat schools that choose to open and schools that remain closed the same way. which does nothing to incentivize them to get their kids back in classrooms. this plan would also give

$350 billion to states, cities, and localities. a big chunk of that money will be used to bail out states like new york, california, which have kept people away from their jobs and their children out of schools for months on end. even worse, this bill tallies states and localities' level of funding based on raw unemployment numbers, not their unemployment rate. that would punish both red and blue states that have handled this pandemic well. it leaves behind states like mine, like nebraska, which has the lowest unemployment rate in the country because we have succeeded in balancing safety and reopening where other states have failed. it would also hurt minnesota, vermont, and new hampshire,

three blue states that have kept their unemployment numbers low. when you look under the hood, this bill is more about passing that partisan wish list than getting the united states through the worst public health crisis that we have faced in over a century. at best, the main american rescue plan is misleading. at worst, it is deceptive. i stand ready to work with the administration and my democratic colleagues in congress to address these issues and to give americans the help that they need in a targeted, reasonable, and a productive way. we did that with the cares act, and we can do it again if our colleagues on the other side are

willing. that is the way the senate is supposed to work, in a bipartisan way. it's how we reach consensus and deliver the policies that the american people need and that the american people deserve. i know i share the sentiments of many of my colleagues when i say i'm disappointed in how this process has been conducted. without an effort to compromise and to make major changes in this stimulus package, i will be voting no. thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor.

mr. cruz: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from texas. mr. cruz: mr. president, i rise today to commemorate texas independence day. 185 years ago today, on march 2, 1836, the republic of texas declared our independence from the nation of mexico. 59 delegates adopted the texas declaration of independence on that day, gathered at washington on the brazos. the del cats adopted a declaration modeled in significant parts after the declaration of independence of the united states. the declaration decried the arbitrary acts of oppression and tyranny from the mexican government under the dictator general santa anna. in particular, it noted that that government had, quote, ceased to protect the lives, liberty, and property of the people from whom its legitimate

powers are derived, and the texans signing that declaration sought to protect their rights of free speech, their rights to keep and bear arms, and their rights of freedom of religion. signing that declaration commenced the texas revolution, our battle for independence when we won independence from the nation of mexico and for nine years the state of texas became the republic of texas, an independent nation. that, of course, ceased in 1845 when we joined the united states and today we celebrate that spirit of independence that is still found throughout all 29 million texans. mr. president, i ask that my remaining remarks be recorded in a different part of the "congressional record." the presiding officer: without objection.

mr. cruz: mr. president, i rise today to express concern over president biden's nomination of governor gina raimondo to lead the department of commerce. we are a year into a deadly pandemic that originated in wuhan, china. the chinese communist party censored and disappeared doctors and journalists who were trying to tell the truth about how the coronavirus was spreading and the chinese communist party lied to the world about the nature of the virus. over 2.5 million people worldwide have died, including over a half million americans. the chinese communist party's lies, censorship, and propaganda didn't stop with the pandemic. they purveyed everything the chinese communist party does.

many of us are increasingly concerned that china is getting access to american secrets using nontara additional all of government or even all of nation approaches to espionage against the united states and our allies. that includes using companies like ten cent and with huawei wh masquerade as telephone companies when they are in fact government espionage operations. this is deeply troubling and dangerous. china is, in my judgment, the greatest long-term geopolitical threat to the united states for the next century. presidents in both parties have believed for decades that the united states could somehow turn china from a foe to a friend through trade and diplomacy, or that allowing china into rules-based institutions would

turn china into a rules-based country. instead, sadly, the opposite has happened. the united states, of course, can't sever all commerce with one of the biggest economies on the planet, but we must recognize china for the threat it poses to our national security. to counter the threat that china poses, we should do four things. number one, we should protect ourselves from chinese espionage and interference. number two, we should insulate the supply lines of our critical resources from china, including by bringing them back to the united states. number three, we should insulate all commerce from enabling the chinese communist party's human rights abuses, including their systematic pattern of torture and murder and genocide.

and number four, we should vigorously compete to secure our interests. on the first point, one important thing the department of commerce does is maintain an entities list, which is a list of foreign parties and companies that engage in activities contrary to american national security interests. when a foreign company is put on the entities list, they are barred from acquiring american technology. in 2019, i led an effort to add to the list of companies, and in 2019 and 2020, the trump administration added several chinese technology companies to the entities list. when governor raimondo came before the senate commerce committee in january, i asked her if she would keep those chinese technologies companies on the entities list. she refused to make that

commitment. in fact, she wouldn't even commit to keeping huawei on the entities list. which is unabashedly an espionage agency of the chinese communist party. in questions for the record, i gave governor raimondo a second chance to clearly and explicitly answer these questions, and yet she still refused. similarly, the governor provided vague nonanswers or no answers at all in response to questions for the record on her ethics problems in her conflicts of interest as governor. as my colleagues know, nominees will never be more engaged, more transparent, or more forthcoming than during their confirmation process. that governor raimondo has refused to be any one of these speaks volumes to how she would

act if confirmed as secretary. the fact of the matter is that there has been a rush to embrace the worst elements of the chinese communist party in the biden administration, and that includes governor raimondo. that's why i placed a hold on her confirmation, and it's why i will be voting not to confirm her to lead the department of commerce. governor raimondo's nomination is part of a pattern. so far, every action, every nomination that we have seen from the nascent biden administration, insofar as it concerns china, has lessened the scrutiny, has lessened the sanctions, has lessened the pressure on communist china. we are seeing a steady and systematic embrace of communist china, and that is dangerous. that is dangerous for our

nation. it is foolhardy. i recognize that there is a lot of pressure from big business and big tech to get in bed with china. that is profoundly contrary to american interests. now, we're just about six weeks into the biden presidency, and the biden administration has already been keen on lifting the restrictions on huawei since the very first week. where will we be six months from now? a year from now? prohibiting the use of platforms like huawei and safeguarding american technology from being exploited by chinese espionage infrastructure are commonsense measures to protect american national security. before the coronavirus pandemic,

the understanding of the threat posed by communist china was more limited, was more limited in washington where both democrats and republicans mistakenly believe china was our friend, and it was more limited internationally. for eight years in the senate i have been calling out the threat posed by communist china. sometimes a lonely position in this town, but as events transpired the last year and the world saw the systemic pattern of lies and deception and death coming from the chinese communist government, eyes have been opened and the severity of the threat has been underscored. before this pandemic, our ally, the united kingdom, was moving forward with plans to allow huawei to install significant

telecommunication infrastructure in the u.k. the united states government had vigorously urged the u.k. not to go down that road, that it would open up the united kingdom to espionage from the chinese government. the united kingdom is one of the members of the five i's intelligence sharing network, where we share our most sensitive, our most important, our most confidential national security secrets. i had the opportunity to sit down with nigel ferage on a broadcast i hosted, to talk about europe and to talk about wayway, the threat from china. as i said to him on the podcast, as much as we love the brits as

valuable a friend the u.k. is to the united states, if the u.k. allowed huawei infrastructure in its country, we might have to reassess the u.k.'s participation in the five i's security network. as i put it then, four eyes are better than six eyes. well, i'm grateful to say that following the coronavirus pandemic, the united kingdom reconsidered its decision. it saw the threat of communist china and huawei and it stepped back from the brink. that was the right thing to do and it did so in response from considerable pressure from the united states government. i very much hope that this pattern we are seeing of the biden administration embracing communist china will not reverse that pressure, will not lighten

up on our allies and encourage them to move forward with huawei to allow the espionage architecture to be put in place in their nations. that would render america more vulnerable, it would render our allies more vulnerable, it would render the world more vulnerable. it would have been a very simple matter for governor raimondo to commit to keeping huawei on the enemies list. it would have been a very simple matter for governor raimondo to commit to keeping the chinese technology companies that i urged be added to the list, keeping them on the list. she refused to do so repeatedly. as i said, this appears to be part of a pattern of a systemic decision to -- systematic decision to embrace communist china. if that is indeed the direction

the biden administration is going, i hope that members of both parties who have seen the threat posed by communist china will urge the president, will urge the cabinet, will urge this administration, stop the embrace of communist china. defend the interests of the united states of america because she was not willing to make these commitments i will be voting against the confirmation of governor raimondo, and i encourage my colleagues to do the same. i yield the floor and i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: will the senator with hold his request. mr. cruz: i with hold my request. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the senate stands in pres. until 2:15 -- recess until 2:15 p.m.

>> senators recessing for their weekly lunch meetings. president biden will be joining the senate democrats meeting virtually. when they return at 2:15 p.m. eastern their will on the confirmation of rhode island governor gina raimondo for commerce secretary. and whether to limit debate on princeton university dean for chair of the white house council of economic advisers. we will have live coverage here on c-span2 when senators camelback inn. while we wait we will take a look at some of today's "washington journal."

>> you are watching c-span2, your unfiltered view of government. c-span2 was created by america's cable-television companies and today we are brought to you by these television companies who provide c-span2 to viewers as a public service. >> sunday on "in depth" allied conversation with author elizabeth kolbert staff writer for the new yorker. her most recent book is "under a white sky: the nature of the future." her other books include the pulitzer prize-winning "the sixth extinction," and field notes from a catastrophe. join in the conversation with your phone calls, facebook comments, text in tweets for elizabeth kolbert sunday at noon eastern on tvs in-depth on c-span2. before the program be sure to visit c-spanshop.org to get your copies of her