is that a national security issue or natural preference issue? whether animals but is independence is a national secured earn national preference? >> national security. >> thank you. >> senator cortez masto. >> thank you. mr. turk, thank you for taking the time to meet with me earlier this week and congratulations again on your nomination. he will not be surprised by the first question i ask but as we all believe in nevada the mountains are not suitable for national nuclear waste repository and during your confirmation secretary granholm confirmed that the biden demonstration as opposed to storing nuclear waste in the mountain. >> we leave this here as the u.s. senate is about to gavel and to resume work on the covid-19 relief plan. senators need to vote first unofficially proceeding to the bill and that could be delayed if they wait to learn the cost

of the senate version to be followed up by 20 hours of debate in the number of amendments and motions to remove certain provisions that violate senate budget rules. votes on the minutes and the final vote could take place tomorrow. live now to the floor of the u.s. senate here on c-span2. . the presiding officer: the senate will come to order. the chaplain, dr. barry black, will lead the senate in prayer. the chaplain: let us pray. almighty god, you are our rock. today inspire our senators to safely walk on the path of wisdom. remind them that reverence for you guarantees a great start for

their journey. inspire them to strive to fulfill your purposes. may they daily express their gratitude for your bountiful blessings as you continue to direct their steps. trusting you with all their hearts, may they find in you their strength and shield. lord, lead them like a shepherd remind them that you have set apart the godly for yourself. we pray in your merciful name. amen. the presiding officer: please join me in reciting the pledge of allegiance to the flag.

i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. the presiding officer: the clerk will read a communication to the senate. the clerk: washington d.c, march 4 , 2021. to the senate: under the provisions of rule 1, paragraph 3, of the standing rules of the senate, i hereby appoint the honorable signed: patrick j. leahy, brian schatz, a senator from the state of hawaii, to perform the duties of the chair. signed: patrick j. leahy, president pro tempore. mr. schumer: mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. schumer: i move to proceed to calendar number 1, smst 11. the clerk: prp the clerk will report. the clerk: a bill to provide for exception to limitation against

apappointment of persons as secretary of defense and so forth. mr. schumer: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the senate be in a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak therein for up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: mr. president, as the senate prepares to take up the american rescue plan today, i want to remind everyone why we're here. this country is in the midst of a once-in-a-century crisis. not once in a decade, not once in every 50 years. once in a century. it's a crisis that is still very much with us, and it is deadly, deadly serious. it has claimed more than 515,000 precious lives across every part of the nation. for the better part of the calendar year, businesses have had to close their doors, entire industries teetered on the brink of collapse. the economy has lost ten million jobs since this time last year.

millions of americans are thousands of dollars behind on the rent and on the utilities. folks are facing eviction. american families have had their water shut off, their heat shut off in the depth of winter and the power cut during their kids' first days of virtual kindergarten. even as the vaccine is quickly making its way into americans' arms now that president biden has taken the helm, tens of thousands of americans continue to get sick every week, and we are racing against the clock to defeat the pandemic and to save american lives. now congress has come together on several occasions to pass emergency relief in this time of extraordinary crisis. in each case, we saw our economy recover briefly before worrying trends took hold again, showing the depth of the economic crisis. it's not going to be quick and

easy to get out of. after the cares bill passed, our economy stabilized before dipping deeply again in the summer. after we passed another emergency bill in december, the january numbers looked positive before once again slipping in recent weeks. trusted economists, treasury secretary yellen, federal chair powell, both cautious, careful people, are telling us plain as day that the economy is not yet ready to stand on its own, that our recovery is deeply uncertain, that the risk of doing little is far greater than doing too much. we also arrived at this moment about to take up the american rescue plan because we remember what happened the last time our country faced a significant economic downturn. congress was too limited and constrained in its response to the financial crisis in 2008 and

2009, and as a result the country suffered a long, slow, painful recovery. a lost decade for many american families creating anger, pessimism, a sourness in the land that discombobulated our politics. we are not going to make those same mistakes again. we are not going to condemn millions of working americans to another lost decade of tepid recovery. we are not going to abdicate our responsibility to help the american people just because we have started to see the first hint that things aren't as bad as during the very worst days of the pandemic. our mission, our mission is to crush the virus now, get our country back to normal, lay the foundation for our economy to come roaring back, roaring back. that's what the american rescue plan is designed to do, and the entire country has gotten behind

it. hundreds of the nation's top business leaders support the plan. more than 400 mayors and local leaders from both parties, democrat and republican, support the plan. the american people support the plan, including a clear majority of democrats, independents, republicans. it seems the only group that opposes the bill are republicans here in washington. and it's confounding. when donald trump was president, they were willing to vote for a total of over $3 trillion in aid. now that president biden is president, the economy is in the same pickle generally speaking, they don't want to vote for a nickel. i wonder why. i wonder why. and i have to say a few of my republican colleagues are going to some pretty ridiculous lengths to showcase their opposition to a bill the

economist has called one of the most popular bills in decades, a bill supported by a majority, a majority of republican voters. not republican senators, but voters. yesterday the republican senator from wisconsin, the same senator who last summer proudly declared he would oppose even a dime more in covid relief, the same senator who spent a senate hearing on capitol security reading conspiracy theories into the record and saying january 6 wasn't an armed insurrection, decided to make himself the face of the republican opposition to the bill by vowing to force the reading of the senate amendment to the american rescue plan in full before we can proceed with the bill. we all know this will merely delay the inevitable. it will accomplish little more than a few sore throats for the senate clerks who work very hard

day in, day out to help the senate function. and i want to our clerks profoundly for the work they do every day, including the arduous task ahead of them. still, we are delighted that the senator from wisconsin wants to give the american people another opportunity to hear what's in the american rescue plan. we democrats want america to hear what's in the plan. and if the senator from wisconsin wants to read it, let everybody listen because it has overwhelming support. we want them to hear about the direct checks they'll get as promised to help them keep up with the cost of groceries, medicine, and the rent. about funding to expand testing and support the vaccine. about the resources for schools to reopen quickly and safely as possible. about the money to keep firefighters, teachers, bus drivers, and first responders on the job.

about the dollars to provide rental assistance to keep americans in their homes. about the help the hardest-hit small businesses hang on until brighter days return. oh, yes, when the senior senator from wisconsin reads, the american people will get another chance to hear about the tax breaks for low-income workers and assistance for american families struggling with child care, two measures that help make the american rescue plan one of the single-largest anti-poverty bills in recent history. and then once the american people have heard all over again about the provisions that make this bill so popular, about the support that is going to lift the country out of the crisis, provide millions of vaccines in people's arms and set it on a path to strong recovery, the senate is going to move forward with the bill. no matter how long it takes, the senate is going to stay in session to finish the bill this

week. the american people deserve nothing less. i yield the floor and note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call:

quorum call:

mr. mcconnell: mr. president. the presiding officer: the republican leader. mr. mcconnell: i ask that further proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: over this week i described the terrible flooding across my home state of keb kentucky. yesterday my staff and i spoke with leaders with some of our

hardest hit counties. i was told that one personally joined crews, small businesses -- small business owners in lee county who survived one covid obstacle after another now saw their life's work literally washed away. the situation in powa county is so dire at least one city can only be accessed by boat. road crews, first responders and the kentucky national guard are doing their best to help out but they can't handle the full scope of the damage until the water recedes. once the assessment is complete, the governor will formerly request a disaster declaration from the biden administration. as soon as he does, my team and i will do our part to get assistance these communities as soon as possible. on a completely different matter. yesterday our democratic

colleagues began to plan ramming through their partisan spending spree, but it seems they've had some difficulty getting to the starting line. after all, senate democrats, including committee chairs, are essentially being jammed with texts from over in the house. their own members have barely been able to read this thing let alone shape it. so let's think back to where we were one year ago. 11 and a half months ago, the senate was discussing a major spending package. in fact, it was the same size as what is being proposed right now, about $2 trillion. an appropriate price tag back at the start of the crisis. but that's where the similarity actually ends. last march the senate was working overtime in a bipartisan fashion to craft good policy from the bottom up. i assembled bipartisan task forces. we had republicans and democrats

and staff working around the clock to build the policies that would save our health system and our economy. the cares act sustained us for almost a year of shutdowns. it funded the health care fight, saved small businesses, and funded operation warp speed, which helped pave the way for these pioneering vaccines and preordered hundreds of millions of doses for americans. the law sent so much relief to households that even as the g.d.p. declined, personal income and savings actually went up. even liberal economists say that president biden inherited an economy that is already primed for a swift recovery. it was the largest esh american rescue package ever, it passed the senate without a single dissenting vote because it was built the right way. but that was last march. so what about today?

instead of heading into a dark tunnel, we're accelerating out of it. incredible vaccines, a rebounding economy, that's what the biden administration inherited thanks to what we did last year. washington democrats are trying to exploit the last chapters of this crisis to pass the most progressive domestic legislation in a generation. and they told republicans, take it or leave it. no openness to meaningful bipartisan input, ten republican senators approached president biden and proposed cooperation in the order of hundreds of billions of dollars. they were refused. all that interested democrats was a partisan hodgepodge of largely noncovid-related items. last year the democratic leader said sitting in your own office, writing a bill and then demanding the other side support it is not anyone's idea of

bipartisanship. as recently as last november, he said we need a true bipartisan bill, not this is our bill, take it or leave it. another time our friend from new york told everyone to, quote, go look up in the dictionary what bipartisanship is. it's both parties working together, not your party doing ale bill and then saying it's bipartisan. so in less than four months, we've had two completely different versions of the democratic leader. the two of them could have had a fascinating debate with each other. but, look, the real tragedy here is not senate process. it's how ill-suited this bill is to what americans need right now. no policies to get schools reopened right away, no smart solutions to directly spur rehiring. less than 1% of the money goes to the vaccines that will end this nightmare, only 9% to the entire health care fight all

together. i guess it's become a rite of passage for a new democratic are president to give a spending spree that americans don't need. the biden administration inherited a tide that was already turning, but they've chosen to ignore the approach that got us this far. now, one final matter. yesterday even house democrats repassed their plan to give washington unprecedented power over the way our nation conduction elections. just like the bipartisan spending spree last week, the only thing bipartisan about the vote was the opposition. the same party that wants to change senate rules when they lose a vote, packed the supreme court court when they lose a case and throw out the electoral college every time they lose the white house, wants to rewrite 50 states' election laws from washington. it's unprincipled, it's unwarranted. large portions of it may be

unconstitutional. one of -- one of the key principles of elections is that officers cannot fire and hire us. different states and localities surround around absentee voting in different ways. washington democrats want every county in the america to have the answer to all of those questions the way they want. for example, no state would be able to have a simple voter i.d. requirement unless they neuter it with a massive loophole. but every state would be forced to allow ballot harvesting where paid political operatives could come with a stack of names on them. imagine this national landscape where we see the losing side doubt the legitimacy of two presidential elections and thinking this is the time for sweeping one party rewrite of

election law. democrats are also coming after america's free speech, the federal election commission was set up after watergate to be a bipartisan panel by design. the f.e.c. needs bipartisan consensus to throw a penalty flag. washington democrats want to scrap that as well. their bill would convert the f.e.c. to an odd-numbered partisan body and it would get greater scope to nose around and even more of america's speech and america's activities. the bill tramples on citizens' privacy that would intensify cancel culture and help mobs harass people for their private views. even the left-wing aclu condemns this. this is what they said. it could directly interfere with the ability of many to engage in political speech about causes that they care about and that

impact their lives. end quote from the aclu. that's right, house democrats swung so far to the anti-free speech left, they even lost the aclu. speaking of political swings, democrats want washington to take over elections should remember that majorities in congress actually come and go. it would be absurd for election regulations in every presingt in america to go boomeranging back and forth every time congress changes hands. millions of american voters elected 50 republican senators and a whole lot of house republicans to make sure democrats play by the rules, not rewrite the rules. for one party to seize unilateral control nationwide would be a civic catastrophe. it's worth asking, why are washington democrats so desperate to forcibly rewrite election law before the next

time voters decide their fates? the presiding officer: under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved. mr. durbin: mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority whip. mr. durbin: mr. president, some of our republican colleagues say that -- that america doesn't need president biden's covid rescue plan because, quote, the pandemic is nearly over. funny. i've never heard them say we shouldn't help tornado victims in their states after the tornadoes were gone. let me say it clearly. we're not out of the woods yet. i wish we were. 510,000 americans, maybe more now, have died. the united states has 5% of the world's population. we have 20% of the covid

infections and deaths. why? because of poor leadership during the first year of this pandemic. we had a president then who is now gone who would announce it was a hoax and it was going to disappear by easter, downplaying the seriousness of the situation with his fanciful flights about certain chemicals that were going to save us or whether or not we should be gargling lysol every morning. it made no sense and the american people came out of that experience confused and infected with deaths in their family. that was the reality of the first year of this pandemic. there was also another reality which the republican leader just alluded to. 12 months ago, we passed something called the cares act. it was historic. the largest federal expenditure -- expenditure in the history of the united states of america.

who designed that bill? well, treasury secretary mnuchin, whom i didn't know well, but apparently had some skill as a negotiator, because he managed to not only speak for president trump but to negotiate a bipartisan package in march of last year called the cares act for $2 trillion. it came to the floor of the senate, vote 96-0. every democrat voted for the covid rescue plan of the trump administration a year ago -- every democrat. the second major bill occurred in december, $900 billion designed to help us through the first three months of this year. again, treasury secretary mnuchin at the table, on behalf of president trump, negotiating with democrats and republicans, and it came to the floor of the senate, and this time 92 votes in favor of it, including every

democrat and six republicans voted no. so, you see, when it came to covid rescue plans, under the trump administration, the republicans were happy to ask us to join them, and we did. some people said we're giving a political advantage here, there, or the other place, but those arguments didn't prevail on the democratic side. the nation came first. the pandemic came first. unemployed people and businesses struggling came first. and we voted that way. then came a new president. joe biden, elected november 3, despite the denial of some, it was a reality and he took this pandemic and faced it squarely. no excuses about hoaxes or it's going to go away or i've got a favorite chemical that will save everybody's life. he faced it squarely. he accepted the responsibility

as president of the united states to tell the american people the truth. and the first thing he told them, we cannot, we should not stop in our efforts to end this pandemic and put america back on its feet. so he made a proposal, a proposal with at least $160 billion in it for buying vaccines, administering those vaccines and distributing them across the united states. i would think that everybody would agree with that as a starting point. it wasn't the end point. the cash payment promised by the trump administration and agreed to by most democrats, he wanted to keep his word on that, $1,400 more for families all across america. he talked about state and local aid. i can tell you that is more than a theoretical exercise in my state of illinois. we need help. the expenses of covid-19 and the

lost revenue by our shungen economy have taken their toll on my state and in the cities across the state. i just got off a zoom call with a dozen small tawns in illinois. they are -- towns in illinois. they are all down in my neck of the woods. great folks doing their best, struggling under covid-19, and they asked me, are you going to send us any help? and i said president biden made his american rescue proposal. if we can pass it, help is on the way. assistance just won't go to springfield, our state capital, or to chicago which does need help, but to cities across our state and across our nation. that's included in this bill too. help for our schools included in this bill too. the list goes on, and it's an important list because it really highlights the priorities of recovery in the united states. now, president biden and all of us heard the news a day or two ago when the governors of texas

and mississippi in full-throated denial of the reality of this pandemic, basically took off all the limitations on businesses and on individuals. no more mask requirements. let's open up everything all the way. the president was right, that was not a smart choice. it was not a wise choice. we're up against it, and we've got to remain united in our effort to defeat this coronavirus. and so this week in a day or two president biden's american rescue plan will come to the floor. will we have another bipartisan roll call, 96-0, 92-6? i'm afraid not. as of this moment -- and i hope it changes -- no single republican senator has expressed an interest in voting for this bill. not one. i hope it changes, and it could. some senators at the last

minute, i think, will realize this is the right way to go. meanwhile, the republican leader comes to the floor every day and mocks this plan, a democratic wish list, a liberal wish list. nancy pelosi's wish list. this is the american people's wish list. 80% of the american people support what president biden is trying to do. the leading economists have told us we have to do this. if we don't inject money into this economy to restore its energy and future, we will pay for it not just for months to come, but far beyond. it's a situation every parent knows when they go to the doctor, to the pediatrician with their little boy or little girl with an earache, and he says i'm going to give you some antibiotics. now this is a five-day prescription. this little boy is going to start feeling better on the second day and by the third day he's going to be playing as

usual, and you're going to think he doesn't need the rest of these antibiotics. don't make that decision. keep giving him the full dose of medicine to get well completely, or he may lapse back into it again and get sick all over again. and so you stick with it even when your little boy is running rings around you or little girl is getting ready to get on her tricycle because that's what the doctor said, and that was the right thing to do. that's the same thing with this. if we accept the republican argument that this pandemic is really over, if we accept the argument of the governor of texas -- that was yesterday, we don't have to worry about it tomorrow -- if we take that approach, we could have a disastrous result. we could be back in trouble again in just a few weeks. i hope we don't. i hope we come together in the senate, preferably on a bipartisan basis and help the

president get us through this pandemic. this is our chance. we have no greater responsibility than to put an end to this pandemic, put the economy on its feet, put the kids back in school, and let grandparents visit those grandkids again. that is part of getting america back where it needs to be. we need bipartisan support. as democrats, we provided that support to a republican president. now that we have a democratic president, will our republican senators do the same? i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from connecticut. mr. murphy: thank you very much, mr. president. mr. president, i waspresiding on tuesday. sometimes staff will give you a folder of things to review while i'm presiding and often they'll be upset when i come back having

not reviewed they have given me. the reason for that is simple. when there are members speaking before the body, i'm, frankly, very interested to listen and to hear what our colleagues have to say. we don't do enough of that in this place. we're so busy during the day, we don't spend a lot of time on the senate floor. we might have the floor on our tv in our office, but we're not always paying attention to what our colleagues have to say. one of the benefits of getting to preside is you get to listen to the arguments being made on the senate floor. the hours i was presiding on tuesday, i got to hear about four or five of my republican colleagues come down in sequence to make their case as to why they'd be voting against the american rescue plan. and so i got to hear a number of themes be developed. i don't think coincidentally a number of arguments were made repeatedly by many of our friends on the republican side of the aisle. i decided it might be worthwhile to just spend a few minutes

talking about the claims that are made about this bill by republicans, the reasons why they're voting against it, and to talk about how some of these arguments may be a little bit more disingenuous than we might like. the first thing that i heard, mr. president, was that this bill was just too expensive. it's $1.9 trillion, that's a lot money, no doubt. but this country has never, ever faced a health care crisis or an economic crisis like we do today. this is an unprecedented moment in our nation's history, and it requires us to step up and do something that isn't just going to sound like it will work and help people, but actually will. and i guess, to me, what's ironic about this claim that it's too expensive, that it's going to cost our kids and grandkids too much money is that republicans passed a tax bill that was almost to the dollar

the exact same amount as this relief bill is. they passed a $1.9 trillion tax bill where the majority of the benefits went to the richest americans who needed no more help. there was no crisis in 2017 amongst american millionaires and billionaires, and yet republicans were very willing to draw down $1.9 trillion in debt-financed tax cuts, $1.3 trillion in corporate tax cuts, $83 billion to let heirs of huge megaestates be able to inherit more money without taxation, $435 billion tax cut for the wealthiest 1% of americans. and so it's a little hard to

listen to my republican colleagues claim that this bill is too expensive when they were willing to spend the exact same amount of money in 2017 on tax cuts for their wealthy corporate and millionaire friends. it is also hard to listen to this argument because just a year ago republicans were willing to spend $1.9 trillion to address this crisis. it isn't as if republicans haven't understood when they were in control of the white house and the congress that we needed to step up and meet this moment. republicans have said, well, this is different because we're turning the corner. well, as senator durbin laid out very well, we may be able to see the corner, but we're not there yet. march 24 was the day that we passed the cares act, almost

the same amount of money as we're considering today. on that day 737 people died of covid-19. yesterday 2,369 people died of covid-19. so in many ways the crisis today is exponentially worse than it was a year ago when republicans to a person were willing to spend $2 trillion on the crisis. now all of a sudden when democrats are in charge of the white house, when a democratic majority leader sits here in the united states senate, $1.9 trillion is too much money to spend on a crisis that is taking on a daily basis three to four times as many lives as it did when we spent this money a year ago. and, by the way, the economic

crisis is still acute. there may be technically more people at work today than there was in april or may of last year, but surveys suggest today 80% of americans don't have enough money to pay their bills. why? because a lot of people are back to work but they're working fewer hours. they have less reliable work. and so there is still a crisis that exists amongst 80% of americans today that is no less than the crisis that existed in 2017. here's the second critique that is made over and over about this bill. it's a partisan bill, republicans say. well, that is a complaint of republicans' own making, because it is only a partisan bill in the united states senate three out of four voters support the american rescue plan. this is a recent morning consult poll. it's been referred to before on the floor.

70% of all voters support the american rescue plan. not surprisingly there's some difference between democrats and republicans, but frankly, not p much. 90% of democrats support the rescue plan. 60% of republicans support the american rescue plan. why? because everybody is hurting in this country. everybody is hurting. republicans and democrats need an extension of benefits. republicans and democrats know their kids can't get what they need in school without additional supports. this is a unifying proposal in the american public. president biden made a commitment to govern in a way that unified the country. he's done that. he's proposed a bill that has the broad support of republicans and democrats. i don't know that it's his fault that it can't draw republican support in congress despite the fact that it draws republican

support from the public. and finally, mr. president, this was maybe the most interesting theme of the complaints. it's not covid relief. i've heard different statistics thrown out by my republican friends, some of them suggest only 5% of this bill is covid relief. i'm not sure exactly how they come to that calculation, but what i understand them to say is that anything that isn't directly related to putting shots in people's arms or treating people with present cases of covid is not covid relief. well, let's just take a look at what was broadly part of the cares act that was supported by every single republican and what is broadly part of the american rescue plan. because my republican colleagues

thought that everything in the cares act was covid relief, whether it was designed to immediately attack the health care crisis or whether it was designed to address the economic crisis. there were stimulus checks in the cares act, not as big as the ones in the american rescue plan, but they were covid relief when we passed the cares act. now according to republicans they're not covid relief. there was an unemployment extension and a plus up in the maximum benefit under the cares act. that was covid relief back in march of last year, but now according to republicans, it's not covid relief. there was money for vaccines and for testing in the cares act. in the american rescue plan, money for vaccines, testing. small business relief was of course conceived in the cares act, the p.p.p. program, that's a big part of the american rescue plan, but now it's not covid relief according to my republican colleagues, whereas it was last year. there was state and local funding in the cares act.

there's state and local funding in the american rescue plan. there was rent and mortgage relief in the cares act. there's rent and mortgage relief in the american rescue plan. all of a sudden, since democrats took control of the white house and took control of the senate, all of these things which were categorized as covid relief by republicans in march are no longer covid relief. you're just supposed to think of these as extras, as democratic priorities. 90%, 95% of what's in the package we're voting on today is simply an extension of the same set of funding streams that we authorized in a bipartisan way a year ago. and so this idea that this is some democratic wish list when we are essentially just extending or increasing the same funding streams that were in the cares act is nonsense. it's nonsense.

of course this is all covid relief. of course it is covid relief when you are increasing nutritional benefits to people who can't afford to feed their kids because they've lost their job or they've lost hours because the economy melted down due to a pandemic. that is not all of a sudden not covid relief today. this one is maybe the most bizarre of republican claims. this bill is expensive, but it is not too expensive. this moment is unique. and we are mandated by our oath of office to meet this moment. republicans didn't have a problem spending $1.9 trillion to give tax breaks to their wealthy friends. i don't know why they all of a sudden have a problem putting money into the pockets of hardworking americans who are suffering through the worst health care crisis this country has seen in a century.

republicans say this is a partisan bill. out there in america, guess what? it is not. it is not. republicans and democrats support this because it's full of commonsense ideas that make a lot of sense to people no matter what their political ideology is outside of washington. republicans say this bill isn't covid relief. it's a democratic progressive wish list. no, it's simply an extension of the things that were bipartisan priorities last year. we thought they were good ideas then. we think they're good ideas now. especially given the fact that three to four times as many people are dying today as were dying in march of 2020 when we passed the first bipartisan cares act where the economy today is in just as dire straits as it was. submitted that i hope we are turning the corner. i hope that we get vaccines into

the arms of individuals such that we are soon back to the numbers of deaths per day that we saw in march of last year. i hope that we are on a road again to full employment, but i am confident that none of that can happen unless we make this investment in covid relief and in economic relief. it is an obligation as stewards of the economy and the welfare of the american people for us to step up to the plate and get this done this week. i yield the floor.

mr. thune: mr. president. the presiding officer: the republican whip. mr. thune: is the senate in a quorum call? the presiding officer: we are

not. mr. thune: mr. president, less than two months ago at his inauguration, president biden spoke about his deep commitment to bringing americans together. today the senate will consider the first major bill of his presidency, an intensely partisan piece of legislation. why is the bill before us today so partisan, mr. president? it's not because republicans were unwilling to cooperate with democrats on covid legislation. in fact, republicans made it very clear that we were willing to work with democrats. no, the bill before us today is so heavily partisan because democrats didn't want to work with republicans. democrats saw an opportunity to use the covid crisis to advance a whole host of liberal priorities. and they were afraid that allowing republicans to participate in the process would mean that some of their pet projects would be excluded. or that they would have to pare back some of their more profligate spending. so democrats decided to use wilings to ensure that republicans wouldn't be able to

interfere -- reconciliation to ensure that republicans wouldn't be able to interfere with the legislation. let's be clear about the nature of that legislation, mr. president. democrats would like to present this as a covid bill. it's not. yes, there are a handful of true covid priorities in this legislation, like more money for vaccines and coronavirus treatments, something that i think everybody here on both sides of the aisle supports. but the bulk of this bill is either non-covid related or ostensibly covid related, but actually either unnecessary or excessive. on the non-covid front, there is the $86 billion bailout for multiemployer pension plans. billions for climate change and other environmental policy issues. a new taxpayer-funded leave program for government employees with no requirement that it be used for covid-19.

and i could go on, mr. president. the version of the bill that came over from the house contained such non-covid-related measures as $100 million for an underground rail project in the house speaker's home state. $1.5 million for a bridge in the democratic leader's home state. plus a massive increase in the federal minimum wage that would cost an estimateddget office, ad potentially, potentially devastate small businesses already reeling from the effects of the coronavirus. and then there are the ostensibly covid-related measures like $350 billion for states. so what's the big problem there? well, states don't need anywhere near that much money to weather the rest of the pandemic. the vast majority of states are not in crisis, and rescuing those states that are not in crisis would not take anywhere

close to $350 billion. democrats are going to spend hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars on an unnecessary giveaway to states, and on top of that, mr. president, that giveaway is heavily, heavily weighted in favor of blue states. that's right. the distribution formula is designed to heavily favor democratic states. well, then there is the money for schools. now, republicans have been very willing to give schools money to help them reopen. in fact, last year, when republicans were in the majorit, during that time we passed five covid relief bills, all with bipartisan cooperation and support, at the 60-vote level that we use here in the senate for most legislation that we take up under regular order. we put a lot of money into giving schools money to help them reopen. in fact, republicans voted for

$68 billion for k-12 schools. at this point, mr. president, that money is sufficient. schools have spent just $5 billion of the $68 billion that we have already provided. let me repeat that. so far, schools have spent just $5 billion or less than 10% of the $68 billion that has already been given to them. yet the democrats' bill would appropriate an additional $129 billion for schools. 95% of which, mr. president, would be spent after this year. the year of the crisis, the year of the emergency, the year of the pandemic. you would think if this was a crisis that the funding would be made available to be used this year, but it's not. it gets spent in the years 2022 to 2028.

do democrats really expect americans to believe that school dollars that won't be spent until 2027 or 2028 are urgently needed coronavirus response dollars? this is the pattern with this bill, though, mr. president. we just passed a large coronavirus relief bill in december, the fifth coronavirus relief bill congress has passed, and a lot of the money from that bill hasn't been spent yet. in fact, a lot of money from earlier coronavirus bills hasn't been spent, yet democrats are throwing massive additional amounts of money at various recipients with no idea, no clear idea of whether or not that money will be needed or, in some cases, when we know very well that that money isn't needed. mr. president, republicans will be introducing amendments to the democrats' bill. i am introducing an amendment to undo the biden administration's

freeze on the coronavirus food assistance program which has provided support for farmers and ranchers who have been hit hard by the pandemic. i hope some of my less extreme democrat colleagues will join republicans to advance some of our amendments, like senator graham's amendment, to change the distribution formula for states to the formula used in the bipartisan cares act which passed unanimously here in the senate so that both red and blue states would get a fair shot at funding or amendments to remove those provisions that are in no way related to covid relief. unfortunately, mr. president, democrat leaders have made it very clear that they are not willing to entertain republican ideas, so i don't have a lot of confidence that republican amendments, even if adopted, will end up in the final bill. mr. president, it's deeply disappointing that pretty much the first thing democrats did this congress was to take a bipartisan process for coronavirus relief, and make it

partisan. all five, all five of the coronavirus bills that congress has passed to date. last year, republicans were in the majority were bipartisan. this bill could have been bipartisan, too. democrats decided the republicans and the americans that they represent should not have a voice in this legislation. is this what the rest of the biden presidency is going to look like? well, i sure hope not, mr. president. because it's going to be really hard, really hard to come up with solutions that are durable and that represent the middle of the country, those people whose voices are not heard in the legislation that we will be taking up today. mr. president, i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator for louisiana. mr. kennedy: thank you, mr. president. i want to talk for a few

minutes, mr. president, about the good people of china, about confucius institutes, and the chinese communist party. i meant what i said when i referred to the good people of china. you visited china, mr. president. the people of china are wonderful people. they are engaging, they are smart. they have great sense of humor. they have built an extraordinary economy. i -- i wish i could say the same about their authoritarian government, but i can't. the communist party of china is trying to not only swallow china, it's trying to swallow the world. we helped china be admitted -- excuse me. we helped the communist party of china be admitted to the world trade organization.

we were told that if we did, they would embrace free enterprise. we were told that the communist party of china would -- would be participant in a stable world. none of that has come to be the case. we know what the communist party of china has done to hong kong. we know what the communist party of china has done to the uighurs. we know what the communist party of china has done to the wonderful, wonderful people of tibet. but i did want to make that distinction between the authoritarian government, the communist party of china, and the chinese people. the communist party of china being as aggressive as it is has for a number of years reached out to our colleges and

universities to establish what the communist party of china calls confucius institutes, and this was the pitch made by the government of china to our universities. we will give you bucket loads of money if you, our universities, american universities, will allow us to establish confucius institutes where we can explain our culture to the young people of america, where we can have a free exchange of ideas, and where we can help young americans learn the chinese language if they would like. boy, that sounds great. you know, i'll take a dozen of those. but the communist party of china being the communist party of china, that's not how our confucius institutes have worked out.

these institutes run by the authoritarian government of china will not allow the free exchange of ideas. they will not allow anyone to talk about the uighurs or the people of tibet or hong kong or what happened in tiananmen square. they basically, they meaning the communist party of china, have used these confucius institutes as propaganda arms of the government. many of our universities have done the right thing. they said, nope, we stand for the free exchange of ideas and if you're going to come to our campus and tell our people that there are things they can't talk about, thun you -- then you, the confucius institutes needs to leave our campus. some of the universities have not done the right thing.

i'm not cynical enough to suggest that it's all about the money, but you can't ignore the fact that i think the communist party of china has given our universities, through the years, don't hold me it to this figure exactly, but about $150 million to set up these confucius institutes. and universities, they build that money into their budget so they are reluctant to see the confucius institutes leave. not all of our universities, but some of them. i realize the economic reality. i have a bill -- we can get rid of confucius institutes, it would just tell our universities that you've got to prop lir manage them. you -- properly manage them. you can't allow the confucius institute to stay on your campus if they do not allow for the free exchange of ideas. if kids -- i shouldn't call them kids -- if young people in -- at

our universities want to talk about tibet, they get to talk about tibet and the bill would say that the universities have to take back control of these confucius institutes from the communist party of china otherwise they are not going to be eligible for federal funds. now, my bill, once again, it doesn't kick anybody off campus, it just says you, the communist party of china, have to do what you originally told us you were going to do. our bill -- the senate has passed this senate. twice this bill passed the united states senate. the last time with bipartisan support we put the bill on -- on the ndaa, and, mr. president, you know how conference committees work at the ndaa. sometimes it's a ferret fire drill and there's a lot of confusion and somehow the

confucius institute bill got watered down to do nothing in the conference negotiations on the ndaa. i'm not criticizing anybody, but, it happened. so i'm going to ask our -- my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to pass the confucius institute act for ar third time -- for a third time and i hope in our new congress we can keep teeth in it in working with our colleagues not only in the senate but in the house. and toward that end, mr. president, i'd like to ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of s. 590, introduced earlier today. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: s. 590, a bill to establish limitations regarding

confucius institutes and for other purposes. the presiding officer: without objection, the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. kennedy: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the bill be considered read a third time and passed and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. kennedy: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, since we've got a few minutes here -- i think senator sanders is supposed to be next. am i right about that? i just thought i'd spend a few minutes to talk about president biden's coronavirus bill. let me see if i can explain why so many of my republican colleagues -- and i'm a part of that -- are disappointed in the bill. this bill -- this bill will be

our sixth coronavirus bill. i don't think anybody, any fair-minded person, can accuse the united states senate, both democrats and republicans, are not trying -- of not trying to respond to -- to this devastating virus and the -- the -- the economic problems that it has created. and i've been very proud that in the first five bills that we did it on a bipartisan basis. we spent a lot of money, about $4 trillion. that's four 4000000000000000 taxpayer dollars. and, of course, we don't even have 5% of that. we borrowed every bit of that.

it's a staggering sum. but we did it, it was a crisis. we had to deal with it. that's what we were sent up here to do. we did it on a bipartisan basis, but the last bill, president biden's most recent bill, we call the $1.9 trillion bill we haven't done on a bipartisan basis. i'm disappointed in that. i understand politics. you do too, mr. president. but -- but i listened very carefully to president biden and throughout the campaign and in six weeks of administration, and he said very clearly and repeatedly, you know, i want to work with everybody. what i heard him say to the republicans was, you know, i want to meet you halfway. i don't mean any disrespect, but if that's the case, either he or the people around him are not a very good judge of distance. it's been made very clear to us that there will be -- no

negotiations on this bill, that president biden decided to proceed to reconciliation, which only requires a majority and i think we -- we both expect, mr. president, there to be 50 democratic votes in favor of this bill and 50 republican votes against it and vice president harris will break the tie and that's not a bipartisan bill. and i do -- i regret that. and i think it could have been different. you know, we can debate about whether we need $1.9 trillion, and i understand there are good arguments on both sides. i've heard the arguments and i've listened carefully to my democratic friends explain why they think we need it.

there's another side of the story, and that is that thank the lord we enjoyed 4% g.d.p. growth last quarter. most economists reckon we won't have 6% g.d.p. growth this year. the american people have about $1.6 trillion in -- in excess savings. we have all of this liquidity that as soon as it is allowed to be released is going to stimulate our economy substantially, in my judgment. everyone involved is doing a wonderful job on the vaccines. you know, president trump's team did a wonderful job. president biden's team is doing a good job. the governors seem to be doing a great job. people are getting vaccinated. we know that we -- that we have a lot of people in america who

had the virus and didn't even know it. we're rapidly approaching the point where either through vaccination or people who have had the virus, and therefore had the antibodes, -- antibodies, we going to have well over a joord of the people protected and so one point of view is that we don't need to spend $1.9 trillion. but there's a middle ground here, mr. president, and i'm disappointed that -- that the president took the position that, look, we need to spend $2 trillion right now even though there's a trillion dollars at least in previously appropriated funds that we haven't spent yet. now, a reasonable approach would have been to say, do we really need to spend $2 trillion?

maybe we ought to spend the other trillion dollars and see if that will do it. another reasonable approach would have been to say, maybe we ought to reprogram some of the trillion that hasn't been spent. for example, we appropriated i think about $70 billion to our elementary and secondary schools. they've only spent $4 billion, so why are we giving them another $160 billion in president biden's bill? maybe -- i'm not saying it's the case, but we ought to explore it, maybe the schools didn't need the full $70 billion that we gave them if they only spent $4 billion or $5 billion. maybe we could reappropriate that money. if we had this money still sitting in a checking account, i would still think -- because it

represents a scarce resource. i would still think -- i would still think that we would need to take a look at the money we already spent and either spend it before it is well placed or reprogram it before we spend $2 trillion. we don't have the money in the checking account. we're going to borrow every penny of this money. $2 trillion, that's going to bring debt up to 27, 28, $29 trillion. and we know right behind it is going to come a green infrastructure bill and i'm hearing that could be $2 trillion to $3 trillion more. at some point we're going to run out of digits. at some point we're going to have to change the department of treasury to the department of debt because there's no treasury left. it's all debt. the -- the other thing that bothers me about the bill, mr. president, president biden -- and, again, i

understand politics. he has -- he has marketed this bill as an emergency. it's an emergency. we have to do it now. right now we need $1.9 trillion to deal with the economic crisis caused by the lockdown. and i understand that argument. and there clearly are some americans who need help. but if what the president is saying is accurate, then why is so much of the money not even spent -- not even going to be spent until a year from now? i look at the bill and i say, if all of that's true to deal with an immediate crisis, why are we giving money to states and local governments that have actually seen their revenues go up? why? there's no crisis.

and i looked at the bill and i asked myself, you know, why are we giving money to bail out pension funds -- pension plans? can we talk about this? and i looked at the bill and i say, why, as i just alluded to, why are we giving 160 -- i think that's the figure, mr. president, $160 billion to our elementary and secondary education institutions when we've given them $70 billion in the past and they've only spent $4 billion? where's the fire? they've got $65 billion or so left. this is real money. there's no money fairy. and i look at the bill -- i mean, i want to help the american people.

gosh, many of them do need help. but do we -- should we'll really be sending stimulus checks to people who have never missed a paycheck out there? do they really need the money? if they haven't been laid off, if they've been paid the entire time of the lockdown? why are we doing this? couldn't that money -- first of all, one option is not to spend it if there's not a need and pay down our debt or at least not increase our debt and another option would be to spend it on something that we really need. and -- and -- and i've come to the conclusion when i -- and i'm not -- i'm not -- i'm not trying to -- to be mean spirited, but that -- that's why i say calling this a coronavirus bill, you

know, it's like calling -- calling a -- harvey weinstein a feminist. this isn't a coronavirus bill, not the way it's been portrayed. now, the american people still have needs. we still have some folks, primarily in the leisure industry and the travel industry this who need our help. they do need help. we have a lot of folks who lost their jobs through no fault of their own. they're on unemployment, it's about to run out. they need our help, and we ought to help them. but the right way to do this, mr. president, is to sit down as a body, democrats and republicans, and go through our needs, not our wants because that's another problem with this bill. it's more wanty than needy. go through our needs and let's

discuss how much money we should appropriate to those needs in light of the fact that we've already spent $4 trillion and we have a bunch of money left over. and that's not the way this is being done. this is being rammed down our throats. this is just raw-gut politics, which i understand. i've been around it. you have too, mr. president. we've both been around the block a few times. but that's not how you allocate scarce resources. and the final point i'll make, you know, i know when we did, when we did the tax cut and jobs act, we meaning the republicans, we went through reconciliation. we did. a fair-minded person may be thinking, kennedy, you know, how can you criticize your democratic colleagues for using reconciliation if you did it. and that's fair, except when we

did the tax cuts and jobs act, we asked our democratic friends and leadership can we sit down and see what we can put together, and we were told no, we don't want to reduce taxes. and that's not what happened this time. ten of my colleagues -- i wasn't invited, and that's okay, but ten of my colleagues went to the white house and visited with president biden for two hours and came back and said, you know, i think he may want to put together a bill together, and we're excited and going yay, that's great, wonderful. the next thing we knew, the white house issued a statement and said our idea of unity is to do what we say and don't ask questions.

that's not unity. so all this could have been avoided, mr. president. it all could have been avoided. i think the, i think we're going to end up spending money that doesn't need to be spent right now. i think we're going to end up spending money where we don't need to spend it. and i'm so glad that senator schumer withdrew his bridge project and that speaker pelosi withdrew her silicon valley subway. that's just spending as far as i'm concerned. in any event, mr. president, i wanted to get that off my chest. we're going to go through a vote-a-rama where we all offer amendments. maybe together we can make this bill better and get rid some of the spending porn, as i call it, and do the job that the american people sent us here to

do. thank you, mr. president. with that -- i don't see senator sanders. i'm sorry. i yield to my good friend, senator peters. mr. peters: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from michigan. mr. peters: mr. president, i have six requests for committees to meet during today's session of the senate. they have the approval of the majority and the minority leaders. the presiding officer: duly noted. mr. peters: mr. president, as we near the one-year anniversary of the coronavirus pandemic gripping our country, there's no question that michiganders and people all across our country are still hurting. while we're making important progress in the fight to combat this virus, this public health

and economic crisis continues to take a significant toll on families, workers who are out of a job, educators, students, small businesses, hospitals, and communities all across our country. we passed targeted temporary relief in december, but we knew at that time that that was not going to be enough. we need more robust, meaningful relief. we must act quickly to meet the urgency of this moment by swiftly passing the american rescue plan. this is about relief for michiganders and americans who are reeling and are trying to make ends meet, funding to help schools safely reopen, sources to speed up vaccine distribution and support small businesses fighting to stay afloat. i continue to hear from michiganders from all across the state who are struggling to put food on the table, pay their

rent, and keep the lights on. these folks are not asking for a handout. they simply want a lifeline to get to the other side of the pandemic. when we passed $600 relief checks in december, i pledged that we must do more and that we could do that by providing people with an additional $1,400 to fulfill the promise of $2,000 in relief funds. with the american rescue plan, the majority of michiganders and american who receive these relief checks in december are going to be eligible once again. this bill would mean a family of four could receive an additional $5,600. that support is vital to make sure that people don't fall into poverty as a result of this pandemic and that they can get back up on their feet as quickly as possible. we know that millions of workers across our country, including workers in michigan, are on the verge of seeing unemployment benefits expire on march 14.

we cannot abandon folks who are out of work through no fault of their own because of covid-19. they have seen this pandemic disrupt their jobs and their incomes. the need for unemployment assistance is widespread and it is necessary in michigan. for example, there were over 840,000 active claims for michiganders for unemployment assistance in michigan just in february. that's up from 529,000 in january. and these claims for assistance come from every single county all across our state. we need to act now so these individuals remain eligible for unemployment benefits, including if they were self-employed workers like small business owners, freelance workers, independent contractors, or gig workers. we must ensure families receiving unemployment have enough assistance to get by, which is why i support an

additional $400 in weekly benefits. we also need to provide certainty that this assistance will continue to be there for them in the months ahead not just for the next few days. the american relief plan will do just that. by bolstering our state unemployment programs with additional federal support through august 29 to help families get back to work. we all know that we must safely reopen our schools. many parents and educators are struggling to assist children through lessons while juggling other work and caregiving demands during the pandemic. the american rescue plan reflects a point of consensus that we want our students to return to in-person learning as quickly and as safely as possible. and the more resources that we can provide, the better.

in response to the negative impact that covid-19 has had on education, a stronger and urgent investment in our schools is absolutely critical for achieving safe operations and recovering from gaps in learning. that is why the american rescue plan is absolutely essential. this legislation will provide $170 billion in emergency funding to our schools and to our students with $130 billion for k-12. the funding will help schools take steps based on science and recommended by the c.d.c. to ensure that students and educators can safely return to the classroom. this includes repairing ventilation systems, reducing class sizes and implementing social distancing guidelines, purchasing personal protective equipment and hiring support staff to care for students' health and for their well-being. every family and community has been facing a very unique set of

challenges, and we need to provide robust funding so schools and parents have what they need to keep children connected with learning opportunities that are both safe and effective. and while these are important steps, we also know that if we're going to come back stronger from this pandemic, we also need to support the very backbone of our economy, which is our small businesses. while we have passed several rounds of relief for small businesses, too many of our hard-hit small businesses are still reeling from restaurants to boutiques to family-owned and minority-owned businesses. the american rescue plan has significant small business relief, including $25 billion in grants for restaurants and bars that have lost revenue because of the pandemic. $15 million for economic recovery disaster grants, $7 billion in funding for l

paycheck protection loans and expanded eligible for nonprofits. additionally this package reauthorizes and provides $10 billion in federal funding including $1.5 billion specifically for minority-owned small businesses to the state small business credit initiative. i was proud to help establish this program in 2010 while serving in the house of representatives. this program is a proven success. in michigan it has helped small businesses create or retain over 12,000 jobs and it strengthens state programs that support financing of small businesses, allowing them to both grow and to create more jobs. i'm pleased to again champion this program, and with additional investment it will again provide crucial support to small businesses in michigan and all across our country. and finally, to completely get this pandemic under control, we must ramp up the distribution of

vaccines. that's one of my top priorities as chairman of the committee on homeland security and government affairs. and thanks to the extraordinary work of our scientists, our researchers and our vaccine makers, especially those in my home state of michigan, we now have three safe and effective vaccines. but i know that many people have been frustrated and darn right angered by the difficulties they have had in trying to secure vaccines for their loved ones or for themselves, but i'm encouraged that president biden and his administration have been working tirelessly to expand vaccine production and speed up vaccine distribution. but to get those additional vaccines into people's arms, it will take additional resources. through my work on the senate homeland security committee, i have been leading the charge to ensure that the federal emergency management agency has the essential staff, supplies, transportation, and other

resources necessary to ensure that every vaccine dose is actually reaching an arm in this country. i have spoken with president biden both in the oval office and at the pfizer vaccine facility in portage, michigan about the need to expedite deployment of vaccines and do everything in our power to ensure vaccines are free and widely available in every community as quickly and as efficiently as possible. the american relief plan includes $50 billion to help fema support a national vaccine program to efficiently administer vaccines, including underserved communities. it also provides frontline medical professionals the personal protective equipment, testing supplies and workforce needed to slow and to eliminate the spread of covid-19. all of these resources are mission critical, as fema plays a leading role in assisting the federal government's response to

covid-19. by coordinating medical supply acquisition and distribution and assisting state and local governments with funds for response activities, such as vaccine distribution and overtime pay for public health officials. as we consider the american rescue plan, there are signs of hope, particularly with ramped up vaccine production. we are beginning to emerge from a very dark winter, but our work is not done. we cannot be complacent. we cannot let up. this virus does not take a day off, and off, and so neither can we. we must pass the american rescue plan. this package is not only what the american people need, but it is what they want. there's widespread support across the country for this package, from mayors to governors to economists across the political spectrum, and the majority of the american people.

we must deliver comprehensive and urgently needed relief so we can do just that, by passing the american rescue plan. this package will not mark the end of our efforts to crush this virus, but it will provide a massive shot in the arm to help families, to safely open up our schools and to accelerate the development of more vaccines. so with that, mr. president, i urge all of my colleagues to support the motion to proceed and final passage. mr. president, i would suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

the presiding officer: the senator from vermont. mr. sanders: i ask for the quorum call to be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. sanders: mr. president, later today or tomorrow, as part

of the american rescue plan which we will be discussing in the next few days, which i happen to believe is the most significant piece of legislation to come to the floor of the senate in decades in terms of addressing the crises facing working families, as part of that piece of legislation, i will be offering an amendment to raise the federal minimum wage from $7.25 an hour, which i believe is a starvation wage, tr period. five years. and i think there has been some miscommunication around here. there are people who are saying it's going from $7.25 to $15 an hour in one year. not true. it goes from $7.25 to $9.50, to

$11, to 12.50, to 14, to $15 an hour. anyone who says we are raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour in the middle of a pandemic is simply not telling the truth. mr. president, this amendment is similar to a bill which i have brought forth, the raise the wage act, which i am proud to say has been cosponsored by some 38 members of the senate, and this is also similar to legislation which has already passed the u.s. house of representatives, and i thank them and i thank my friends in the progressive caucus in the house for doing a great job in pushing this legislation. i should also add to my senate colleagues that this legislation raising the minimum wage is supported by some 300 national

organizations, including the 12 million members of the afl-cio, and virtually every major union in this country. this is something that unions like the sciu, one of the largest unions in this country, have been fighting for for a very long time. and i should also adhere that while raising the minimum wage is going to impact every low-wage worker in this country because african american and latino workers often are earning poverty wages, it significantly impacts the lives of the minority communities as well. and that is why among so many other organizations supporting this amendment, it is supported by the leadership conference on civil and human rights.

it is supported by the national organization for women, because again when we talk about low-wage workers, we're talking about the minority community, we're talking about women, and that is why it's supported by groups like unitos, the american association of university women, indivisible, justice for migrant women, the national domestic workers alliance, and the national women's law center. so once again, this is legislation that will increase wages for 30 million american workers. and if you ask me what the great economic crisis in our country is today, it's not just high unemployment, it's not just income and wealth inequality. it is that half of our people today and before the pandemic were living paycheck to paycheck. their wages were so low that if

they had a problem with their car, their kid got sick, suddenly they were in financial crisis. and in the richest country in the history of the world, half of our people should not be facing economic desperation when their car breaks down. and the reason for that is significantly that many millions of workers are earning starvation wages, and i underline that, starvation wages in this country. i'd love to hear anybody get up here and tell me that they could live on $7.25 an hour, they could live on $8 an hour, they could live on $9 an hour. you can't. and i have been all over this country, and i have talked to workers who are making $10, $11 an hour with tears streaming down their cheeks, telling me what it's like to work for starvation wages and try to raise your kids. so the time is long overdue.

last time this congress passed an increase in the minimum wage was in the year 2007, 2007. it is time to raise the minimum wage. it is time to raise the minimum wage to a living wage of $15 an hour. now, later on today, or this evening, as part of my support for this enormously important piece of legislation as chairman of the budget committee, i will be speaking more about why we need to raise the minimum wage. but i want to focus on one part of the minimum wage bill that i have been hearing a little bit about in the last couple of days from some of my colleagues. that is the provision to raise the tip wage, which -- now, the tip wage, so everybody understands it, is the minimum -- federal minimum wage that applies to waiters and

waitresses, barbers, hair stylists, parking attendants and others. fellow americans, do you know what that federal minimum wage today is? for that person who waits on your table at a restaurant? it is $2.12 an hour. yeah, you heard me correctly. $2.12 an hour. and the proposal, as part of the minimum wage bill, the amendment that i will be offering, that tip minimum wage would go up from $2.12 an hour to $14.95 an hour, over a seven-year period. longer than the overall national minimum wage would go up. and this is something that clearly is desperately needed. now, i know that here in washington, any time we bring

forth serious and important legislation for working people, the big-money interests get to work, and all of their lobbyists who make their six figures or seven figures a year, they get to work on congress to tell you why you can't do anything to protect the most vulnerable and hard-hit people in this country. the national restaurant association, they are a very powerful lobbying organization. i guess they have been enormously successful because we have not raised the federal minimum wage since 2007. this powerful lobbying organization has gone around and they are telling members of the house and the senate that raising the tip wage is opposed by restaurant workers, and it would be harmful to the interests of wages and waitresses and other people. that is not true. that is what lobbyists say

representing big money interests. that's what they are paid to say. but that is not what workers who wait on tables are telling us. one fair wage, an organization, a grassroots organization representing service employees' wages, waitresses and others, have just delivered to the white house a petition with 140,000 signatures on it from service workers who are demanding that they receive the same minimum wage as every other worker in this country. and polling among service employees and nonservice employees also supports the reality that americans want our wages and our waitress -- our waiters and our waitresses and other service employees to get a fair and equal minimum wage similar to what other low-wage workers are receiving.

now, i have heard from some who tell me that, you know, people are waiting on tables -- and by the way, i was one of the worst waiters in the history of the country, but i was a waiter a long time ago. i know a little bit about it. and i am hearing from some that waiters and waitresses, they are doing really well, making a whole lot of money, and they don't need an increase in the minimum wage. and let's be clear. when you talk about the restaurant and the hotel industry, you're talking about mass discrepancies in the kind of incomes that people receive. i will not deny for a second. my daughter worked in a fancy restaurant. she did quite well. so if you're working in a hotel, in a fancy restaurant where you have a menu that is quite expensive, you have a $100 meal and you get 20%, that's 20 bucks, you are waiting on three or four tables, you are doing

okay. i don't deny that a second. i wish those waiters and waitresses who work so hard continued success. but let us be clear, not everybody works in a fancy restaurant or a big hotel which has a high-priced menu. we have a whole lot of people working in diners, working in working-class restaurants where the menu is not that fancy. maybe it is $10 for lunch or $8 for lunch. 20% of that is $1.60 on an $8 meal. let us be very clear that when we talk about waiters and waitresses, some 70% of tipped workers in this country are women who suffer from three times the poverty rate of the rest of the u.s. workforce. in other words, women who are waitressing have a three times higher poverty rate than the rest of the u.s. workforce.

their tips are not keeping up with their needs. they use -- these women waitresses use food stamps at double the rate of other workers in this country, and importantly, and increasingly so, amazingly, during this pandemic, waitresses suffer from the highest rates of sexual harassment of workers in any industry because they are forced to tolerate inappropriate customer behavior to feed their families through the tips that they get. and we're hearing stories br guys -- where guys in the restaurant are saying, take your mask off. if you want a tip, let me see how you look. clearly, this is unacceptable behavior. i also want to be point out that the idea of moving tip wages

over seven years, moving it to the same as minimum wage is not a radical idea. it is not a bernie sanders idea. it already exists. i don't know if people know this. it already exists in seven states. so in seven states right now, people who work in the service industry, waiters, waitresses and others are getting the same wage as them. they are california, montana, alaska and minnesota. seven states already pay their service industry workers the same wages as they pay other minimum wage workers. and i should point out that all of these states experienced a growth in the number of small businesses and restaurants after they abolished the tip minimum wage. so they abolished the tip

minimum wage, it did not drive restaurants out of business. in fact, in those states where the tip minimum wage equaled the general minimum wage, we saw a growth in the number of restaurants. and furthermore, to respond to another piece of misinformation, waiters and waitresses in these states received more in tips, not less. so the methodology that is going around here is that if we raise the minimum wage for waiters and waitresses when somebody walks into a restaurant, they are going to be thinking this personnow making $10, $12 an hour, i'm going to leave less of a tip. ain't the way the world works. may i also say a word about how the impacted workers in every sector, but how it has impacted tip workers. in many states where the tip minimum wage still exists, tip

workers -- this is rather unbelievable -- tip workers did not even qualify for unemployment. so we're talking now in this bill of substantially increasing unemployment, a $400 supplement and we're talking about extending it to late august. but tip workers, whose minimum wage is so low they do not even qualify for unemployment. in an industry where more than six million workers have lost their jobs, and obviously we all know the restaurant and hotel industry has been terribly hard hit by the pandemic, more than 60% of sub minimum wage earners could not get unemployment benefits because the state and federal government denied them benefits for not making enough earned income. you all got that? so we're talking about the need, and i certainly agree with that, to expand and extend

unemployment benefits, but you've got a whole lot of workers who are earning starvation wages who are not going to be eligible for unemployment. at the same time as restaurants reopen, the c.d.c. has declared restaurants as the most dangerous place to work. we all know that. it's obvious, you're coming face-to-face with your customers. and now servers in the midst of that are responsible -- you are a waiter, a waitress, you are not responsible for telling somebody who walks into your restaurant that they must socially distance themselves or wear a mask, not necessarily a comfortable position for a worker dealing with a hostile customer. i would also add, as all of us are increasingly aware of sexual harassment in general in this country, that the restaurant industry has some of the highest

rates of sexual harassment. in a workplace where 70% of the workers are women and where they rely on their customers to determine their wages, because of tips, women are often expected to withstand sexual harassment in order to get those tips. in states where the sub minimum wage has been eliminated, sexual harassment has been cut substantially because women no longer have to take that. it's not an all or nothing proposition. so, i'm going to be -- if you ask me again what the major economic crisis facing this country, we know unemployment is sky high. we know income inequality is unacceptable, and so many other factors are out there about the economy. but at the top of my list is the fact that tens of millions of workers in the richest country on earth are barely making it. they are having a hard time

feeding it their kids, they are having a hard time paying their rent. many of them get inadequate or no health insurance at all. now, year after year the american people, i think correctly perceive, that this congress bows to the wishes of the rich and the powerful, give tax breaks to people who don't need it, we deregulate countries who should be regulated, et cetera et cetera. now in this time of economic crisis, now is the time to stand with working families and the most important thing we can do is raise the minimum wage to a living wage. this is what joe biden believes, this is what the democratic platform stands for, and this is what at least 38 cosponsors of raise the wage act also believe. so here we are in a pivotal moment. the working class is being decimated. people are struggling to feed their kids. we've got to raise wages in this

country and we have got to raise the wages of tip workers. i'll be back later for more on this, but thank you very much, mr. president.

mr. sanders: mr. president. mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from vermont. mr. sanders: i would ask unanimous consent to add a letter about tip wages signed by hundreds of organizations to my remarks. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered.

a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from south carolina is recognized. mr. graham: thank you. i will try to be relatively brief here. i understand the bill is being printed now and we'll have a vote fairly shortly. i want to set the stage for my point of view. i think i speak for most people in my conference, what we're trying to do here. up until now, we've been able,

as a body, to work together on covid relief and the question is, why can't we do it again? i think i know the answer, but i want to remind people what we've done in a bipartisan fashion. a march -- on march 5, 2020, when we had president trump, a republican senate and democratic house, we approved $8 billion, 96-1. we were just beginning to be understand the virus. march 18, three weeks later, $355 billion, 90 hl 8. march 25, $1.9 trillion, 96-0. so from march 5 to march 25, we passed three bills well over $2 trillion, 96-1, 90-8, and

96-0. i would argue to the american people it's not like the republican party and the democratic party can't work together when it comes to covid relief. but now that the democrats have the house, the senate, and the white house, there seems to be no desire to go down that road. and i will talk about that in a minute. april 21, 2020 we get $355 more by voice vote. spending $355 billion by voice vote is pretty astonishing. $1.9 trillion is pretty astonishing. september 30, 2020, $83 more. december 21, just a few months ago we spent another $1 trillion, 92-6. why do i bring this up? i bring it up to show that there's plenty of bipartisanship around covid relief and that bipartisanship has stopped. president biden made a big deal

about wanting to bring the country together and find common ground. well, the one area that we actually had common ground, we've abandoned common ground to deal with a $1.9 trillion package just months after we authorized $1.04 trillion, and here's the problem i think republicans have. the $1.9 trillion being proposed now, about 90% of it has got very little to do with covid. it is a liberal wish list. the reason i know it's a liberal wish list is because senator schumer said 15 times yesterday -- about 15 times -- that it wasn't a liberal wish list. so if senator schumer is saying it's not a liberal wish list, it's a liberal wish list, and i'll be able to prove that in more detail. so that's the history of bipartisanship. that bipartisanship has been destroyed. we had ten republicans, i think, go to the white house to

offer around $700 billion that would extend checks that would do vaccinations, would do a lot of things that we think we need to still do, but that went nowhere. so another point for the american people, we're going to a partisan approach to covid for the first time. i went over the amount of money we appropriated for the covid problems the country has experienced, and here's what i want you to understand. we're going to spend $1.9 trillion in a partisan fashion. i think a lot of it is very much unrelated to covid, simply because they have the power to do it. they now have power of the federal government, complete power -- control of the senate, control of the house, control of the white house. they have abandoned bipartisanship. we had the presidency and the senate. they had the house. we were able to work together. now they've got it all. they're running us over, literally legislatively here. i think we made reasonable

offers. nobody is willing to compromise. they see this as a moment to do a lot of things they have been wanting to do for years that has nothing to do with covid. but another problem they have, in my view, is appropriating $1.9 trillion most of it not related to covid, we haven't spent the money we've allocated in the past. administrative actions are still $200 billion that we haven't spent. legislative actions, $3.1 trillion we spent. we've appropriated $4.1 trillion. there's still $1 trillion that hasn't been spent yet. the federal reserve actions allow $5.9 billion to help businesses that are failing. they spent $2.8 trillion. the vaccine is getting out by the day. we're hopeful that we can change the course of the virus, get people back to work in --. in this bill they do a lot of things unrelated to covid

because they can. why are we opposed to this? because it's a lot of money that's being spent oning things unrelated -- spent on things unrelated to covid. we haven't spent the money we appropriated in past efforts yet, but we're going to spend $1.9 trillion more, and i think it is very unfortunate, and i hope the american people understand that this is spending money for the sake of spending money, not to combat covid. so let me give you some examples of what's in this bill. the minimum wage dropped out. now is the worst possible time, i think, to go to $15 an hour minimum wage. just think about your own communities. how many restaurants and hotels being have had to reduce or close down because of covid restrictions? and we're finally beginning to come out of it a bit. to add a $15-an-hour mandate,

doubling the minimum wage, would be increasing the cost of doing business after the government at the state and local level has shut the business down. so the business has been reduced in terms of revenue because of covid restrictions, and now the federal government is going to mandate a doubling of the minimum wage that the business has to absorb and pass on to the consumer. so that is out. we can raise the minimum wage in a responsible fashion once we get covid under control. there was $100 million for silicon valley underground rail project that didn't pass the smell test. the only reason that's out is we made a big deal about it. but they saw the covid package as a chance to put $100 million into a silicon valley underground rail project, which shows you their mind-set toward this bill. this bill is not about fighting covid. it's about a chance in a

partisan fashion to do things they couldn't do otherwise. there is a $1.5 million from the harbor maintenance trust fund regarding the sea way international bridge in new york. the silicon valley underground rail project may make sense. senator schumer's bridge project may make sense. we're going to do an infrastructure bill. it seems to me that we would take these infrastructure projects and put them in the infrastructure bill and try to have a covid bill related to fighting covid. but clearly they're taking an opportunity, my friends on the other side, of loading this bill up with a liberal wish list parochial interest because they can. and i hope the american people will understand what's going on and bring back a balance to power in washington in 2022. because if you let them have it

all, this is a sign of things to come, but we'll talk about that later. there's $20 million in the bill for the preservation and maintenance of native american languages. that might be something that makes sense, but we're dealing with a covid package. and $20 million for the preservation and maintenance of native american languages. $135 million for the national endowment for the arts. i'm an appropriator. this is an appropriations bill. it's not a covid bill. the committee i'm on, we actually vet this stuff to see if it makes sense to put it in the normal appropriation cycle. they take a covid problem, a real problem still to this day, and they load it up with things unrelated to covid because they can. we can't stop them now. maybe one day we can stop them and go back to the old way of doing business where we sit down

and work together as democrats and republicans to spend over $4 trillion to combat covid. my hope is that we will have some balance in the future we don't have today. $135 million for the national endowment for the humanities. what has that got to do with covid? there are people really suffering out there, and $135 million for the endowment for the arts. $135 million for the endowment for the humanities. that's still a lot of money where i come from. $200 million for the institute of museum and library sciences. i am sure there's needs out there for museums and library sciences, but it should go through the appropriations process where we'll have a chance to make a case for it or against it, rather than being crammed into a bill that's being printed while i speak. we're talking about a $1.9

trillion covid package with 90% unrelated to covid being printed while i speak. now if that's good government, count me out. funding for planned parenthood, what's that got to do for covid? p.p.p. loans for labor unions, paid leave for federal employees, $86 billion bailout for union pensions. it may be something we want to look at, but in a covid bill? this is why people are so turned off to washington, because we take a crisis, a problem facing your family and your community, and they've turned it into a spin fest, a liberal wish list indeed come true. new taxpayer-funded executive branch employee emergency leave program. the money for schools, we haven't spent the money we've allocated for schools yet.

we're trying to open schools. the money that's been allocated for schools is still, most of it, a lot of it has been unspent. so in this bill, we have $68 billion for k-12. the money should be given to people opening schools, and only $5 billion of that will be spent this year. most of the money for k-12 assistance is in 2022 and the years that follow. that's not an emergency covid package. that's just putting money into the education system in a fashion they like, and we don't have any input over. it really has nothing to do with fighting the covid crisis and getting our schools reopened. of the $129 billion for k-12 in this package, $6.4 billion is to be distributed this year. the $68 billion was in the last round.

only $5 billion this year. so most of the money for schools is spent in the out years, and again, that's just an opportunity taken by them. of the $129 billion, $122 billion for k-12 schools will not be spent until years 2022 to 2028. god, i hope we don't have to deal with covid in 2028. we've approved six covid bills. we spent over $4 trillion, appropriated over $4 trillion. $1 trillion is yet unspent. and we're doing $1.9 trillion. where 90% of it has nothing to do with covid. why are we doing this? because they can. they've abandoned the bipartisan model that worked. they've chosen a partisan model model. no matter what they tell you, my friends on the other side, this is a liberal wish list. this is very much seizing the

moment, taking a crisis, a problem in america and using it to advance causes completely unrelated to covid, spending money that hasn't been vetted, spending money that has nothing to do with covid because they can. the only thing i can tell you about spending money, count me in for helping people get back on their feet. i've always been for a direct payment. count me out for a $1.9 trillion spend fest unrelated to covid in partisan fashion. this is everything president biden said he wouldn't do. the inaugural speech rings hollow when it comes to this provision, the $1.9 trillion covid package. everything president biden said he wanted to do for the country, he abandoned. and it's not like there's plenty of republicans that would sit

down and work with our democrats friends to do another round of covid relief, but it's got to be related to covid, and we want to spend the money we've appropriated in the past first. maybe that's an odd concept in washington, but i'll make a bet. most americans find it odd that we would appropriate money for a problem and we haven't spent the money we've already appropriated in the past, would get that out the door to see what needs to be done in the future. i think most americans believe now is not the time to load a bill up with a bunch of stuff unrelated to covid because we need every dollar to hit the mark. but we'll have a chance to talk about that in the coming months, and there will be another election coming before you know it. and the only thing i can leave with the american people here is that they have it all in terms of power. this is what they've chosen to do. they've chosen a partisan path,

rejecting the bipartisan path. they've chosen to put most of the money in the bill for things unrelated to covid simply because they can. and the last election was about what would happen to our country if democrats got in charge of everything. many of us on our side said it would be one of the most liberal agendas in the history of american politics would come forth pretty quickly. i had no idea it would come forward this quickly. i had no idea that they would abandon a bipartisan approach to covid, because it seems to be the one area that we've had success regarding working together. so during the campaign, i said there would be two areas i thought we could do bipartisan legislation. one was covid, the other is infrastructure. boy, was i wrong about covid. so i'm hoping that the american

people pay some attention to this debate. we're going to have some really good amendments on our side, talking about how we would spend the money differently and why we would choose not to spend some money in this bill, because it simply has nothing to do with covid. the american people have suffered during the covid pandemic. there are better days ahead. i want to do as much as we can for vaccinations and helping people get back into school, and i'm willing to help people struggling out there, but you shouldn't be given a $1,400 check, the people that made $200,000 as a couple. they changed that. they have taken the -- the silicon valley railway out, they have taken the bridge out because they had to, not because they wanted to. so we're going to have a lot of amendments that will show what we would do with your money versus what they would do with

your money. we're going to have a lot of amendments that would show what we would do with covid and how to fight covid versus what they would do with covid. that's what a democracy is all about, working together when you can and showing differences when you must. so there are going to be a lot of differences in this debate. i think this will not be the last time you hear about this bill. i think this bill is going to resonate for months and years to come, in all of the wrong ways. with that, i will yield the floor, mr. president, and note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

mr. schumer: mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent the quorum be dispensed

with. the presiding officer: without objection, it is so ordered. mr. schumer: mr. president, in a moment, i will move to proceed to the senate substitute amendment to the american rescue plan. this legislation will keep america's families, businesses, workers afloat, and hasten the day when our country can return to normal and our economy can come roaring back. the united states is facing a once in a century crisis that has sapped millions of jobs from our economy, left millions of americans struggling to make ends meet, and stolen more than half a million american lives. the time is now to move forward with big, bold, strong relief for the american people, to send checks as promised to american workers and families, to help love schools as quickly and safely as possible, to help the

hardest hit small businesses hang on, to help families stay in their homes, care for their children, and put food on the table, to keep firefighters, teachers, and bus drivers on the job, and crush the virus with testing and vaccines once and for all. we are not going to repeat the mistakes of the past. we are not going to be timid in the face of a great challenge. we are not going to delay when urgent action is called for. we are not going to quit before the race is won. we are going to sprint through the finish line. it's time to move forward with this legislation which will be one of the largest single antipoverty bills in recent history. it is a time to lift this country out of crisis and set it on a path to strong and swift

recovery. it is time to tell the american people that help is on the way. so, mr. president, i move to proceed to calendar number 10, h.r. 1319. the presidingthe president pro e clerk will report. the clerk: motion to proceed to calendar number 10, h.r. 1319, an act to provide for reconciliation, pursuant to title 2 of s. con. res. 5. mr. schumer: i ask for the yeas and nays. the president pro tempore: is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll. vote:

vote:

vote:

vote:

vote:

the vice president: on this vote the yeas are 50. the nays are 50. the senate being equally divided, the vice president votes in the affirmative and the motion to proceed is agreed to. mr. schumer: madam president. the vice president: mr. majority leader. mr. schumer: i have an amendment at the desk and i ask for its immediate consideration.

the vice president: the clerk will report the bill, please. the clerk: calendar number 10, h.r. 1319, an act to provide for reconciliation pursuant to title 2 of s. con. res. 5. the vice president: majority leader. mr. schumer: madam president, i have an amendment at the desk and i ask for its immediate consideration. the vice president: the clerk will report the amendment, please. the clerk: the senator from new york, mr. shiewm other, for -- schumer, for himself and others proposes an amendment numbered 891. strike all of the first word and incert the following. one, short title -- mr. schumer: madam president? the vice president: mr. majority leader. mr. schumer: madam president, i ask consent to dispense with the reading. the vice president: without objection. mr. johnson: madam president? the vice president: senator from wisconsin. mr. johnson: reserving the

right to object -- mr. schumer: is he allowed? the vice president: is there objection? mr. johnson: i object. the vice president: the objection is heard. the clerk will continue the reading. the clerk: as the american rescue act of 2021. section 2, table of contents. the table of contents is as follows -- section 1, short title. section 2, table of contents, title 1, committee on agriculture, nutrition and forestry, subtitle a, agriculture. section 1001, feud supply chain and agriculture response. section 1002, emergency rule, development -- the vice president: the senate will be in order. the clerk will continue reading. the clerk: grants for rural health care. section 1002, administration funds, section 1004, funding for

the usda office of inspector general, for oversight of covid-19-related programs. section 1005, farm loan assistance for socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers. section 1006, usda assistance and support for sociallloy disadvantaged farmers, ranchers, forestland owners and operators and groups. section 1007, use of commodity credit corporation for commodities and associated expenses. subtitle b, nutrition. section 1101, section 11023, additional assistance for snap online purchasing and technology improvements, section 1103, additional funding for nutrition assistance programs. section 1104, commodity supplemental food program. section 1105, improvements to w.i.c. benefits, sec 11006. american indian, native hawaiian, and alaska native education. titlei-committee on agriculture, nutrition, and forestry

labor and pensions. subtitle a, education matters. part 1, department of education, elementary and secondary school relief fund, section 2003, higher relief relief fund, section 2004, maintenance of equity, section 2005, section 23006, section 2007, student aid administration, section 2008, howard university, section 2009, national technical institute for the deaf, section 2010, institute of education sciences, section 2011, program administration, section 2012, office of inspector general, section 2013, modification of revenue requirements for

proprietary institutions of higher education, part 2, miss plainious. section 2021, national endowment of the arts, section 2022, national endowment for the humanities, section 20 if, institute of museum and library services, subtitle b labor matters a, serks 2021 is worker protection activities, subtitle c, community supports, section 2201, child care and development block grant programs, section 2202, child care stabilization, section 2203, head start, section 2204, programs for survivors, section 2206, corporation for national and community service and national service trust, subtitle d, public health. funding for covid-19 vaccine activities at the centers for disease control and prevention. section 2302, funding for vaccine confidence activities.

section 2303, funding for supply chain for covid-19 vaccines, therapies and medical supplies. section 2304, funding for covid-19 vaccine therapeutic and device activities at the food and drug administration, section 2305, reduced cost-sharing, subtitle e, testing. contract tracing activities, section 2402, funding for cars, co-v2 sequencing and surveillance. funding for global health, section 2440, funding for data modernization and forecasting center. subtitle f, public health workforce. section 2501, funding for public health workforce. section 2520, subtitle g, public health investments, section 2601, community care. section 2602, funding for the national health center corps, section 2603, funding for nurse

sec. 2604. funding for teaching health centers that operate graduate medical education. sec. 2605. funding for family planning. subtitle h-mental health and substance use disorder sec. 2701. funding for block grants for community mental health services. sec. 2702. funding for block grants for prevention and treatment of substance abuse. sec. 2703. funding for mental health and substance use disorder training for health care professionals, paraprofessionals, and public safety officers. sec. 2704. funding for education and awareness campaign encouraging healthy work conditions and use of mental health and substance use disorder services by health care professionals. the vice president: the senate will be in order. the clerk will continue to read. the clerk:

sec. 2705. funding for grants for health care providers to promote mental health among their health professional workforce. sec. 2706. funding for community-based funding for local substance use disorder services. sec. 2707. funding for community-based funding for local behavioral health needs. sec. 2708. funding for the national child traumatic stress network. sec. 2709. funding for project aware. sec. 2710. funding for youth suicide prevention. sec. 2711. funding for behavioral health workforce education and training. sec. 2712. funding for pediatric mental health care access. sec. 2713. funding for expansion grants for certified community behavioral health clinics. subtitle i-exchange grant program sec. 2801. establishing a grant program for exchange modernization. subtitle j-continued assistance to rail workers sec. 2901. additional enhanced benefits under the railroad unemployment insurance act. sec. 2902. extended unemployment benefits under the

railroad unemployment insurance act. sec. 2903. extension of waiver of the 7-day waiting period for benefits under the railroad unemployment insurance act. sec. 2904. railroad retirement board and office of the inspector general funding. subtitle k-ratepayer protection sec. 2911. funding for liheap. sec. 2912. funding for water assistance program. subtitle l-assistance for older americans, grandfamilies, and kinship families sec. 2921. supporting older americans and their families. sec. 2922. national technical assistance center on grandfamilies and kinship families. title iii-committee on banking, housing, and urban affairs subtitle a-defense production act of 1950 sec. 3101. covid-19 emergency medical supplies enhancement. subtitle b-housing provisions sec. 3201. emergency

rental assistance. sec. 3202. emergency housing vouchers. sec. 3203. emergency assistance for rural housing. sec. 3204. housing counseling. sec. 3205. homelessness assistance and supportive services program. sec. 3206. homeowner assistance fund. sec. 3207. relief measures for section 502 and 504 direct loan borrowers. sec. 3208. fair housing activities. subtitle c-small business (ssbci) sec. 3301. state small business credit initiative. subtitle d-public transportation sec. 3401. federal transit administration grants. title iv-committee on homeland security and governmental affairs sec. 4001. emergency federal employee leave fund. sec. 4002. funding for the government accountability office. sec. 4003. pandemic response accountability

committee funding availability. sec. 4004. funding for the white house. sec. 4005. federal emergency management agency appropriation. sec. 4006. funeral assistance. sec. 4007. emergency food and shelter program funding. sec. 4008. humanitarian relief. sec. 4009. cybersecurity and infrastructure security agency. sec. 4010. appropriation for the united states digital service. sec. 4011. appropriation for the technology modernization fund. sec. 4012. appropriation for the federal citizen services fund. sec. 4013. afg and safer program funding. sec. 4014. emergency management performance grant funding. title v-committee on small business and entrepreneurship sec. 5001. modifications to paycheck protection program. sec. 5002. targeted eidl advance. sec. 5003. support for restaurants. sec. 5004.

community navigator pilot program. sec. 5005. shuttered venue operators. sec. 5006. direct appropriations. title vi-committee on environment and public works sec. 6001. economic adjustment assistance. sec. 6002. funding for pollution and disparate impacts of the covid-19 pandemic. sec. 6003. united states fish and wildlife service. title vii-committee on commerce, science, and transportation subtitle a-transportation and infrastructure sec. 7101. grants to the national railroad passenger corporation. sec. 7102. relief for airports. sec. 7103. emergency faa employee leave fund. sec. 7104. emergency tsa employee leave fund. subtitle b-aviation manufacturing jobs protection sec. 7201. definitions. sec. 7202. payroll support

program. subtitle c-airlines sec. 7301. air transportation payroll support program extension. subtitle d-consumer protection and commerce oversight sec. 7401. funding for consumer product safety fund to protect consumers from potentially dangerous products related to covid-19. sec. 7402. funding for e-rate support for emergency educational connections and devices. sec. 7403. funding for department of commerce inspector general. sec. 7404. federal trade commission funding for covid-19 related work. subtitle e-science and technology sec. 7501. national institute of standards and technology. sec. 7502. national science foundation. subtitle f-corporation for public broadcasting sec. 7601. support for the corporation for public broadcasting. title viii-committee on veterans' affairs sec. 8001. funding for claims

and appeals processing. sec. 8002. funding availability for medical care and health needs. sec. 8003. funding for supply chain modernization. sec. 8004. funding for state homes. sec. 8005. funding for the department of veterans affairs office of inspector general. sec. 8006. covid-19 veteran rapid retraining assistance program. sec. 8007. prohibition on copayments and cost sharing for veterans during emergency relating to covid-19. sec. 8008. emergency department of veterans affairs employee leave fund. title ix-committee on finance subtitle a-crisis support for unemployed workers part 1-extension of cares act unemployment provisions sec. 9011. extension of pandemic unemployment assistance. sec. 9012. extension of emergency unemployment relief for governmental entities and nonprofit organizations. sec.

9013. extension of federal pandemic unemployment compensation. sec. 9014. extension of full federal funding of the first week of compensable regular unemployment for states with no waiting week. sec. 9015. extension of emergency state staffing flexibility. sec. 9016. extension of pandemic emergency unemployment compensation. sec. 9017. extension of temporary financing of short-time compensation payments in states with programs in law. sec. 9018. extension of temporary financing of short-time compensation agreements for states without programs in law. part 2-extension of ffcra unemployment provisions sec. 9021. extension of temporary assistance for states with advances. sec. 9022. extension of full federal funding of extended unemployment compensation. part

3-department of labor funding for timely, accurate, and equitable payment sec. 9031. funding for administration. sec. 9032. funding for fraud prevention, equitable access, and timely payment to eligible workers. subtitle b-emergency assistance to families through home visiting programs sec. 9101. emergency assistance to families through home visiting programs. subtitle c-emergency assistance to children and families sec. 9201. pandemic emergency assistance. subtitle d-elder justice and support guarantee sec. 9301. additional funding for aging and disability services programs. subtitle e-support to skilled nursing facilities in response to covid-19 sec. 9401. providing for infection control support to skilled nursing facilities through contracts with quality improvement organizations. sec. 9402. funding for strike

teams for resident and employee safety in skilled nursing facilities. subtitle f-preserving health benefits for workers sec. 9501. preserving health benefits for workers. subtitle g-promoting economic security part 1-2021 recovery rebates to individuals sec. 9601. 2021 recovery rebates to individuals. part 2-child tax credit sec. 9611. child tax credit improvements for 2021. sec. 9612. application of child tax credit in possessions. part 3-earned income tax credit sec. 9621. strengthening the earned income tax credit for individuals with no qualifying children. sec. 9622. taxpayer eligible for childless earned income credit in case of qualifying children who fail to meet certain identification requirements. sec. 9623. credit allowed in case of certain separated spouses. sec.

9624. modification of disqualified investment income test. sec. 9625. application of earned income tax credit in possessions of the united states. sec. 9626. temporary special rule for determining earned income for purposes of earned income tax credit. part 4-dependent care assistance sec. 9631. refundability and enhancement of child and dependent care tax credit. sec. 9632. increase in exclusion for employer-provided dependent care assistance. part 5-credits for paid sick and family leave sec. 9641. payroll credits. sec. 9642. credit for sick leave for certain self-employed individuals. sec. 9643. credit for family leave for certain self-employed individuals. part 6-employee retention credit sec. 9651. extension of employee retention credit. part 7-premium tax credit

sec. 9661. improving affordability by expanding premium assistance for consumers. sec. 9662. temporary modification of limitations on reconciliation of tax credits for coverage under a qualified health plan with advance payments of such credit. sec. 9663. application of premium tax credit in case of individuals receiving unemployment compensation during 2021. part 8-miscellaneous provisions sec. 9671. repeal of election to allocate interest, etc. on worldwide basis. sec. 9672. tax treatment of targeted eidl advances. sec. 9673. tax treatment of restaurant revitalization grants. sec. 9674. modification of exceptions for reporting of third party network transactions. sec. 9675. modification of treatment of student loan forgiveness. subtitle h-pensions sec.

9701. temporary delay of designation of multiemployer plans as in endangered, critical, or critical and declining status. sec. 9702. temporary extension of the funding improvement and rehabilitation periods for multiemployer pension plans in critical and endangered status for 2020 or 2021. sec. 9703. adjustments to funding standard account rules. sec. 9704. special financial assistance program for financially troubled multiemployer plans. sec. 9705. extended amortization for single employer plans. sec. 9706. extension of pension funding stabilization percentages for single employer plans. sec. 9707. modification of special rules for minimum funding standards for community newspaper plans. sec. 9708. expansion of limitation on excessive employee remuneration.

subtitle i-child care for workers sec. 9801. child care assistance. subtitle j-medicaid sec. 9811. mandatory coverage of covid-19 vaccines and administration and treatment under medicaid. sec. 9812. modifications to certain coverage under medicaid for pregnant and postpartum women. sec. 9813. state option to provide qualifying community-based mobile crisis intervention services. sec. 9814. temporary increase in fmap for medical assistance under state medicaid plans which begin to expend amounts for certain mandatory individuals. sec. 9815. extension of 100 percent federal medical assistance percentage to urban indian health organizations and native hawaiian health care systems. sec. 9816. sunset of limit on maximum rebate amount for single source drugs

and innovator multiple source drugs. sec. 9817. additional support for medicaid home and community-based services during the covid-19 emergency. sec. 9818. funding for state strike teams for resident and employee safety in nursing facilities. sec. 9819. special rule for the period of a declared public health emergency related to coronavirus. subtitle k-children's health insurance program sec. 9821. mandatory coverage of covid-19 vaccines and administration and treatment under chip. sec. 9822. modifications to certain coverage under chip for pregnant and postpartum women. subtitle l-medicare sec. 9831. floor on the medicare area wage index for hospitals in all-urban states. sec. 9832. secretarial authority to temporarily waive or modify application of certain medicare requirements

with respect to ambulance services furnished during certain emergency periods. sec. 9833. funding for office of inspector general. subtitle m-coronavirus state and local fiscal recovery funds sec. 9901. coronavirus state and local fiscal recovery funds. subtitle n-other provisions sec. 9911. funding for providers relating to covid-19. sec. 9912. extension of customs user fees. title x-committee on foreign relations sec. 10001. department of state operations. sec. 10002. united states agency for international development operations. sec. 10003. global response. sec. 10004. humanitarian response. sec. 10005. multilateral assistance. title xi-committee on indian affairs sec. 11001. indian health service.

sec. 11002. bureau of indian affairs. sec. 11003. housing assistance and supportive services programs for native americans. sec. 11004. covid-19 response resources for the preservation and maintenance of native american languages. sec. 11005. bureau of indian education. sec. 11006. american indian, native hawaiian, and alaska native education. titlei-committee on agriculture, nutrition, and forestry *********** subtitle a-agriculture sec.1001. food supply chain and agriculture pandemic response. (a)appropriation. in addition to amounts otherwise available, there is appropriated to the secretary of agriculture for fiscal year 2021, out of any money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated, $4,000,000,000, to remain available until expended, to carry out this section.

(b)use of funds. the secretary of agriculture shall use the amounts made available pursuant to subsection (a)- (1)to purchase food and agricultural commodities; (2)to purchase and distribute agricultural commodities (including fresh produce, dairy, seafood, eggs, and meat) to individuals in need, including through delivery to nonprofit organizations and through restaurants and other food related entities, as determined by the secretary, that may receive, store, process, and distribute food items; (3)to make grants and loans for small or midsized food processors or distributors, seafood processing facilities and processing vessels, farmers markets, producers, or other organizations to respond to covid-19, including for measures to protect workers against covid-19; and (4)to make loans and grants and provide other assistance to maintain and improve food and agricultural supply chain resiliency. (c)animal health.- (1)covid-19 animal surveillance.-the secretary of agriculture shall

conduct monitoring and surveillance of susceptible animals for incidence of sars-cov-2. (2)funding.-out of the amounts made available under subsection (a), the secretary shall use $300,000,000 to carry out this subsection. (d)overtime fees.- (1)small establishment; very small establishment definitions.-the terms "small establishment" and "very small establishment" have the meaning given those terms in the final rule entitled "pathogen reduction; hazard analysis and critical control point (haccp) systems" published in the federal register on july 25, 1996 (61 fed. reg. 38806). (2)overtime inspection cost reduction.- notwithstanding section 10703 of the farm security and rural investment act of 2002 (7 u.s.c. 2219a), the act of june 5, 1948 (21 u.s.c. 695), section 25 of the poultry products inspection

act (21 u.s.c. 468), and section 24 of the egg products inspection act (21 u.s.c. 1053), and any regulations promulgated by the department of agriculture implementing such provisions of law and subject to the availability of funds under paragraph (3), the secretary of agriculture shall reduce the amount of overtime inspection costs borne by federally-inspected small establishments and very small establishments engaged in meat, poultry, or egg products processing and subject to the requirements of the federal meat inspection act (21 u.s.c. 601 et seq.), the poultry products inspection act (21 u.s.c. 451 et seq.), or the egg products inspection act (21 u.s.c. 1031 et seq.), for inspection activities carried out during the period of fiscal years 2021 through 2030. (3)funding.-out of the amounts made available under subsection (a), the secretary shall use $100,000,000 to carry out this subsection. sec.1002.emergency

rural development grants for rural health care. (a)grants.-the secretary of agriculture (in this section referred to as the "secretary") shall use the funds made available by this section to establish an emergency pilot program for rural development not later than 150 days after the date of enactment of this act to provide grants to eligible applicants (as defined in section 3570.61(a) of title 7, code of federal regulations) to be awarded by the secretary based on rural development needs related to the covid-19 pandemic. (b)uses.-an eligible applicant to whom a grant is awarded under this section may use the grant funds for costs, including those incurred prior to the issuance of the grant, as determined by the secretary, of facilities which primarily serve rural areas (as defined in section 343(a)(13)(c) of the consolidated farm and rural development act (7 u.s.c. 1991(a)(13)(c)),

which are located in a rural area, the median household income of the population to be served by which is less than the greater of the poverty line or the applicable percentage (determined under section 3570.63(b) of title 7, code of federal regulations) of the state nonmetropolitan median household income, and for which tion work completed with grant funds shall meet the condition set forth in section 9003(f) of the farm security and rural investment act of 2002 (7 u.s.c. 8103(f)), to- (1)increase capacity for vaccine distribution; (2)provide medical supplies to increase medical surge capacity; (3)reimburse for revenue lost during the covid-19 pandemic, including revenue losses incurred prior to the awarding of the grant; (4)increase telehealth capabilities, including underlying health care information systems; (5)construct temporary or permanent structures to provide health care services, including vaccine administration or

testing; (6)support staffing needs for vaccine administration or testing; and (7)engage in any other efforts to support rural development determined to be critical to address the covid-19 pandemic, including nutritional assistance to vulnerable individuals, as approved by the secretary. (c)funding.-in addition to amounts otherwise available, there is appropriated to the secretary for fiscal year 2021, out of any money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated, $500,000,000, to remain available until september 30, 2023, to carry out this section, of which not more than 3 percent may be used by the secretary for administrative purposes and not more than 2 percent may be used by the secretary for technical assistance as defined in section 306(a)(26) of the consolidated farm and rural development act (7 u.s.c. 1926(a)(26)). sec.1003.pandemic program administration funds. in addition to amounts

otherwise available, there are appropriated for fiscal year 2021, out of any money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated, $47,500,000, to remain available until expended, for necessary administrative expenses associated with carrying out this subtitle. sec.1004.funding for the usda office of inspector general for oversight of covid-19-related programs. in addition to amounts otherwise made available, there is appropriated to the office of the inspector general of the department of agriculture for fiscal year 2021, out of any money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated, $2,500,000, to remain available until september 30, 2022, for audits, investigations, and other oversight activities of projects and activities carried out with funds made available to the department of agriculture related to the covid-19 pandemic.

sec.1005.farm loan assistance for socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers. (a)payments.- (1)appropriation.-in addition to amounts otherwise available, there is appropriated to the secretary for fiscal year 2021, out of amounts in the treasury not otherwise appropriated, such sums as may be necessary, to remain available until expended, for the cost of loan modifications and payments under this section. (2)payments.-the secretary shall provide a payment in an amount up to 120 percent of the outstanding indebtedness of each socially disadvantaged farmer or rancher as of january 1, 2021, to pay off the loan directly or to the socially disadvantaged farmer or rancher (or a combination of both), on each- (a)direct farm loan made by the secretary to the

socially disadvantaged farmer or rancher; and (b)farm loan guaranteed by the secretary the borrower of which is the socially disadvantaged farmer or rancher. (b)definitions.-in this section: (1)farm loan.-the term "farm loan" means- (a)a loan administered by the farm service agency under subtitle a, b, or c of the consolidated farm and rural development act (7 u.s.c. 1922 et seq.); and (b)a commodity credit corporation farm storage facility loan. (2)secretary.-the term "secretary" means the secretary of agriculture. (3)socially disadvantaged farmer or rancher.-the term "socially disadvantaged farmer or rancher" has the meaning given the term in section 2501(a) of the food, agriculture, conservation, and trade act of 1990 (7 u.s.c. 2279(a)). sec.1006.usda assistance and

support for socially disadvantaged farmers, ranchers, forest land owners and operators, and groups. (a)appropriation.-in addition to amounts otherwise available, there is appropriated to the secretary of agriculture for fiscal year 2021, out of any money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated, $1,010,000,000, to remain available until expended, to carry out this section. (b)assistance.-the secretary of agriculture shall use the amounts made available pursuant to subsection (a)- (1)to provide outreach, mediation, financial training, capacity building training, cooperative development training and support, and other technical assistance on issues concerning food, agriculture, agricultural credit, agricultural extension, rural development, or nutrition to socially disadvantaged farmers, ranchers, or forest landowners, or other members of socially disadvantaged groups; (2)to provide grants and loans to improve land access for

socially disadvantaged farmers, ranchers, or forest landowners, including issues related to heirs' property in a manner as determined by the secretary; (3)to support the activities of one or more equity commissions that will address racial equity issues within the department of agriculture and its programs, using $5,000,000 of the amount made available pursuant to subsection (a); (4)to support and supplement agricultural research, education, and extension, as well as scholarships and programs that provide internships and pathways to federal employment, at- (a)colleges or universities eligible to receive funds under the act of august 30, 1890 (commonly known as the "second morrill act") (7 u.s.c. 321 et seq.), including tuskegee university; (b)1994 institutions (as defined in section 532 of the equity in educational land-grant status act of 1994 (7

u.s.c. 301 note; public law 103-382)); (c)alaska native serving institutions and native hawaiian serving institutions eligible to receive grants under subsections (a) and (b), respectively, of section 1419b of the national agricultural research, extension, and teaching policy act of 1977 (7 u.s.c. 3156); (d)hispanic-serving institutions eligible to receive grants under section 1455 of the national agricultural research, extension, and teaching policy act of 1977 (7 u.s.c. 3241); and (e)the insular area institutions of higher education located in the territories of the united states, as referred to in section 1489 of the national agricultural research, extension, and teaching policy act of 1977 (7 u.s.c. 3361); and

(5)to provide financial assistance to socially disadvantaged farmers, ranchers, or forest landowners that are former farm loan borrowers that suffered related adverse actions or past discrimination or bias in department of agriculture programs, as determined by the secretary. (c)definitions.-in this section: (1)nonindustrial private forest land.-the term "nonindustrial private forest land" has the meaning given the term in section 1201(a)(18) of the food security act of 1985 (16 u.s.c. 3801(a)(18)). (2)socially disadvantaged farmer, rancher, or forest landowner.-the term "socially disadvantaged farmer, rancher, or forest landowner" means a farmer, rancher, or owner or operator of nonindustrial private forest land who is a member of a socially disadvantaged group. (3)socially disadvantaged group.-the term "socially disadvantaged group" has the meaning

given the term in section 2501(a) of the food, agriculture, conservation, and trade act of 1990 (7 u.s.c. 2279(a)). sec.1007.use of the commodity credit corporation for commodities and associated expenses. in addition to amounts otherwise made available, there are appropriated for fiscal year 2021, out of any money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated, $800,000,000, to remain available until september 30, 2022, to use the commodity credit corporation to acquire and make available commodities under section 406(b) of the food for peace act (7 u.s.c. 1736(b)) and for expenses under such section. subtitleb-nutrition sec.1101.supplemental nutrition assistance program. (a)value of

benefits.-section 702(a) of division n of the consolidated appropriations act, 2021 (public law 116-260) is amended by striking "june 30, 2021" and inserting "september 30, 2021". (b)snap administrative expenses.-in addition to amounts otherwise available, there is hereby appropriated for fiscal year 2021, out of any amounts in the treasury not otherwise appropriated, $1,150,000,000, to remain available until september 30, 2023, with amounts to be obligated for each of fiscal years 2021, 2022, and 2023, for the costs of state administrative expenses associated with carrying out this section and administering the supplemental nutrition assistance program established under the food and nutrition act of 2008 (7 u.s.c. 2011 et seq.), of which- (1)$15,000,000 shall

be for necessary expenses of the secretary of agriculture (in this section referred to as the "secretary") for management and oversight of the program; and (2)$1,135,000,000 shall be for the secretary to make grants to each state agency for each of fiscal years 2021 through 2023 as follows: (a)75 percent of the amounts available shall be allocated to states based on the share of each state of households that participate in the supplemental nutrition assistance program as reported to the department of agriculture for the most recent 12-month period for which data are available, adjusted by the secretary (as of the date of the enactment of this act) for participation in disaster programs under section 5(h) of the food and nutrition act of 2008 (7 u.s.c. 2014(h)); and