on the republican defense, you got to be crazy. host: jerry, good morning. caller: yes, ma'am. my name jerry. once again, republicans are trying to change history. we saw what happened that day. they don't want us to know the truth. they say the truth will set you free. i guess they don't want us to be free. thank you so much. >> host: all right, jerry. mark stone sends us this tweet. this is going to end up like the two impeachment hearings the house had during trump administration, very partisan, multiple democrats. they probably already have the report -- >> the u.s. senate is about to gavel in. more work is expected on thehe nomination of todd kim to the assistant attorney general for the environment and natural resources division. the justice department's top attorney which oversees its

criminal and civil cases and force the nations environmental laws. about to confirm is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. eastern and if approved he would be the first asian-american to serve in that position. and now live to the floor of the u.s. senate here on c-span2. the presiding officer: the the president pro tempore: the senate will come to order. the chaplain, dr. barry black, will lead the senate in prayer. the chaplain: let us pray. o god, you are our refuge. give us the wisdom to live, so

we never dishonor your name. provide our lawmakers with power and insight to accomplish your will on earth, as they look to you for help. become for them their shade by day and defense by night. as they acknowledge that you alone are the source of their strength, surround them with the shield of your favor and direct their steps. and, lord, comfort your hearts as we mourn the death of our beloved retired senator mike enzi. be especially close to his precious diana and the rest of

his family. we pray in your merciful name, amen. the president pro tempore: please join me in the pledge of allegiance. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

the president pro tempore: under the previous order, the leadership time is reserve the. -- reserved. morning business is closed. under the previous order, the senate will proceed to executive session and resume consideration of the following nomination, which the clerk will report. the clerk: nomination, department of justice. todd sunhwae kim of the district of columbia to be an assistant attorney general. a senator: mr. president? the president pro tempore: the senator from georgia. a senator: i suggest the absence of a quorum. the president pro tempore: the clerk will call the roll.

quorum call: the presiding officer: the president pro tempore is recognized. mr. leahy: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the call of the quorum be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. leahy: mr. president, i always consider it a privilege to open the united states senate , be here for the pledge of allegiance, be here for the chaplain's prayer. but i must admit, this morning i

felt such a sense of sorrow that we were praying for my good friend mike enzi, who i had the privilege to serve with him during all the time he was in the united states senate. we used to spend time together. we would talk to each other on votes coming up. he was old-school. he always kept his word. he knew i would mine. we worked out many things. i did remember through the tears this morning when i heard the news one day when i was chairman of the senate judiciary committee and senator enzi came to me, and he said, you know --

he said, i know you're italian american, which i am on my mother's side. and i am italian american. and i have this nominee that i'm backing us. he's one of us. he's italian american. please push him through. a nominee backed by senator enzi was, of course, well-qualified anyway. we put him on the agenda and passed it. the a few weeks later he came up to me, he said, i've got another nominee. i said, how many italian americans do you have in wyoming? he said, oh, this is one of us. he's irish. i said, mike, what do you mean he's irish? you're italian. he said, no, i'm just like you, except in reverse. he had italian father, irish mother. i had an italian mother, irish father. he said, he's one of us.

as only mike could in that gentle humor of his, a couple weeks later he comes to up to me. i said, do you have another nominee? no, but i'm looking for an italian american. úbe. he would quietly meet with senators on both sides of the aisle. we were from different sides of the aisle but would always find a way to come together. countless times he brought democrats and republicans together. never done with any fanfare. he wasn't running to the press to say, look what i did. look what i accomplished. but he had the thankfulness of all of us, and he and his wife,

marcelle and i have spent so many times together. you felt this was somebody you could be having a backyard barbecue with, somebody you could just be sitting together watching a sporting event or anything else. and i don't know the full details of the tragic accident he had, but i can always see mike out on his bicycle in his beautiful state enjoying the day i do mourn his passage, not only as a friend but as somebody who

represented by the senate has been and should be again. so i will yield the floor, though in doing say i miss mike enzi. i yield the floor. mr. schumer: thank you to my good friend, the senior senator from the great state of vermont. i, too, feel so badly about senator enzi's unfortunate passing. we received the very sad news this morning that mike enzi had passed away from injuries sustained on a bicycle accident. he was only seven months into his retirement, after four terms in the senate and decades -- decades -- of service to his home state of wyoming. we'll remember him, as we remembered him upon his departure from this chamber, as a kind and gentle man. as a practical legislator, someone who sought common ground

and was willing to leave strained disagreements for another day. he was forceful, he was principled, but he was also gentle. a rare and unusual combination, much needed in this body. he lived by a simple creed given to him by his mother that adorns his office, and he shared it with his staff -- do what you think is right, do your best, and treat others the way they wish to be treated. upon his retirement, those were the values he asked the senate to remember him by. at the news of his unexpect passing, those are the values we will carry on in his memory. i offer my condolences to his wife diana and his former senator enzi's entire family. now, on another matter -- senate business -- as senators continue to finalize the text of the bipartisan infrastructure agreement, the senate will process several nominations to the executive branch.

today we'll confirm todd kim to serve as the assistant attorney general. tomorrow the senate will vote on two nominees to the national labor relations board, who i know will defend the rights and help deal with the rights of working people, so much needed today when there's been such an assault on labor and on working people in america. now, the votes of these nominees will in no way interfere with my ability to reconsider the vote on the motion to proceed to debate -- to a debate on frat. we are making good progress on both tracks, the bipartisan infrastructure and the budget resolution with reconciliation instructions. and to reiterate, senators should prepare to work through the weekend in order to finish the bipartisan infrastructure bill.

now, about january 6, this morning a special committee of the house of representatives will convene for the first time to begin an inquiry into the events of january 6. it's important we do this. january 6 was one of the darkest episodes in the history of our democracy, the first time the capitol was breached since the war of 1812. in both the run-up and aftermath, vicious lies about our elections fueled dangerous conspiracies and mob violence. we must establish a trusted account of what transpired on january 6, what and who caused it, not just the people in the building, as bad as they were, but many others may have been involved as well. and i'm hopeful that this inquiry will get to the bottom of that. we have to do this to make sure that such an event is never repeated. but let me say, mr. president,

we have traveled a very sorry road to get to this place. the special committee in the house was forced into existence because senate republicans and leader mcconnell blocked the formation of an independent commission, appointed on a bipartisan basis, to report on the events of the 6th. we had modeled it on the bipartisan 9/11 commission, but leader mcconnell stood in the way. how did we come to such a moment? well, in the immediate aftermath of the attack on the capitol, the house republican leader said that president trump, quote, bears responsibility. the republican leader warned of a death spiral for our democracy if election lies told by the losing side were to be believed. republicans of all stripes -- many in this chamber -- demanded accountability and answers. but in the last month, sorry, but in the last six months, all that courage and truth-telling

has evaporated into smoke. all that courage and truth-telling has evaporated into smoke. what a shame for the republican party. the house republican leader deputized members of his own party to negotiate an independent commission with democrats and once they did, he stabbed them in the back and instructed his members to vote against it. weeks later the house republicans fired the only member of their leadership team willing to call out trump's election lies. house republicans are now likening january 6 to a peaceful protest and a normal tourist visit. again, i'd commend to people "the new york times" video, 40 minutes that simply documents what happened, and it's appalling to see one of the congress members say this was like a normal, peaceful visit when you watch the violence that occurred before your very eyes. here in the senate, the republican minority mounted a partisan filibuster to prevent

this chamber from even debating legislation to create an independent commission. is that amazing? every democratic member appalled that they wouldn't even let a debate on whether to have a commission go forward. four months. that's how long it took for house and senate republican leadership who denounced former president trump in the aftermath of january 6, who said they held him practically and morally responsible. four months was all it took for republican leadership to back down, turn silent, and then thwart an independent investigation into the january 6 attack. so today, the house begins an important task under the only circumstances that congressional republicans would allow. i have no doubt that house republicans will engage in efforts to discredit even this, the work of a bipartisan panel of investigators.

they will dredge up the same dreary talking points, they will call it a witch hunt, they will call republicans who participate pelosi republicans. they will cheapen the public discourse even more than it's already been cheapened and do their level best to sow distrust about any account of what happened on january 6. for what? fear of donald trump? the belief that their political viability hinges on whitewashing an attempted coup? who knows? but let the record reflect that the house will proceed with this important investigation, and it will be done by members from both parties, and that it will get at the truth. now on student loans. a final matter. right now, across the country, there are 45 million student loan borrowers who owe $1.7 trillion in student loan debt. in good times, paying off tens of thousands, sometimes hundreds of thousands in debt can be a

crushing endeavor, particularly to younger people ready to go out in the prime of life. but during this pandemic, as american -- as americans lost jobs and incomes, it has become even harder to pay back those loans. fortunately, the federal government provided a lifeline for tens of millions of borrowers when they ordered a pause on most federal student loan repayments last spring. of the many steps the government has taken to respond to the covid crisis, this has been one of the most effective. unfortunately, this pause will expire in a little over two months. even while many student borrowers are still piecing their lives back together after the pandemic. so later today, i will join senator warren and my house colleagues to call on president biden to extend the cause on student loan payments until next spring to give americans more time to get back on their feet.

along with senator warren, i believe that the biden administration should go even further and cancel up to $50,000 in student loan debt per borrower. with the flick of a pen, president biden could give a fresh start to tens of millions of borrowers drowning in debt. a fresh start. just what they need as the country begins a fresh start as we recover from covid. today is as good a day as any to cancel student debt. i yield the floor and note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

the presiding officer: the republican leader is recognized. mr. mcconnell: are we in a quorum call? i ask consent further proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: the senate is

stunned and grieving this morning. our dear friend and former colleague, senator mike enzi, passed away last night following a serious bike accident this past weekend. mike was 77 years old and only about seven months into retirement. our friend was blessed with a great american life, and he lived it well. mike was hugely accomplished. but at the same time, humble. he was powerful. he was influential. but earnest and deeply kind. he was ambitious, but on behalf of the people of wyoming, not personal gain or glory. mike's quarter-century career in the u.s. senate kept a storied career in public service --

capped a storied career in public service. he was elected mayor of gillette, wyoming, at just 30 years old. he was a young husband running a family business, but he saw an opportunity to put his shoulder to help his neighbors. well, to be more precise, our former colleague and mike's predecessor, al simpson, gave him a not-so-subtle nudge. it was more like conscription. gillette needed help, and this up and comer was exactly what the booming town needed at that time. diana agreed to let mike throw his hat in the ring, and the rest is history. the mayor's office eventually gave way to the wyoming house, then the state senate, and then

this senate. here mike built a two-part reputation that might have struck people as contradictory. on the one hand, mike was a principled, hard-nosed conservative. he chaired the help committee and the budget committee with a small businessman's painstaking financial eye. in fact, when he first unpacked his office, mike was the senate's only trained accountant. he was central to getting generational tax reform off the starting blocks. he was a policy leader in our conference. but at the same time this principled westerner was also universally known as one of the kindest, most thoughtful, most respectful senators on either side of the aisle. mike's famous 80/20 rule helped him find bipartisan common ground on a long list of significant issues. i know he was particularly proud of his focus on the global fight

against aids. on the help committee, mike cut important deals with his counterpart and ideological opposite, ted kennedy. neither senator walked away from his principles. they just wanted to find where those principles actually fit together. mike's policy wins were many, but at the end of the day, mike knew what everyone else around here knew. his greatest accomplishment was winning diana's hand and building their family together. their marriage, their partnership, was a senate institution unto itself. the enzis' kindness overflowed into legendary parties and generous gifts for the entire senate community, especially the behind the scenes all stars who do not get thanked nearly enough. so mike enzi departed the senate

having changed policy and law for the better because of his mind and now he has departed this life having changed his friends and his colleagues for the better because of his heart. today the entire senate stands in solidarity with diana at this tragic time which has come entirely too soon. our prayers are with her, the three children, and their grandchildren, and the entire family. now, mr. president, on a totally different matter, while american families worry about rising costs, washington democrats want to embark on yet another reckless multitrillion-dollar taxing and spending spree. recent surveys show that more than 80% of americans are somewhat or very worried about the rising costs of living, and

73% say they are worried about impending tax hikes. but our democratic colleagues have dreamt up another reckless taxing and spending spree that would stick families with even higher costs, even higher taxes, and an even shakier economy. the overall price tag is still outrageous, outrageous, and the potential economic damage so significant that you can almost forget to look at all the terrible policies democrats are hoping to hide behind the jaw-dropping dollar figure. blanket amnesty for illegal immigrants. pieces of their effort to take over all 50 states' election laws under false pretenses. a socialist price tag scheme for prescription medicines that would lead to fewer new treatments, fewer new cures, and especially hurt people with rare or unusual diseases.

a bill that would have the swamp redistributing money away from working families who don't make child care arrangements the way democrats want. and then there is the huge catalog of expensive and radical green new deal policies that democrats say they want to ram through as part of the spree. for example, democrats want to use this party-line vote to slap a new carbon tax vote on new imports before american consumers get to buy them. that's after already sticking working families with the higher prices due to inflation. and to add insult to injury, international trade experts have also warned this new carbon tax scheme will lead to foreign retaliation, costing our nation jobs, wages, and economic prosperity. it's a one-two punch, threatening the livelihoods of working families across our country. just ask the american farmers

who worry foreign retaliation will depress their grain and livestock prices while increasing their input costs like fertilizer. democrats also want a new set of top-down mandates that would crush the affordable forms of energy that keep americans' lights on, heat and cool americans' homes, put gas in american cars, and provide a whole lot of american workers their jobs. they want every senate democrat to line up unanimously behind the most liberal plans to wage a war on fossil fuels. i've said it before, mr. president, and i'll say it again. our distinguished colleague, chairman bernie sanders, may not have won the last presidential primary, but on the democratic side, it sure looks like his socialist philosophy is winning the war. house democrats, the far left, and the administration keep floating this endless echo socialist shopping list, and apparently they expect every

single senate democrat to simply fall in line. they want to further expand giant tax credit giveaways for costly american cars when 80% of it is going to households earning six figures and up. they want mandates to push the entire government fleet toward electric cars as well. so wouldn't you just love to see an i.r.s. auditor pull up to your tax audit in a $97,000 tesla? by the way, the biden administration's own statistics admit the comparable gas-powered vehicle would cost taxpayers tens of thousands less. democrats have even floated big federal giveaways for electric school buses with zero help if rural schools need to replace a diesel bus with another diesel. just what rural school boards have been longing for.

don't forget democrats especially using federal dollars to remodel or reconstruct millions of homes and buildings they find insufficiently green. i remember awhile back when democrats won outlets lie of the year award for promising if you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor. maybe this year we'll feature a remake. if you like your house, you can keep your house. one massive effort to upend life in places like kentucky, west virginia, and iowa and all throughout america's heartland until it fits the facist west coast millions, another push for the unworkable green new deal on american families who do not want it. and this is just one corner of

the absurd, reckless tax-and-spending spree that our democratic colleagues are cooking up. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from wyoming. mr. barrasso: thank you, mr. president. i come to the floor today to pay tribute to our friend and former colleague, senator mike enzi. senator lummis and i are here, and we're very grateful for the kind comments of the minority leader, senator mcconnell, the majority leader senator schumer, and the president pro tempore of the senate, senator leahy. mike enzi was my colleague, he was my mentor, he was my

friend. today my wife bobbi and i along with l all of the people of the state of wyoming and all of his friends and admirers here in the united states senate, we are joined on the floor by many of his former staffers, many of whom still work here. all of us mourn his passing. for nearly a quarter of a century, mike enzi represented the people of wyoming in this very body, in the united states senate. and in so many ways as we served as a team when cynthia lummis was in the house and mike and i were in the senate, he was our trusted trail boss for our entire congressional delegation. he served with intelligence, with dignity, and with grace. he never wavered. his commitment was to god, to his family, to country, to wyoming. it was an incredible honor and a great privilege for my wife and

for me to serve the people of wyoming alongside mike enzi and his wife diana. mike was born in the middle of world war ii. he was in washington state at the time because that's where his father was stationed. after the war, the family moved back to thermopolis, wyoming, my wife's hometown, and then to sheridan, wyoming. as all of us know, mike was an eagle scout. so was his son brad and his grandson trey. they followed in his footsteps. later in life, he was awarded the distinguished eagle scout. he went on, he studied accounting, he earned a business degree, and he focused on marketing. he was pretty good at it. he served in the wyoming international guard and he was six years a tech sergeant. in 1969, mike and diana were married. a week later, one week later they moved to gillette and they opened a small business known as

enzi shoes. enzi like his name with the letter n and the letter z. the little business wasn't that little for long. he opened a second store in sheridan and then to mile city, montana. mike ran for mayor of gillette, served two four-year terms. he often called being mayor the toughest job in politics, and mike performed flawlessly. with the help of his business skills, gillette went into an economic boom. he served ten years in the wyoming legislature as both a state representative and a state senator. when he came here to the senate, mike became a leading voice, a leading voice on budgets, on taxes, and on health care issues. in 2015, he became the first accountant to ever chair the budget committee. he brought to washington the valuable lessons that he had learned in the wyoming legislature, and he put them to

use right here. he would say like american families, wyoming has to balance its budget every year and live within our means, and so should america. under mike's leadership, congress passed three consecutive balanced budget resolutions. during his time as chairman, congress also passed the largest tax cuts and reforms in a generation, and those tax cuts gave us the best economy of our lifetimes. mike also chaired the health, education, labor, and pension committee in the senate. as chairman, he spearheaded the most significant pension reform in 30 years. mike's legacy in the united states senate also includes improving mine safety, helping in the aids epidemic in africa, passing mental health parity. his highest priority of course was always helping the people of wyoming. over his 24 years in office,

mike and his capable staff helped the people of wyoming through more than 15,000 pieces of casework. they helped veterans get the benefits that they had earned. they helped seniors get social security. they helped people become naturalized citizens. when he announced his retirement, he said, i am an advocate for gillette and campbell county and wyoming. he said everyone lives at the local level. no one lives at the federal level or even the state level. he said diana and i are your chamber of commerce and your economic development people for every town and county in wyoming all the time. mike started several annual events in wyoming, to boost wyoming. one was the inventor's conference, another the procurement conference and then wyoming works tour. in 2009, mike and i started

wyoming wednesdays. this is when people from around wyoming come to washington, and we get together, our delegation, for coffee, for doughnuts, and for fellowship. we're proud to continue the tradition today. above all, mike was a moral leader in the senate. he taught sunday school for decades, and he learned from the best. mike's first sunday schoolteacher was in thermopolis, wyoming, and his teacher was my wife, bobbi's mother, geraldine brown. and mike enzi was her star pupil. she actually gave mike his first bible. well, that benefited all of us, because decades later mike enzi became a leader of our bipartisan senate prayer breakfast. as a member of that group, i saw firsthand how republican and democrat senators looked to mike

enzi for moral and ethical guidance. he was a guiding light. in my first day in the senate, mike gave me this book. it's called "one quiet moment" and it's a daily prayer devotional. this is how he inscribed it in 2007. he said, john, here is a book that has helped me through 11 years of the senate. he said it's amazing how often the message of the day relates to what's going on in my life. he said, these messages provide strength. mike enzi, june 2007. so the message of the day provides strength, so let us turn to july 27, today. and the message is from philippians, and the message is three words -- i press on. the message of today -- i press on. it goes down to the bottom and it says my steps forward today

may be small, but at least they are steps off dead center. keep me moving, lord. it is mike's message through this book for us to press on. as i said, mike enzi was a moral compass for many of us, and he always pointed true north. he was a friend and a mentor to me and so many senators on both sides of the aisle over 24 years. he knew how to find common ground and bring people together better than any. it was rare for an enzi bill to receive fewer than 80 votes. this was by design. mike called it his 80-20 rule. he learned it in the wyoming state legislature. at the beginning of each year, each member of his committee made a list of their priorities. most years there was bipartisan agreement on 80% of the priorities. mike enzi would then focus on

that 80% on which they agreed, and he would leave out the 20% on which they disagreed. as a result of this approach, mike enzi wrote more than 80 bills which were signed into law by four different presidents of the united states -- two republicans and two democrats. and i was proud to cosponsor many of those bills with him here in the senate. yet for all of mike's achievements in business and in government, we will miss him most as a friend. following his retirement, mike did an interview with wyoming public broadcasting. he said there wasn't much he would miss about washington, d.c. he said it was the people that he would miss the most. mike had a dedicated, hardworking and loyal staff. some of them returned to wyoming. others still serve in this body today, and a number have joined us on the floor. mike gave much of the credit for

his success to these folks, and i know they are all feeling a huge loss today. mike used to say there aren't many things better than being a senator from wyoming, but he used to joke, two of them are fly fishing and being a grandfather. mike had a great love of nature, which is easy when you live in wyoming. mike was an accomplished and an avid fly fisherman. in fact, in august of 2015, he achieved every fly fisherman's dream. he completed something known as wyoming's cut slam. this is a wyoming game and fish department program which increases appreciation for our native cutthroat trout. yet, mike would tell you the achievement that he was most proud of was, of course, his family. he is survived by his wife diana, his children amy, emily, and brad, and his grandchildren, megan and

allison, trey and lily. when he retired earlier this year, mike said none of this would have happened without diana. the best thing that ever happened to me, he said, is when she said she would marry him. diana is diana is a wonderful person. she used to host an annual cookie party here in the senate. she did it to say thank you to all of those she called the real workers, the janitors, the cleaning crew, the electricians, the police officers, the food service workers, and her staff. every year diana and her friends baked hundreds of dozens of cookies. my wife bobbi often joined in the cooking. literally thousands of cookies, all varieties, and all made with loving care. it was so popular around here that people used to walk up to diana and mike in the hallway and ask, when's the party? it's been a tremendous privilege for my wife bobbi and me to serve with 13 years with mike

and diana representing wyoming in the united states senate. the people of wyoming will always be extremely grateful, gratefulful for his decades of -- grateful for his decades of faithful, tireless service. may god bless the memory of mike enzi. may god comfort his family during this time. may god continue to bless the state of wyoming. thank you, mr. president. ms. lummis: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from wyoming. ms. lummis: today wyoming mourns the loss of a gentle giant, mike enzi. mike spent his life working to make wyoming a better place while creating opportunities for our people. as the mayor of gillette, a state legislator or as a u.s. senator and senior statesman, wyoming has had no greater

champion than mike enzi. he always put wyoming first and worked harder than anyone to serve his constituents. growing up, mike's dad would say, i don't care if he's a doctor or a lawyer or a ditch digger. i just want him to be proud of what he does. if he's a ditch digger, i want any darn fool to be able to look at that ditch and say, that's a mike enzi ditch. that creed became commonplace in mike's senate office. i'll echo mike's former chief of staff by saying, i think it's a pretty good ditch. mike was a soft-spoken leader, but the many legislative wins he delivered attest to the impact of his service. at a time of increasing

political incivility, mike enzi managed to tactfully and graciously navigate the upper chamber, producing results that will be felt for generations to come. his retirement left a hole in the senate, and his death to this world leaves a hole in our state and in our hearts. throughout mike's career in the senate, he came up with multiple plans to address our debt and deficit. as an accountant by training and trade, he knew how to balance a budget and make it through the lean times. he wanted to set our great nation up for success for his children and his grandchildren. my prayers are with his wife diana, children amy, emily, and brad and his four grandchildren

at this very difficult time. i know they're proud of the powerful legacy he leaves behind. we all are. and we have every right to be. to me personally, he was more than just our senior senator. you've known mike since the early 1980's, and over the last 40 years, he's been my personal friend and as john barrasso said, mentor. we first worked together when we were in the wyoming state legislature. then we served together in the wyoming state senate. finally, when he came to the u.s. senate, i followed him a few years later in the house of representatives. i always joked that i was just following him around like a puppy dog my whole life. mike taught me about legislating, but he also taught me about life.

he had a rock-solid faith. his faith was his guiding light. it's something that my late-husband had, too, and i take comfort knowing that mike is peacefully at home in heaven with his lord and savior. i'm lutheran and in martin lutheran's small catechism it says that christians like mike and me and john are redeemed so that i may be his own and live under him and his kingdom and serve him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness. i note that because mike was such a servant leader. he gave his earthly life to public service. and as heaven is an everlasting

service of the lord, i know that no one is more prepared than that -- prepared for that than mike. he was a servant on earth, and i know he will be a servant leader in heaven. i'll say one last thing. mike's unexpected death is a reminder that you can never say thank you to the ones you care about and appreciate too soon or too often. i, along with john, was blessed to be able to pay tribute to mike's lasting accomplishments and impact on wyoming just last week when john barrasso and i recorded a tribute to him and his service to wyoming's mining community. and at this event honoring mike enzi at which he was in attendance in his hometown of

gillette, he joked, he had fun, and he got to enjoy the camaraderie of the people in the state he loved so very much. i'm grateful, john, that you and i got to say thank you to him one last time like that. i am heartbroken that mike has passed away from this life, for selfish reasons. i will miss him terribly. he was a beloved, kind member of the u.s. senate. he was an accomplished, quiet leader. he was wyoming's friend. he was my friend. god bless you, mike. we will see you down the road. happy trails.

mr. chairman, i yield back.

mr. thune: mr. president? the presiding officer: the republican whip. mr. thune: mr. president, before i begin, i want to join with my colleagues from wyoming and many of my other colleagues here in the senate and express my sorrow at the news received this morning that our former colleague, mike enzi, has passed away. mike was a cherished colleague and one of the finest human

beings you will ever meet. former budget committee chairman, he was in many ways the conscience of the senate on spending issues, always reminding members that federal dollars are not unlimited and that every dollar we add to the debt is a burden we are placing on our children and grandchildren. mr. president, one of my favorite memories of mike happened a few years ago when he was a neighbor next door in the state of wyoming and someone, as i said, for whom i had tremendous respect but always a gentleman, and he had something that i think in politics is really rare, and that is he would deal with big policy issues here in washington, d.c., but he always retained his common touch. he had a terrific way of connecting with people on a very personal level. and i remember i was experiencing from running -- overrunning heel pain, which turns out was plantar pasch

ayeties. i think happened to mention it to mike who at one time was a shoe salesman and a shoe store owner. it wasn't more than a day later or so, he comes up to me and he has a solution. he has some heel inserts for my shoes, which turned out to be just exactly one of the solutions that i needed to deal with that. but that was the -- that was very typical of senator enzi, mr. president. he was thoughtful. he was practical, incredibly hardworking, and very, very smart, very, very principled, and i just, to him and his family, to his wife diana, wife of more than 50 years, and his children and grandchildren, i want to say that -- how much we will deeply miss him and how much we are sending our thoughts and prayers to them during this very, very difficult time.

mr. president, on a different topic, last week the department of education officially backed away from prioritizing radical and divisive propaganda in applications for a federal program for civics in american history education. score one for sanity and for american history. the department's original proposed priorities for program applications had focused on aspects of so-called critical race theory and cited such dubious items as the 1619 project. the notice the department of education released last week dropped this discussion and indicated that the department would not give a competitive advantage to applications that reflect critical race theory. mr. president, the bipartisan program in question was established to strengthen american history and civics education. -- which is in a bad way.

just 15% of eighth graders demonstrate proficiency in american history according to the most recent assessment of the a 2019 survey found that just in our in ten american adults were capable of passing a u.s. citizenship test. yet the biden administration was apparently ready to compound this problem by pushing ideas rooted in critical race theory, a radical leftist ideology. as it's currently being pushed, critical race theory advanced the idea that america is not only flawed but inherently and system mattery evil and that -- systemically evil. no need to tell anyone that the united states has an imperfect history. while there are sins in our past that we cannot ignore, like the

great sins slavery and segregation, there's also greatness. our founders did something that was pretty much unprecedented in the history of the world. they sat down and built a country based not on whom conquered whom but on a set of principles, on a shared belief in liberty and unalienable human rights. and while we haven't always lived up to those beliefs, we've never stopped trying. and we continue to hold out the promise of liberty not only to our country but to the whole world. there's a reason that individuals around the globe have fled to these shores for promise of freedom and have found in the united states the refuge they were searching for. critical race theory distorts the reality of american history. it sees our failures but none of our successes. more than that, it actively misrepresents our history. the 1619 project, for example, advances the totally fabricated

claim that a primary motivation for the american revolution was a desire to preserve slavery. that couldn't be further from the truth. it's no surprise that leading historians have criticized the 1619 project for its distortions and factual inaccuracies. on top of that, by demonizing the united states, critical race theory also invites students to despise our country and ignore the tremendous freedoms and blessings that we enjoy. we are incredibly fortunate to live in the united states of america. and we let our students down when we fail to give them the perspective to see the blessings that our country provides. by dividing the world into oppressors and oppressed, critical race theory promotes resentment and victimization and encourages individuals to look at the world through the lens -- one lens, i should say, in one lens only and tends to reduce individuals to little more than

their racial background. mr. president, i'm glad that the department of education chose not to give preference to applicants with a productive on the radical ideas of critical race theory. this was good news for america's students who deserve a balanced accounting of our nation's history which critical race theory does not provide. mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that i be able to complete my remarks before the vote starts. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. thune: mr. president, there is still a lot of reason to be concerned. the department's reversal was cloaked in bureaucratic language, leaving room for a future flip-flop by the administration. and too many schools around the country are already considering or adopting outlandish proposals informed by critical race theory, from a math course that suggests that focusing on the right answer in math is grounded in racism to materials implying that the nuclear family is somehow inherently racist. this is a grave disservice to

students of all races, and we need to make sure that federal education dollars are going to genuine history and civics education and not radical propaganda. we owe american students better than historically inaccurate history lessons. mr. president, i yield the floor. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the question is on the nomination. is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll. vote:

vote:

vote:

vote:

vote:

the presiding officer: the yeas are 58, the nays are 41. the nomination is confirmed. under the previous order, the motion to reconsider is considered made and laid upon the table, and the president will be immediately notified of the senate's actions. mr. schumer: mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. schumer: pursuant to senate res. 27, the committee on energy and natural resources being tied on the question of reporting, i move to discharge the senate committee on energy

and natural resources from further consideration of the nomination of tracy stone manning of montana to be director of the bureau of left-hand management. the presiding officer: the presiding officer -- i apologize here, mr. schumer. let me get back on track. under the provisions of s. res. 27, there will now be up to four hours of debate on the motion equally divided between the two leaders or their designees, with no motions, points of order or amendments in order. mr. schumer: as a reminder to all members, the official photograph of the 117th congress will be at 2:15 p.m. senators are asked to be on the floor at that time. following the photograph, the senate will reconvene and resume consideration of the motion to discharge the stone-managing nomination. -- stone-manning nomination. they could expect the vote to occur around 5:00 p.m. today. i ask unanimous consent that the

senate recess subject to the call of the chair. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection, the senate without objection, the senate >> the senate taking a break to allow lawmakers to attend the weekly party caucus lunches. the senate just approved todd kim to be assistant attorney general for the environment and natural resources. mr. kemp is a first asian-american to hold that job. after their meetings senators will reconvene a group photo before gaveling back into session. more lives than a coverage when lawmakers return here on c-span2. >> sunday c-span's series january 6, views from the house continues. three more members of congress share stories of what they saw,, heard and experienced that day, including representative rodney davis of the limits of as a teller for the electoral vote count on that day. >> there were a lot of freshmen there that i got to know during

orientation that this was the first real experience as a member of congress, and we were kind of watching them and talking to my fellow colleagues about what we could do to try and stop this. >> what were those conversations like? tell us about them. >> i remember a conversation i had with marjorie taylor green. marjorie was a freshman. she was very active during the orientation, and she was very upset about what was going on. her and i chatted. she said what can i do? i said hi but you go back in the cloak room and film video and put on social media and european influence over anybody out there tell them to stop. she did that. >> this week you will hear from democrats madeleine dean of pennsylvania and zoe lofgren of california. january 6th, views from the house, sunday 10 p.m. eastern on c-span come c-span.org or listen on c-span radio app.

>> c-span is your unfiltered view of government. we are funded by these television companies in more including mediacom. >> the world changed in an instant but mediacom was ready. internet traffic soared and we never slow down. schools and businesses with virtual and with powered a new reality because at mediacom we are built to keep you ahead. >> mediacom supports c-span is a public service along with these other television providers giving you a front row seat to democracy. >> next officials with homeland security department and u.s. secret service testifying on the use of digital financing by terrorists. the house homeland security subcommittee, this is about an hour and 20 minutes.