mr. leahy: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from vermont. mr. leahy: madam president, i ask that the call of the quorum be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. leahy: madam president, as we're finally, finally beginning to turn the corner on the coronavirus pandemic, we have the hard work of rebuilding our economy. more than a core engine of the american economy is the intellectual property. from the smallest start-up to the largest intellectual company, intellectual property is essential to creating jobs, boosting economic output, and protecting consumers. so it's appropriate that today we celebrate world intellectual property day. it recognizes the important role of the -- intellectual property plays in promoting innovation, creativity, economic growth. this world's i.p. day celebrates the contributions of small and medium-sized businesses to the global marketplace. and why these small enterprises make up 90% of the world's businesses, whether to pr

mr. leahy: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from vermont. mr. adam president, i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: mr. schumer: madam president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. schumer: we're not in a quorum? we are? i ask unanimous consent the quorum be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: now, madam president, last night before a joint session of congress, president biden laid out a comprehensive, thoughtful vision for the country. first, he spoke about what we've accomplished so far and on that front, there was plenty to talk about. the democratic majority in congress passed the most sweeping federal recovery effort in a generation. the american rescue plan accelerating the pace of vaccinations and our economic rebound. as a result, the united states administered more than 200 million shots in less than a hundred days. more than half of american adults have gotten at least one shot and two-thirds of american seniors are vaccinated.

mr. leahy: mr. president. mr. president, i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: 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. mr. schumer: so, mr. president, we live in bipartisan -- sorry. we live in partisan times. but there are moments when we can break through the typical divisions and work together on matters of real urgency. theanti-asian hate crimes legislation this week is such a matter. it's a very straightforward and relatively modest bill to address a pressing and important issue in the country. it would designate a point person at the justice department to identify hate crimes towards asian americans related to covid-19, telling federal law enforcement to make these hate crimes a top priority during the pandemic. just as important, it would send a strong message to two groups -- to the asian american community that the country is paying atte

mr. blanton: yes, it would, for the known threats identified currently. sen. leahy: and he will let us know if that changes. mr. blanton: it will be informed through the comprehensive security assessment we are doing. we will notify congress as we get additional information. sen. leahy: general? gen. gibson: my answer would be the same as the architect's. if our budget itself is not sufficient but we were granted a supplemental that includes some of the things we identified in terms of garage doors, tunnel doors, repairing windows and doors, as well as the potential to possibly expand workspace, it's available to the senate community that protects the senate. those two together would be sufficient, and we would let you know if it were not. sen. leahy: i'm going to submit my other questions for the record, but just so you all know, i believe in a capitol as open as we can safely. i hear from people not only from all over our country, but all over the world, when they look at the history, the paintings, talk to people, and members of congress, staff being able to talk

leahy, president pro tempore. mr. schumer: madam president. the presiding officer: the democratic leader. mr. schumer: yesterday, an overwhelming bipartisan majority of senators voted to move forward on senator hirono and senator duckworth's anti-asian hate crimes bill. i was pleased the vote was so substantial, 92-6. rarely do you see 92 senators agree to move forward with any piece of legislation, but if there was ever a topic that deserves a strong showing of bipartisan support, it's standing up to bigotry and racism against a particular group of americans. today, we will continue to work on a bipartisan agreement regarding amendments. i have committed to start the process with the bipartisan moran-blumenthal amendment. i understand my republican colleague from maine has some modifications to the bill, which we welcome, and those negotiations are proceeding afoot. i expect the republican leader and i, in consultation with the relevant committees, will be able to figure out an appropriate number of reasonable, germane, non-gotcha amendments

leahy, president pro tempore. mr. schumer: mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. schumer: okay, mr. president. i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to executive session to consider the following nomination -- calendar 60, that the nomination be confirmed, the motion to be reconsidered be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate, that no further motions be in order to any of the nominations, that the president be immediately notified of the senate's action, the senate resume legislative session. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: okay. mr. president, yesterday, a jury of former police officer derek chauvin's peers determined that he was guilty of murdering george floyd, confirming what was plain to the millions of americans who watched his murder on video. nine and a half excruciating minutes that documented the senseless and unnecessary loss of one man's life in broad daylight. our country was forever changed by the horrendous video of derek chauvin k

mr gonzales his neck. nor was there a time when they were pressing down hard enough on his body to cause him not to breathe officer fisher as well as officers eric mckinley and cameron leahy. or on paid leave corado. gonzales says officers murdered his brother. the truth is that he was killed by the police department was heartbreaking to see my mother having to see her her firstborn spinal moments is troubling. it's hard to watch my condolences, of course, go to mr gonzales, his mother and family, but interim alameda police chief randy finn had this to say about the murder accusation. well, i think that's a pretty strong charge that there's not enough evidence to support that charge. right now. that's what the investigation is for. we don't even know the cause of death. right now. here's the public to wait for the results of investigations into the death. the only tells part of the story, so we needed the entire investigation. you understand? um whether or not the actions were legal, consistent with training on within policy they wanted to do is to get him into a safe spot. they didn't have any intention. the events going in the direction that they did. you know, the city

mr. chairman, thank you. i think we have an excellent nominee here. chair durbin: thank you very much senator leahy. now senator cornyn. sen. cornyn: martin luther king famously said he had a dream work there would be a date where the children will be known by the content of their character and not the color of their skin. do you agree with that? ms. clarke: absolutely. sen. cornyn: maybe there is a misprint, but i'm sure you can clear it up for me. dating back to your days in school when you seemed to argue that african-americans were genetically superior to caucasians, is that correct? ms. clarke: no, senator. i believe you are referring to an op-ed that i wrote at the age of 19 about the bell curve theory, a racist book that he equated dna with genetics and race. as a black student of harvard at the time we took great offense to this book. it was co-authored by a harvard professor, we did a number of events to speak out against the book. this op-ed opened with a satirical reference to the statement that you just noted. reporting by the campus paper made very clear that this was not a view that i

mr. secretary. next we'll hear from the administrator for the u.s. environmental protection agency, michael regan. >> thank you, chairman leahy and vice chairman shelby and members of the committee. i am grateful for the opportunity to happen before you today to discuss the american jobs plan. this plan recognizes that now is the time for a bold, much-needed investment in america to put millions of people back to work and lay the foundation for economic growth by investing in infrastructure that could benefit all communities leaving nobody behind. infrastructure in the 21st century extends far beyond roads and bridges and it means building a more resilient transmission, and it means revitalizing digital infrastructure in every pocket of the country, and it also means investing in our drinking water and waste water infrastructure, and cleaning up our restored land and investing in programs that reduce pollution for our children, and ensuring access to clean and safe water for all americans impacts our nation's climate resilience. for example, epa's water infrastructure finance and innovation act loan program helped to finance over $19 billion in infra

leahy, president pro tempore. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved. mr. schumer: mr. president, are we in a quorum? the presiding officer: we are not. mr. schumer: mr. president, over the past year, there has been a rising tide of violence and discrimination against asian americans from shouted insults and racial slurs to outright physical assaults. i've attended a whole bunch of rallies against asian american violence over the past few weeks, and you would be heartsick, heartsick to hear the stories shared, the fear in the voices of asian american citizens to listen to the way they have changed their daily lives to avoid the subway or stay indoors most of the day. the surge of anti-asian violence is revolting and sadly contains the echoes of dark chapters in our history. when asian americans were subject to widespread bigotry and discrimination. the poison of racism has always existed in america, but unfortunately over the past four years, it seems to have found new life. there is no question that the former president fanned the flames of racial bias in our country,

leahy, president pro tempore. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved. mr. schumer: mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority leader is recognized. mr. schumer: thank you, mr. president. now, today the senate will take up a series of votes to confirm three highly qualified nominees to the biden administration, jason miller for deputy o.m.b. director and colin kahl for under secretary of defense for policy. later this afternoon the senate will move forward with the process to take up the bipartisan water infrastructure bill. i expect the senate will do so with significant bipartisan support. the water infrastructure bill is as noncontroversial as it gets. it was approved by the environment and public works committee on a unanimous vote. every single democrat, every single republican. thanks to the good work of chairman carper and ranking member capito. this water infrastructure bill is also a core component of the republican infrastructure proposal released last week. so i hope this legislation will serve as a starting point for our for parties to collaborate on