with me as leader mitch mcconnell. the trump administration and the senate have been working hand in hand to provide relief to america's workers and small businesses to bridge the gap to the phased reopening of our nations economy -- our nation's economy. what are some of the achievements you and president trump have secured to keep our economy running? sen. mcconnell: congress has passed and the senate -- the president has signed multiple bills to help through this shutdown. because of public health concerns, we have had the bizarre situation of shooting -- shutting down our own economy. the cares act and the $2.2 trillion bill written in my office in conjunction with the administration provided a significant amount of funds for small businesses, hospitals, others who are struggling trying to get through this time. collectively we have already spent about, or we are in the process of spending $2.8 trillion. we now have a debt the size of our economy. i have said in the president has said as well we need to take a paus

mcconnell: sen. schumer: i have spoken to lots of the restaurant owners in new york, and many of them are worried the program may not fit their needs. they need the money. don't get me wrong. they want the program, but the problem that they see, many of them, is that they are closed now, and when they are allowed to open up, they will have very few customers, yet they will have to have their employees come back. if that is after june 30, will they be allowed to have money? so these are the kinds of reasons we need money, to see who is getting it, why they are getting it, and of course we should improve and change these programs. small businesses, minority businesses would have gotten much less if we had not stood our ground when leader mcconnell just introduced a bill for more ppp with no changes and we demanded changes. we are going to have to do that again. each time we have had a bill, leader mcconnell has introduced his own bill with no consultation. and the needs of the country forced him to neg

according to senator mcconnell, we have time. we may have time in the senate, but to the families in illinois, new york, michigan and kentucky, do they have time? democrats believe we need to start right now, immediately, after this bill passes the house of representatives, to start negotiations. if you follow what we have been doing, you understand that it starts off with certain suggestions, included, not included, then the good -- than the negotiations began and we start with a bipartisan bill. friday the house passed the heroes act. it includes help for american families and small businesses to help them survive the enormous public health and economic crisis brought on by this pandemic. it provides resources to hospitals, which are hanging on by a thread. southern illinois, downstate illinois is next to the commonwealth of kentucky. we know what our hospitals are what mitch we know mcconnell hospitals are also facing. we need to make sure that we have the help for these hospitals and increased funding for testing. you will re

i mean you know, mitch mcconnell comes up with this idea that we should let state and local governments go bankrupt. this is not an abstract concept, mitch. these are firefighters who protect us. bus drivers who drive the buses. people who work in health care. food safety inspectors. these are the people who would be thrown out of work through no fault of their own, in fact a million people in state and local governments lost their job. we need money to help them keep work, keep working. we need money to provide food for people so they don't have to watch their children go hungry. we need to get our schools going. we need heroes pay for those on the front lines going through so many extra expenses and asked to sacrifice so much. this idea that we should do nothing, and wait and see, well, i'd like mitch mcconnell and his republican friends, mr. kennedy, to go tell a mom who can't feed her kids, let's wait and see what happens in a few weeks. to tell a small business person, who has spent ten years building up that restaurant, or that nail salon, or that small manufacturing business, and

mcconnell said let's wait and see how the programs are working. how are you going to see how the programs are working if they don't reveal where the money is going? if they are not transparent? today moved on the floor -- there was no other action on the floor. there was no action scheduled this whole week. leader mcconnell brought us back to deal with ideological issues to appeal to, i guess, some hard right base, but to ignore the huge crisis that the american people are facing. so, senators cardin, blumenthal and i went to the floor today because this bill is necessary, even marco rubio, who objected, admitted the bill was necessary in a good thing. and also, to point out what we should be doing here. focusing on our oversight responsibility. week, dr. fauci, dr. birx, and jay powell should be before the senate answering difficult questions. that is not happening. we moved it and this week, we help they will reconsider. i am ready for questions. of small the groups businesses is asking for more help, way more like stability. it's the restaurant

senator mcconnell's ask is community immunity from lawsuits. don't hold anybody any standards at all. that's wrong. people will be in danger, people will be infected, more people will die. that is not the right approach. but we need to do is to make certain that when this is all said and done we have a smart approach. in the business that is conscientious and cares for its customers has standards to live by, that they can thmeet reasonable standards that have been thought through from a public health viewpoint. it's no wonder that there's incendiary when you look at the situation today , controls suggest voluntary standards, suggestions. the white house accepts some and punishes some, stops at others, ignores others. there's just no clear message to businesses and people of what the standard safety will be. so i would say that this hearing is important to hear from mister smart, to look for standards that he can live by. to hear from mark pelosi about the dangers that is workers across the workplace and don't believe for a minute that this cara

so when we confront mcconnell, we usually win. and that's because, often though we're a minority, the public is on our side, and loot t of thos republican senator, some up for re-election, some not, eventually come over to our side, and we've had success in bill three. not everything, believe you me, but making it a lot better than when we started and i believe we will have the same success as we roll up our sleeves and get to work on covid 4, the next bill. >> senator chuck schumer, thank

mcconnell seems totally divorced from that reality. americans cannot afford to wait for leader mcconnell to finally realize the devastation that so many americans are experiencing. how many unemployed americans would it take for leader mcconnell to say he feels urgency and a need to act? how many hungry people would it take? so, the bottom line is very simple -- we need to act in a big and bold way. the house has started the ball rolling. the republicans and the president ought to understand that and help us move in big, bold ways, not stand in the way. on fauci, i just hope that the president listens to fauci. the president is in such an ironic position. he is desperate we get back to work and that we resume normality, and he refuses to enact the best way to make that happen -- ample testing so that people know when they have the virus and when they don't so people are not afraid to go to the stores. i read in georgia, something between 86% and 92% of the people did not show up in the stores once they opened, because they are afraid.

senator mcconnell's approach is immunity from lawsuits. don't a establish standards and don't hold anybody to standards at all. that is wrong. the net result of that is more people will be in danger, more people be affected, or people will die. that is not the right approach. what we need to do is make certain when this is all said and done we have a smart approach to this. that a business that is conscientious, cares for its workers cares for its customers has standards to live by that they can meet reasonable standards that have been with the public viewpoint there's no uncertainty when you look at that today. they suggest voluntary standards, suggestions the white house publishes some scoff said others ignores ushers this just no clear message to businesses and people across america what the standards of safety will be. so i would say this hearing this afternoon is important to hear from mr. smart and his willingness to look for standards he can live up by to hear from mark about the dangers to his workers across the workplace and don't

senator mcconnell has said that he will not support that legislation and less, as he calls it, his red line of liability is honored. what he's saying is he refuses to fund our police, firefighters, paramedics and teachers unless we provide guaranteed is his immunity from covid-19 lawsuits by workers ans consumers. senator mcconnells guaranty business community, sadly, is indication for irresponsible corporations and businesses to cut corners when it comes to protecting workers and those customers in such who would be threatened by coronavirus. the mcconnell redline threat would result in what people being infected by the coronavirus, more people getting sick. that's not what we want. there's a better way. we should be talking about how to do this properly. this afternoon they will be a hearing before the senate judiciary committee. one of these witnessesof been called republicans as a man named kevin spark, chief executive officer and president of quick check food stores in bottom texas turkeys testified on behalf of the national association of convenience stores on this question of li

mcconnell: finally, mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today it adjourn until 10:30 a.m., thursday, may 14. further, that following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour deemed expired the journal of proceedings be approved to date and the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day and morning business be closed. further, following leader remarks the senate resume consideration of h.r. 6172 under the previous order. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: if there is no further business to come before the senate, i ask it stand adjourned under the previous order. the presiding officer: the senate stands adjourned until senate stands adjourned until the u.s. senate as gaveled out, debated legislation authorizing the performance re- surveillance act. there were re- reauthorized by sentence of 2023 and already been approved by the house british senators voted on amendments today and while passing vote is expected on thur

is ducking their responsibility plain and simple leader mcconnell has yet to schedule any legislative business having to do with covid it has taken sustained pressure from senate democrats to force our republican colleagues to conduct even routine business holding hearings on coronavirus. we have had a few hearings now that not many. where is the sba administrator and the problems with ppe? what about secretary scalia of unemployment insurance? how do you protect workers from this pandemic when they are required to go to work? and even the hearings we are having our slow like toothpaste from the two. we are hearing that we are getting an update on the 19th. that is two months after we passed covid three. that is not oversight. that is not congresses job at any time or worse because we are in a crisis. them last night, amazingly, the republican leader explained the republicans have put back not yet felt the urgency of acting immediately". let me repeat that with millions of americans second tens of thousands dying with the prescient levels of unemployment the republican leader mcconnel

the president and mitch mcconnell have talked about the funding. when you look at the states that rely most, though, on federal aid traditionally, many of them are red state, and many of these quote/unquote blue states, to quote mitch mcconnell since i guess he wanted to make it political, many of the blue states actually give more into the federal government than they take. do you think that is a relevant part of this? because president trump is making it sound like well, even your state of california or new york would be taking more than they deserve. >> please let me not have to act on anything the president has said, but i will refer to mcconnell because he has said that -- and the president has endorsed that that we're not bailing out states for what they did. no. he referenced illinois. illinois is a state that was taken down -- i'm trying to find a euphemism for the word i want to use -- a bad path by a republican governor, now rescue bade democratic governor, pritzker, we're very proud of him. so when he says oh, we're not bailing out for p

the republican thing from donald trump to mitch mcconnell is sort of lying herbert hoover. when the stock market crashed, herbert hoover said we don't need to do anything. let the private sector work this out. that caused, lengthens and deepened the great depression. let us hope that the public need and the public pressure will get the republicans to understand what we need to do to get this country out of the greatest health and economic crisis we've had since the depression. >> i was going to point out it's not just jay powell and the fed today. it's also larry hogan republican governor and andrew cuomo together for the national governors association be saying they need that state and local government money. >> andrea, what's appalling here -- i was just going to say, they don't believe in truth. that's the problem. there's truth. there are facts. dr. fauci talks about facts. they don't argue with him. they call him names. donald trump said two months ago, anyone who wants a test can get a set. lie, straight out and out lie. and they're still clinging to that thing when d

mcconnell: i'm sorry? >> you said mistakes from the previous bill need to be corrected which mistakes were first. you referring to? sen. mcconnell: i think every day we are looking at adjustments. the treasury is trying to make adjustments on their own. some may require legislative activity. we have heard from a lot of the governors who would like to add more flexibility to use the money we have already sent them. we are looking at that. so, i am not going to make any big predictions about what happens here in the future. we may act again. and if we do, it will be because we are taking a measured response first to what we have already done. and then we will see whether we need to do a lot more. thanks a lot. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2020] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its

senator mcconnell updated the numbers as of yesterday. out of 1.5 million confirmed cases, 90,000 if there have been two, two covid-19 medical malpractice cases filed in the united states, over 1000 complaints that have been filed come in 26 cases alleging workplace exposure to covid-19, the senator from kentucky called this a tidal wave of lawsuits. a windfall, two cases of medical malpractice, 26 cases for workplace exposure and other cases that mentioned covid-19, questioning whether their rights are being violated because in the circumstances the health circumstances in the prisons lawsuits against insurance companies as to whether or not the policy recovers a business that suffered losses because of covid-19, lawsuits between businesses as to responsibility for it but this notion of tidal wave of lawsuits being filed, two medical malpractice cases across the united states of america 26 workplace exposure cases and keep in mind if you do get sick and want to file a lawsuit a good lawyer will advise you be careful, proving where you we

leader mcconnell has long presided over the legislative graveyard. but in this time of national crisis, when americans all across the country are desperate hefor relief, the inaction of te senate republicans is staggering making matters worse republicans are not just ignoring the coronavirus, they are practically sprinting towards focusing on a partisan election instead of coming together to try to solve the problem. instead of debating the legislation on the floor, leader mcconnell has asked the senate to confirm the rights of thets right-wing judges in the homeland security committee, the republican chairman convened a hearing that slanders the family, the president's political opponen opponents with conspiracy theories invented by none other than the kremlin. at the homeland security committee should be holding hearings with the fema administrator about the long shortagest of ppe but instead te majority republican is following putin and his intelligence services. what a disgrace. with the sham and with a dereliction of duties. the house, again, th

senator mcconnell has cited this tracking. the update numbers as of yesterday and reported at of one.5 million covid-19 cases and 90000 deaths, there have been two medical malpractice cases filed in the united states and over 1000 complaints and 26 cases alleging workplace exposure. the senator from kentucky causes a tidal wave of lawsuits a windfall for trial lawyers. to? medical malpractice 26 were workplace exposure and those that mentiont covid-19 prisons and jailsnd and prisoners if their r rights are being violated because the nrcumstances the lawsuits against insurance companies whether or not it covers the business or suffer those losses lawsuits as well between businesses but the notion of a tidal wave of lawsuits being filed but two medical malpractice and 26 exposure cases? keep in mind if you do get sick and want to file a lawsuit a good lawyer will advise you be careful proving you in fact it is not easyn. also look at the business or individual do they act reasonably? we have a hearing last week with liability du

el lÍder del senado mitch mcconnell admitiÓ que se equivocÓ al informar por error que la administraciÓnejÓ un plan contra eventuales pandemias. de esta manera contradice al presidente trump. el mandatario expresÓ su confianza en las pruebas rÁpidas del coronavirus que usa la casa blanca, pese a que un estudio revela que muchos de sus resultados son falsos negativos. es viernes, 15 de mayo. comenzamos la ediciÓn nocturna. ♪ locutor: este es su noticiero univisiÓn edición nocturna. con enrique acevedo y patricia janiot. patricia: buenas noches, la cÁmara baja de mayorÍa demÓcrata aprobó otro paquete de estÍmulo econÓmico, uno millonario de 3 millones de millones de dÓlares para enfrentar la crisis de la pandemia. este quinto paquete serÍa el mayor en la historia del paÍs, y contemplarÍa fondos para los trabajadores de la salud en todos los estados, los gobiernos estatales y locales y las familias de menos ingresos. claudia uceda tiene detalles del debate entre los legisladores. claudia: a pesar de que esta noche los de republicanos y 13 demÓcratas intentaron evitar que inmigrantes indocum

leader mcconnell, there's nothing more urgent to a family that is struggling to feed their children and keep a roof overtheir heads . leader mcconnell, there is nothing more urgent to a small business owner who is inches away fromclosing doors . republican leadership needs to wake up, wake up to the dire economic realities of tens of millions ofamericans are facing . we must pass big, hold legislation to confront the crisis before us. that's what the house of representatives is working on right now . we don't believe that our two parties will agree on everything we must do but at the very least , at the very least we should agree there is an urgency to provide a really are citizens who are suffering andstruggling . president hoover lacked the urgency to get the federal government at the outset of the great depression. every history book teaches us when republican leaders look at unemployment numbers and say we don't need to act immediately , that governments is not enough already, they are a latter-dayherbert hoover's . and i fear it could lead to similarresults . deeper and longer rece

you are scheduled to return monday at the direction of mitch mcconnell?hat are your concerns, if any, days?ing in just four >> i>> am ready to go to the capital, but very concerned about the health and safety of the workers on capitol hill, because senator mcconnell has not put in place any plan to protect their health and their lives, and a lot of them are my constituents. i represent the state of maryland, and on capitol hill, most of the workers come from the district of columbia, maryland, and virginia, and were talking about front-line workers like cafeteria workers, custodial workers. senator mcconnell appears to have no safety plan in place to better protect their safety, and i think that is not responsible. host: he is saying frontline workers, they are on the job, so senator should be on the job. guest: i am not saying senators should not be there. i'm talking about the hundreds and hundreds of other people who will be coming to capitol hill without any direction or guidelines from senator mcconnell to protect their safety. for example, if you ar

they look for cases based on covid-19, senator mcconnell has cited this tracking. that tracker update -- updated its numbers as of yesterday reported that out of one and a half million confirm covid cases and 90000 deaths there have been two, two covid-19 medical malpractice cases over 1000 complaints that have been filed. twenty-six cases alleging workplace exposure to covid-19. the senator from kentucky called this a tidal wave of lawsuits. a windfall for trial lawyers, two cases of medical malpractice? workplace exposure?e and the other cases that mention covid-19 there relate to prisoners in prisons and jails were questioning whether their rights are being violated because of the circumstances the health circumstances in theag prison, there are lawsuits against insurancey companies as to whether or not the policy covers a business and suffered losses because of the covid virus that had been lawsuits as well between businesses is a responsibility for it. but this notion of tidal wave of lawsuits being filed, to medical malpractice cases across the united states

leader mcconnell has long presided over a legislative graveyard. but in this time of national crisis, when americans paul across the country -- when americans all across the country are desperate for relief, the inaction of senate republicans is staggering. making matters worse, republicans aren't just ignoring the coronavirus, they're practically sprinting towards focusing on a partisan election instead of us coming together and trying to solve this problem. instead of debating covid-related legislation on the floor, leader mcconnell has asked the senate to confirm the rights -- some right-wing judges. in the homeland security security, the republican chairman convened a chairman that slanders the family of the president's political opponent with conspiracy theories invented by none other than the kremlin. the homeland security committee should be holding hearings with the fema administrator about the alarming shortage of p.p.e., but instead the republican majority is busy following bread crumbs left by the putin and his intelligence services. wha

senate mcconnell's approach is immunity from lawsuits. don't establish any standards and don't hold anybody to any standards at all. that's wrong. the net result of that is more people will be in danger, more people will be infected, more people will die. that is not the right approach. what we need to do is make certain is that when this is all said and done, we have a smart approach to this. that a business that is conscious, cares for its workers, cares for its customers has standards to live by that they can meet -- reasonable standards that have been fought through from a public health viewpoint. it's no wonder that there's uncertainty when you look at the situation today. the centers for disease control suggests voluntary standards, suggestions, the white house suggests soms, -- some, publishes some, scoffs some, ignores others, there is no standard for the businesses across america as to what the standards of safety would be. so i would say this hearing this afternoon is important to hear from mr. smart and his willingness to look

>> everything from mcconnell is purely politics.ancy behind, the hipocrasy is astonishing with the appointment. you have to give a new definition of hutzpah. lifetime appointments. like the appointment of justin walker who mcconnell is trying to push under the one broken seat. the justin walker is a kentucky protege of mcconnell. was was unqualified in kentucky. with a mcconnell is trying to do is simply pack the courts from top to bottom with people who are loyal to the trump philosophy. not protecting the country against the coronavirus. but making sure the agenda of trump and barr, who challenge what is being done to protect us from the virus, that their agenda is not only the law of the land for the next few months, but the rest of our lives. for decades. these are lifetime appointments. stacking the courts with far right people who are deemed unqualified for good reason. they are very young and i inexperienced. political hacks more than jurists. it is a way of dangers all we value under the constitution. rule of law. rights of

senator mcconnell told us that is not an urgent need. he should go to a food bank in kentucky and take a look around. he will see a lot of people, not just democrats but republicans and independents facing hardships in this economy. and say that it is not urgent to provide money to hospitals? even in illinois, small town rural illinois, hospitals are struggling even if they don't have covid-19 infections to deal with because an economy of people who are leery about going forward with elective surgery and outpatient treatment. one thing to keep in mind even if you have a hospital in a remote rural area with little or no infection from the virus if you want to return to elective surgery, good medical practice requires we test the patient before the surgery to see if they are positive. hospitals i talked to our testing the driver who will take the patient home after the procedure. we need testing so that these hospitals even in areas not directly affected by this pandemic can big get back in business and keep their doors open. what a traged

they have to tell mitch mcconnell and trump we need action now. not in a few months. >> you obviously ran for president in the democratic primary and i think it's fair to say you saw the stakes of this election as extremely high, you know, life or death essentially before the pandemic, but i wonder how you see it now. you have endorsed joe biden along with everyone else that ran in that race. there is a democrats that have unified i think at that level like how you are seeing this moment and what it means to have this individual running the country at this minute and the need for change. >> you know, all of the ugliness and inequities in american society which many of us have understood for a long, time, they are becoming visible to everybody in this country right now and here is exactly by the stakes of this campaign are so high, this is what trump believes. trump essentially says no, we know you're unemployed. we know you have no income. you know you may get evicted from your home. you may not have food. we'll give you a choice. either you can s

clearly, senator mcconnell does not. the notion that we would honor the people who are working on the front lines to make sure that they would be able to continue to serve us and to risk their lives for us in treating the patients, i think that is a priority, and there is a sense of urgency, and i think speaker pelosi was correct in including that money to give those first responders, health workers, and others a helping hand. and let me say this notion that we shouldn't be helping state and local governments, who in the world do we think is on the front line in the battle against this national emergency, this pandemic? it's the doctors, of course, and the nurses, of course, but it's also our first responders, our policemen, our firefighters, even our teachers. if we don't provide the resources that have been lost to the states and localities because of this pandemic, there will be cutbacks in pay and layoffs for sure. is that how we're going to answer this national emergency? i believe there is a profound sense of emerg

and mcconnell and trump are not a unit.-- as she seeks to prevent, for example, red states from plundering blue states, she is also dealing with a president who doesn't understand the severity of the economic crisis and doesn't understand how much trouble he is in. in his own interests, he should be flooding the zone with money, but he won't do it because mitch mcconnell who has a keener grasp of realities doesn't want to for his own reasons. >> and the speaker made a point of criticizing the press, which sort of includes us, obviously. for giving attention to mitch mcconnell's talk of bankruptcy and sort of what she views as a canard. you've been writing than as well and documenting however seriously one wants to take mitch mcconnell or is it a negotiating strategy. you were documenting in the atlantic how there is a larger piece of work at play here, if you want to speak to that. >> well, i don't think many people understand exactly what mitch mcconnell needs when he talks about bankruptcy. they think we offer monopoly. b

later mcconnell has long presided over legislative graveyard. but in this time of national crisis, when americans all across the country are desperate for relief, the inaction of senate republicans is staggering. making matters worse, republicans are not just ignoring the coronavirus, they're practically sprinting towards focusing on a partisan election instead of us coming together and trying to solve this problem. instead of the debating this on the floor, senate mcconnell has asked to can firm the homeland security committee hearing the family of the political opponent with conspiracy theories . by none other than brady they should be holding hearings with the fema administrator. about the alarming shortage of ppe. but instead, the republican majority is busy following breadcrumbs left by putin, and his intelligence services. what a disgrace. what a sham, and what interrelation of duties. house again, they are doing the job.gain, they are doing they passed the major bill. senator mcconnell said let's wait pretty he does not see immediate emer

leader mcconnell must hear this. right now leader mcconnell and the majority should show with the partisan and divisive headlines let's focus on working together, to heal the sick, heal the unemployed and stabilize the economy to make sure the administration properly executes the laws we pass so we can prepare our country for the day when we finally, god willing return to normal. i yield the floor and noticed the absence of a quorum. >> we asked the quorum call be suspended. and to set a good example for the country that's attentive to the public health care crisis. listen carefully to the remarks of the republican majority leader. we spoke about reconvening of

leader mcconnell, there is nothing more urgent to a family that are struggling to feed their children and keep a roof over their heads. leader mcconnell, there is nothing more urgent to ao small business owner who is inches away from closing the doors. of his life work. republican leadership needs to wake up, wake up, to the dire economic reality tens of millions of americans are facing. we must pass big, bold legislation to confront the crisis before us. that's just what the house of representatives is working on right now. we don't believe that our two parties will agree on everything we must do, but at the very least, at the very least we an urgency to provide a relief to our citizens were suffering and struggling. president hoover lacked the urgency to get the federal government involved in the outset of the great depression. every history book teaches us that his errors deepened the suffering of american workers. when republican leaders look unemployment numbers and so we don't need to actre immediately, that government has done enough already, they are the latter-day herbert hoo

that's a question that senator mcconnell and senator scott and mr.fer don't want to ask because the truth -- the truth is totally the opposite of what they're saying. you look at the states that give more money to the federal government than they get back. you know the top, what they call donor state? you know what one state pays in more to the pot than they take out of the federal pot than any other state in the united states? it's the state of new york. new york pays more every year, $29 billion more than they take back. you know the second state? new jersey. massachusetts. connecticut. california. every year they contribute more to the federal pot. you know who takes out more than they put in from that pot? you know whose hand goes in deeper and takes out more than they put in? virginia, maryland, kentucky, alabama, florida. those are the facts. those are the numbers. >> kentucky's mitch mcconnell has had the senate working mostly just to confirm republican federal judges. those are all presidential appointments that must be confirmed by the senat

leader mcconnell must hear this. right now, leader mcconnell and the republican majority should shelve the divisive judicial fights and the partisan red lines. let's focus on working together to heal the sick, employ the economy, and making sure the administration properly executes the laws we pass so that we can prepare our country for the day when we will finally, god the presiding officer: the assistant democratic leader. mr. durbin: i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: i learned the et quit of the -- etiquette of the mask. mr. president, i listened carefully to the remarks of the republican majority leader. he spoke about the reconvening of the senate this day and he talked about the work we achieved a few weeks ago passing the cares act. $2.2 trillion in rescue funds for america 96-0, and by a voice vote we passed $$48 million more. almost $$2.7 trillion. that is an amount far in excess of the annual federal budget of the united states of

can you talk about what mitch mcconnell is demanding?he actually holding the stimulus package up to insert this in? >> mitch mcconnell is talking about trying to have total immunity for big corporations, fofor really anything reremotely connected to the coronavirus crisis. he is reconvening the senanate today, he says, foror the purpoe of granting immunity to big corporations that he says won't let the next to melisissa/relief bill go through unless it includeses provisions to protect big corporatitions from lawsuit. this is not just about -- itit s especially the protectingg employers from lawsuits for endangering their workers come also abobout lawsuitits protectg compmpanies from endangegering r works.s. it probably means protectcting corporations from lawswsuits ovr environment pollution, maybe even violations of civil rights law, t their wage lalaw, and mo. .his is a lolong-term agenda mitch h mcconnell sees an opportunity with the coronavirus to capitalize.e. he is trtrying to get brought immunity for corporations for all kinds of

mcconnell's leadership dithers. already, however, we have heard congressional republicans arehe telling everyone they want to slow down. leader mcconnell says he wants to hit the pause button. president trump and administration officials are saying we might not need to do anything more to help the country. this would be a catastrophic mistake. at the outset of the great depression, president hoover was also reluctant to use national resources to attack the problem. he, too, was ideologically opposed to a vigorous and strong response from the federal government. president hoover's failure was likely responsible for extending the length and deepening the severity of the great depressio depression. it president trump and our republican colleagues go the way of herbert hoover, if they oppose or slow off government intervention to save the economy that's hurtlingar downward, i fr the nation could suffer a similar fate, a second depression. we must avoid that at all costs. now is not the time for timidity. now is not the

when this critical junction in our nations history, the republican leadership and by leader mcconnell, is ducking the responsibility, plane and civil they do has yet to schedule any legislation business for the floor of the senate this month having to do with covid-19. it is taken sustained pressure from the senate democrats, to force our republican colleagues to connect even business appalling hearings on the covid-19. we have had a few hearings now, not many. where is the fda administrator to talk about the problems in dpe. where iss secretary to talk abt the i problems and unemployment insurance. where are the t executives talk about how we protect workers. even the hearings we are having, are slow. from a tube read the word is that we are hearing from on the 19th that's close to two months. that's after we have passed covid-19 number three. that is not oversight. that is not congress' job. on anytime pretty is made even worse because we are in a crisis. and then, last night, amazingly, the republican leader explained the republicans have not yet felt the urgency of acting immediat

but mitch mcconnell refuses to let the senate vote. join us. tell mitch: protect our health and our vote. why's mitch so afraid of our voices being heard? let america vote pac is responsible for the content of this ad. i thought it had to be thick to protect. but new always discreet is made differently. with ultra-thin layers that turn liquid to gel and lock it inside. for protection i barely feel. new always discreet. i am totally blind. and non-24 can make me show up too early... or too late. or make me feel like i'm not really "there." talk to your doctor, and call 844-234-2424. >>> george floyd died on monday night in minneapolis after being detained by police with a police knee on his neck for over seven minutes while he repeatedly said i can't breathe. the four minneapolis police officers involved were fired yesterday after video recorded by citizen bystanders at the scene showed george floyd being held down and saying i can't breathe. today, the mayor of minneapolis jacob fry said if he had treated george floyd that way, he would be in j

and yet, leader mcconnell seems totally divorced from that reality. can't afford to wait for leader mcconnell to finally realize the devastation that so many americans are experiencing. how many unemployed americans would it take for leader mcconnell to say there's an emergency the need to act how many people would it take? so the bottom line is very simple we need to act in a big and bold way. the house started the ball rolling, the republicans and the president need to understand that and help us move in the big bold way not stand in the way. >> the house will vote on a more than 3 trillion-dollar coronavirus aid package on friday the over 1800 page bill has state and local funding for first responders and healthcare workers and help individuals and families to provide 70 billion for coronavirus testing, contact tracing and treatment. the legislation also includes additional funding for assistance. watch live coverage on c-span, online at c-span.org or listen with the free c-span radio app. : : : due to the coronavirus pandemic the supreme court hol

leader mcconnell must hear this. right now, leader mcconnell and the republican majority should shelve the divisive judicial fights and the partisan red lines. let's focus on working together to heal the sick, employ the economy, and making sure the administration properly executes the laws we pass so that we can prepare our country for the day when we will finally, god the presiding officer:

where trump and mcconnell differed once mcconnell got it together he was able to walk away from thatling, they don't want to fight. senate republicans don't want to fight with president obama. he's the most popular political figure. lindsey graham said we don't need to call president obama to testify on it. they don't want to pick a fight with the most popular politician in america. >> but rev, the fight has been picked. i think any sort of reference to plans that obama left just opened the floodgates for joe biden to say, i was part of that planning as well. it has to be unintentional because it's so politically moronic, the idea they're going to clap like trained seals when trump rants about obamagate, they're going to continue to march along, when he's actually doing things to his political disadvantage. >> moronic is the right word. political moronic to feed into what would be a gift for joe biden is to remind them there was a plan under the obama/biden administration and to pick a fight with someone who was the most popular politician in the country, certainly the most popular d

leader mcconnell must hear this. rhino leader mcconnell and a republican majority should show the devices judicial divides in the partisan devices redlines. let's focus on working together. to heal the sick. employee the unemployed. stabilize the economy and making sure the administration properly execute the laws we pass. if so that we can prepare our country for today and we will finally, god willing, returned to normal. i yelled the floor and notice the absence of the form. >> democratic leader. >> i ask unanimous consent. without objection. >> in the etiquette of the mass, we are trying to set a good example for a country. i listened carefully to the marks of the republican majoritn

you ever senator mcconnell threatening to derail the next rescue bill for police and firefighters and teachers across america less guaranteed immunity from lawsuits and the number one primary weakness of the senate judiciary committee to say they will establish reasonable standards when it comes to conducting business. i think that is a reasonable request. why are we doing it? why is an osha establishing safety standards? because i was a college kid spending 12 months working in east st. louis illinois was tough and dirty and dangerous work and i look to it as an important chapter in my life i saw her will people go to work every day. literally thousands of those infected by the virus and 85 have died as a result. are looking for those establish safety and some are doing just that. summer working with union to find ways to test the workers to bring them back to a job site. but we have a national standard to look to. and cdc to establish standards across the country to live up to and with other workers would apply that to say we know what social distancing standards are to be used. tha

leader mcconnell must hear this. right now leaderit mcconnell and the republican majority should show the divisive judicial in the partisan divisive redlines. let's focus on working together and to heal the sick and employ the unemployed, stabilize the economy and make sure that the administration properly execute the laws we pass so thate

mitch mcconnell says he doesn't see the urgent need for action. to talk to a small business person who's spent years creating with blood, sweat and tears a business that's now falling apart. talk to people who are waiting for hours on food pantry lines, you see the cars all lined up, or to someone who's lost his job and is ready to be victimed from his house or his apartment. there are so many urgent needs, that's what we're trying to do. we'd like to work with republicans, we don't expect them to agree with everything. this idea we don't have to do anything, it's eerily reminiscent of herbert hoover, when the stock market began to crash, i just want to leave it alone the private sector will solve it. the private sector can't solve problems of such magnitude. but somehow mitch mcconnell and the president cling to that belief. >> the people who lost everything are the most susceptible to the nonscience, nondata rush to reopen and i wonder what you say to people in your state, people all over the country, who are literally a ll agitating to get out

the mcconnell amendment would for the first time provide that authorization. the mcconnell amendment would in effect tell the government that congress approves of the warrantless collection of americans' most private information. wrap your arms around that one. congress explicitly approving of the warrantless collection of americans' most private information when millions of americans are sitting at home today in kansas, in south dakota, all across the country, sitting at home believing that they have some expectation of privacy. the mcconnell amendment prepare tends to limit the -- pretends to limit the collection of this personal information of americans, but it's just a fake. what the amendment really does is meaningless. it says the government can't collect content, but no one knows what that means when it comes to web browsing and internet search history. there's no clarity in the statute, there's no settled law in the courts. the supreme court hadn't weighed in. so what the mcconnell amendment does is invite the attorney general to produce yet more secre