mr. blumenthal: thank you, mr. president. i'm here to talk about the nomination of just continue walker to the d.c. circuit court of appeals, but let's start with the conner curren. justin walker actually has met conner -- not really, but i introduced him to conner through this picture during his nomination hearings in the judiciary committee. several years ago conner was diagnosed with duchenne muscular distrophy, a degenerative, life-threatening disease which presently has no cure. most people who have the disease die by their mid-20's. conner was diagnosed at age 5. i met conner years later. there has probably been nobody who has inspired me more with his couple, his energy, his -- his courage, his energy, his strength of character than conner curren and his wonderful family who live in ridgefield, connecticut. his parents were told at the time of his diagnosis that this beautiful young, sweet child would slowly lose his ability to run, lift his arms, hug them, and he would need complex care for the rest of his life. he wo

mr. blumenthal: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from connecticut. mr. blumenthal: thank you, mr. president. i am honored to follow my colleagues, senators shaheen and hassan from new hampshire and senator whitehouse of my neighboring state of rhode island. great advocates and steadfast champions of our elderly, our nursing home and assisted living facilities, and most important, my wonderful friend and colleague, senator casey of pennsylvania who has been such a tremendous champion. as the ranking member on the aging committee where i am also privileged to serve. you know, i have been reading about the 1918-1919 pandemic. which killed americans and people all around the world with such terror and such relentless cruelty. and it hit particularly hard young people in the prime of their life, in their 20's and early 30's. most especially members of the military who were bunked together and confined on bases or on troop ships on their way to the war. almost as many american troops died of disease during world war i as they did of wounds that they suffered in

mr. blumenthal: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from connecticut. mr. blumenthal: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, i've been doing a lot of listening during these past months. like americans across america i've been doing a lot of listening to the dedicated and passionate people, our fellow americans, who have marched in the streets in our communities with passion, but peacefully, in their cries for justice. and in fact, i have marched with them in 15 or more demonstrations in connecticut. big cities, hartford, stanford, new haven. smaller cities, trumbull, windsor, glassenbury. and then places like torrenton, east hartford, anberry, all across the state. proud to be with people from connecticut, led by our young people, as are many great social movements and revolutions of our time led by young people who have the audacity and hope to cast aside the normal and say there's no going back. there's no rolling back to the old normal. what we need is action. and that has been the common theme in these cries for justice. the demands for accountability,

mr. blumenthal? >> no. >> mr. booker, --? >> no. mr. chairman. chair graham: the motion is favorably reported. judge walker goes to the floor. as to the subpoena authorization, i call up the june 4, 2014 motion related to crossfire hurricane investigation, maybe i can feinstein,senator and we will open it up for debate and anything you all would like to do in terms of amending it. here's what i have come to conclude, that the transition issues are probably better left to senator johnson. so, i know that there was a by vice president biden to unmask general flynn, there were requests by people, samantha powers made a lot of requests. maybe there is a legitimate reason, i do not know. quite frankly, i think our time would be better served to go and look at crossfire hurricane and the mueller report itself, so i do not expect us to be calling people in the transition period. we will let senator johnson do that. do isat i do expect us to try to find out -- rosen assigned stead -- rosenstein said he signed the warrant not understanding that the underl

mr. blumenthal: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from connecticut. mr. blumenthal: thank you. i'm so honored and proud to join my colleague from minnesota who has been a champion on this issue in all kinds of constitutional weather. she has been a leader for all seasons on this issue, tireless and steadfast in her advocacy. and my colleagues who are here today with us, strong allies and partners, and i am really proud and honored to join them today. the name of this act is the natural disaster emergency ballot act. and we are in a disaster for our democracy if we do not act, if we fail to take the initiative within days, literally, to protect the ballot. you know, sometimes i think about voters in other countries who literally brave death to vote. and in one or more countries their hands are marked so that they can be identified as having voted but also they could be identified by opponents of those rights and potentially punished for voting. here in this country there are no such obstacles in the way of physical harm until now. and now we face the threat

mr. blumenthal? >> i want to thank you for having this hearing and also the hearing on police practices on june 15th. hopefully it will take place then. i want to thank my colleague, senator durbin, for that powerful statement and join him in his views and perhaps if he's accepting co-sponsors to his legislation i would like to join him. this nation clearly is in a moment of reckoning. it is convulsed by a fever of discord, a fever fanned by some of the statements at the very top of our government. our role now is to bring us together to move forward, to take this moment and use it constructively in the midst of an economic crisis, a health care crisis and now a justice crisis. and that's why leadership is so important at this moment. we need to break the virus of racism that has infected this nation for too long. it has manifested itself in countless ways, most dramatically in the video, the disgusting, vile actions of a minneapolis police officer, who properly has been charged with murder, but the

mr. blumenthal: thank you, mr. president. i'm honored to follow my colleague from nevada who knows so well the importance of public service and public servants. and one of the reasons why we are here is because many of those public servants doing such great service for our communities will be laid off or furloughed to the detriment of their communities and their states. as she knows in nevada and i know in connecticut. and what is necessary for them to continue their work is in fact the heroes act. now we've been talking a lot about the frontline workers, the heroes like first responders, police, firefighters, the doctors and nurses, the grocery checkers, the delivery people far and wide, high and low they have been doing great work, and many of them are going to be directly affected if we fail to pass the heroes act. many of them and their work will be for naught if we fail to support the heroes act and enable state and local governments to continue to employ them and support them. i have been traveling across the state of c

mr. blumenthal. >> thank you, senator, thank you for being here today and on so many other occasions, lendingyour voice and faith to reform that. not just a memory of your daughter but to save over their lives into you and everybody else that has lost the old ones, this committee has obligation condolences but to put our action where our mouth is. and when you adopt reforms that will prevent these tragedies in the future. you are here to hear administrator dixon and i'm going to go to your testimony on the rebalance of delegation. you may have heard my question about the faa taking back the delegation at the very least involvement of critical safety systems, were you satisfied with the answer that he gave? >> no, no there seem to be an unwillingness to do so and it seems wrong, maybe we got to have the red team involved with the systems that are deemed major, hazardous and catastrophic if they go bad. we cannot rely on the internal checks and balances of the manufacture depending on what ceo or boeing manager is an charger whose on-duty at the time. >> on the issue of lifetime limits for type

mr. willis. thank you. >> thank you, senator blumenthal. let me ask this. mr. bazella, on may 12, representative walden and i sent a letter to the automotive industry asking how it's using innovation in respond to the pandemic. senators throone and peters, members of this committee, have been championing autonomous vehicle legislation, and i've tried to be supportive of that. the national highway traffic safety administration has highlighted some of the ways new innovations are being use in response to this covid crisis, including the use of automated driving systems to transport covid-19 tests and ride-hailing vehicles to transport essential goods such as medical supplies, mail and groceries. how do you see the covid-19 pandemic effecting the automotive industry focus on innovative technologies in the future? >> senator, mr. chairman, there is a tremendous amount of innovation going on as a result of covid-19. behind me is a table filled with ventilators and respirators and other materials that auto industry responded with to the -- industry innovated to respo

mr. chairman can i be recorded on the blumenthal amendment? , absolutely you can. no amendments have been adopted -- i apologize. >> mr. chairman, the same for me. sen. graham: absolutely. in moved to vote on the chairman's june 11, 2020 motion relatedrize subpoenas to the investigation. the court will call the role. [roll call vote] sen. graham: the motion is passed, i appreciate the discussion. the chairman is authorized to issue subpoenas pursuant to the motion and the last piece of business we will hold over the ,ttorney general legislation hopefully we can get to that next week. i promise we will have a vote on it. --the motion to support the circuit judge for the fifth circuit, the clerk will call the role. >> mr. chairman? we will vote and he will wait until -- and wait until he gets here. >> excuse me mr. chairman. do you want to wait? way,or hawley is on the that will give us the necessary number. i could vote or i could wait. sen. feinstein: you can keep the vote open. sen. graham: that's the point, so people can go on about their business. but i won't do

senator blumenthal, schakowsky and mr. smith. you are also busy in the midst of all of this. thank you so much for spending some of your valuable time on such an important topic. to doctor stokes, your work with human beings who are sick, or who fear getting sick. you are up against so much. you've been through so much yourself. a special thank you for everything that you have done. stay healthy and strong. continue doing this great work. your contributions to this conversation has added so much. i hope our members of senate and congress will keep them close to them as they go about their business. randi smith, the work you do with the at risk youth and the experience that you had, i'm glad that you were able to expose some of the scandals to a very large audience. i hope it doesn't happen again. thank you for spending your time with us. you are very articulate and compelling and all of this. thank you as well. it has been a very full hour. just a couple of final thoughts. here's what we know and what we've heard. we are suffering through a global pandemic, experiencing some

mr. chairman. >> thank you. senator blumenthal. >> thanks, mr. chairman. i'd like to ask our two justice department representatives, have you-- are you familiar with project air bridge? >> yes, sir, i'm familiar with the fact that project air bridge exists. >> a number of us, senator warren and i, began an investigation some time ago asking questions of the six major distributors involved in project air bridge and our inquiry has shown that there was cronyism and political favortism that led to tragically misallocated supplies and government seizure of equipment that were going to providers that very much needed it, cronyism and incompetence that was exemplified in this program had real life consequences and clearly this project air bridge, which was a kind of pet project of jared kushner, was in effect a bridge to nowhere for the health care providers that needed that equipment. at the very least, there was incompetence, confusion, and even possible corruption. is there any ongoing inquiry within the department of justice related to project air bridge? >>

blumenthal: thank you , mr. chairman. i wanted to express my appreciation to the chairman for the policy, but also his suggestion that if anything inappropriate occurred with the dismissal of united states attorney berman, that we should ask for further inquiry. i am going to suggest to the chairman respectfully that we should ask attorney general barr to appear before this committee. he promised, literally sitting there during his confirmation hearing in response to the questions from me that he would not fire united states attorney in the southern district of new york. he promised that he would not dismiss that prosecutor for anything but some discernible and provable misconduct. in effect, he made that commitment. so i think he has raised very severe questions about his truthfulness under oath. and he was under oath in that proceeding. sen. graham: senator blumenthal, i don't mean to interrupt can , you get me that from the record? i would appreciate that. sen. blumenthal: i would be happy to, mr. german. in fact, i in

blumenthal. >> thank you, mr. karm, i want to express my appreciation for the chairman to adhering to blue slip policy but his suggestion just now that if anything inappropriate occurred with the dismissal of the united states attorney berman, that we should ask for further inquiry. i'm going to suggest that we should ask attorney general barr before this committee. he responded into response to questions from me that he would not fire united states attorney in the southern district of new york. he promised that he would not dismiss that prosecutor for anything but some discernible and provable misconduct. in effect he made that kmimt. so i think there is questions about his truthfulness under oath and he was under oath in that proceeding. >> senator blumenthal, i couldn't mean to interrupt. could you get that for me from the record. >> would you be happy to. in fact i've included it in a letter that i wrote to attorney general barr today asking him for an explanation in writing. i'd be glad to be provide it to th

blumenthal? >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you, all for being here. thanks for your service. i saw a report, i think this morning, in "the military times" that the number of active coe strid covid-19 cases at v.a. medical centers nationwide has risen by more than 7% in the last five days. that's pretty alarming turnaround in contrast -- >> i can answer that. the system, the accounting system was done for several d s days, but overall, 9.5 million veterans that we serve, we've had 12,300 infections. of those 12,300 infections, we have less than 1,500 active infections. i think there's no health care system in the country that's been able to keep those numbers down, as we have, and i think we did it because we acted early. we were acting in february -- >> my question to you, though, is the trend. what has been the trend over the last five days? are you saying that "the military times" was in error? >> i'm saying their interpretation was in error. >> well, you're saying they're in error. what are the numbers? >> i gave you the overall numbers. the. >> if i might add to this, i w

blumenthal. >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you both for your service and happy anniversary, general perna. your families, i think, shows something very enduring and important about our men and women in uniform which is often a family tradition, family affair. i congratulate you as well on your children and it emphasizes, to me, general hokanson how the multiple tours of duty of our national guard over the 20 years have taken a toll on our families. i know you will be mindful of the enormous sacrifice made by military families as well as the men and women who actually serve in uniform and that is particularly true, i have found, and connecticut. i know are national guard leaders in connecticut think highly of you and so do i. i thank you for your service and i look forward to working with you. general perna, i know you have one of the most challenging and important tasks in our nation today. it has made all the more difficult, i think, by the administration's refusal to work with other countries and developing vaccines. aren't you working with one hand tied behind your back because the admi

senator blumenthal, you are recognized. >> thanks, mr. chairman. i'm going to be even less genteel than senator cantwell. i find your responses, with all due respect, administrator dickson, to be totally unsatisfactory. the culture of secrecy at the faa has only been aggravated under your tenure. you have completely refused to respond to any of my letters requesting information, not even an explanation neither there nor here. i see no way you can continue in this job if you fail to be more responsive to this committee. and i think it begins today with a commitment to end that culture of secrecy, to commit to major reforms of the kind that the chairman and ranking member have suggested in their legislation. i welcome it because it includes stronger protections for whistleblowers such as i suggested in the bipartisan -- in the reform proposal that i advance with support from senators marquee, udall and feinstein. minimum qualifications for the engineers performing work on the units. minimum addressing concerns about compensation and bonuses for meeti

blumenthal. countries in europe who have taken this approach have not experienced the skyrocketing levels of unemployment we have seen here in the united states. mr. president, as a result of the economic downturn, 16 millionre americans have already lost their health insurance there further estimates that number could go as high as 43 million people losing their health insurance. that is on top of the 87 million americans who are already uninsured or underinsured before the pandemic. as it sense of urgency of the economic crisis means that in the midst of this horrific pandemic, every man, woman and child in this country must receive the healthcare they need, regardless of their income. theis uninsured until the crisis is over. and if the crisis has taught us anything and has taught us we are only as safe as the leased insured among us. responding with a fierce sense of urgency means every working clock person in the america with 2000-dollar emergency payment each and every month until this crisis is over so they can pay the rent, feed their families and make ends meet. the one-time 1200-dollar check does not cut it. and emergency $2000 monthly

blumenthal's questions about the court case. point well made. senator cruz. senator cruz: thank you, mr. chairman. prior to 2016 and 2017 the worst known instance of abuse of power by an administration was richard nixon's abuse of his administration to target his political enemies. by any measure what the obama-biden administration did in 2016-2017 makes everything richard nixon even contemplated pail -- pale in comparison. richard nixon rightfully faced impeachment and ultimately resigned as a consequence of his misconduct. the evidence that has been made public has made clear that the obama administration targeted his political opponents, tarring targeted president trump and his campaign, unleashed, weaponized, and politicized the department of justice, f.b.i., and intelligence community and that the decisionmaking to do so went right up to the very top. we know that on january 4, 2017 the f.b.i. concluded in the document that has just been released that general michael flynn was, quote, no longer a viable candidate to be part of this larger case. their investigation did not yield any informatio

blumenthal, i made a mistake when.ns it. got the information wrong. next but if you don't mind senator ernst. >> i don't mind at all. >> thank you, i promise you. my bad. thank you, mrhair, and mr. wilson, welcome. thank you for your time and willingness to be able to serve on behalf of the american people. you have now been nominated to serve on the federal circuit court. you have previously served in the mississippi house of representatives, which was of so if an elected office, i could dig in a little bit, and you have answered a number of questions previously by my colleagues, if i could go back and address some of these as well. serving on the federal bench is quite different than serving in the mississippi house of representatives, and it is not, of course, the federal bench is not a political branch. and despite what some might want, it should never become that way. in order to ensure this, my role in the committee requires me to ask some questions about your thinking and your judicial philosophy. sir, would you consider yourself an originalist? judge wilson: i would, senator, to the extent that that is defined as applying the statute as it is written, the co

blumenthal. countries in europe that have taken this approach have not experienced the skyrocketing levels of unemployment we have seen here in the united states. mr. president, as a result of the economic downturn, we know that over 16 million americans have already lost their health insurance. further, there are estimates that that number could go as high as 43 million people losing their health insurance. and that is on top of the 87 million americans who were already uninsured or underinsured before the pandemic. -- with a fierce sense of -- responding with a fierce sense of urgency means that within this horrific pandemic, every man, woman, and child in this country must receive the health care they need regardless of their income. that means that medicare must be empowered to pay all of the health care bills of the uninsured and underinsured until this crisis is over. and if this crisis has taught us anything, it has taught us that we are only as safe as the least insured among us. responding with a fierce sense of urgency means providing every working-class person in america with a $2,000 emergency payment each and every month until this cr