mr. cruz: this bill will pass unanimously tonight, but i think this amendment will make it substantially better. i think we will see a party-line vote on this amendment. i think that's unfortunate, because the consequence of the unemployment insurance system in this bill right now is we're going to substantially disincentivize work, and it's going to hurt workers, it's going to hurt small businesses. let me give you a concrete example. in texas right now, the maximum unemployment insurance is $521 a week. after this bill passes, that will rise from $521 a week to to 1,121 a week. that is just over $58,000 a year. that means in the state of texas, we're going to be paying people, offering them basically basically $28 an hour not to work. now, listen, every one of us recognize people are hurting. the problem is the incentive. we're creating an incentive that will hurt small businesses. if you have got a waiter or a waitress who has lost their job for a few weeks, they are on unemployment and the

mr. cruz: this bill will pass unanimously tonight, but i think this amendment will make it substantially better. i think we will see a party-line vote on this amendment. i think that's unfortunate, because the consequence of the unemployment insurance system in this bill right now is we're going to substantially disincentivize work, and it's going to hurt workers, it's going to hurt small businesses. let me give you a concrete example. in texas right now, the maximum unemployment insurance is $521 a week. after this bill passes, that will rise from $521 a week to to 1,121 a week. that is just over $58,000 a year. that means in the state of texas, we're going to be paying people, offering them basically basically $28 an hour not to work. now, listen, every one of us recognize people are hurting. the problem is the incentive. we're creating an incentive that will hurt small businesses. if you have got a waiter or a waitress who has lost their job for a few weeks, they are on unemployment and the

mr. cruz: mr. president, this is a time of extraordinary crisis for our nation. in this time of crisis, i call upon each of our colleagues on both sides of the aisle to rise above. rise above paid partisanship. rise above the bickering that so often consumes washington. rise above and put first the priorities of the millions of americans who are hurting. look, there is a time for political disagreements. there is a time for policy disagreements. i am no stranger to robust political and policy disagreements. but we are in the midst of a global pandemic. people are dying. people are suffering. last night, when this senate voted on whether to move forward with emergency relief legislation for the millions of people being devastateed by the economic disaster we're seeing as a result of the coronavirus epidemic, every single democrat in this body voted to block consideration of this bill. now, for those of you at home who are not pouring over a senate procedural matter, what does it mean to vote to block consideration? it doesn't mean they voted against the bill. it m

cruz: thank you, dr. redd. mr. ferrara. >> good afternoon, chairman cruz, ranking member sinema, and members of the subcommittee. thank you for the opportunity to testify on cbp's response. u.s. customs and border protection is an integral part of the u.s. government's response to the virus as our men and women serve at the front line of defense, whether they be land, air or sea. cbp has been working closely with the department of homeland security, centers for disease control and prevention and other interagency partners since casetion of the virus and china be gan ginn to increase. cbp has taken decisive, proactive and preemptive actions to mitigate the threat, minimize risk and slow the spread of the virus. with limited exceptions, all foreign nationals who traveled to china or iran within 14 days are ineligible to enter the united states at this time. dhs including cbp continues to work very closely with our partners at the cdc throughout all persons in main land chai nah or iran in the last 14 days through the

cruz: thank you, mr. szabat. admiral redd. >> good afternoon, distinguished members of the subcommittee. my name is steven redd, and i am the deputy director for public health service and implementation science, also serving as senior response official in the cdc's novel coronavirus response. thank you for the invitation to testify today on behalf of the u.s. centers for disease control and prevention on the efforts to protect the health and safety from this disease, covid-19. let me begin by acknowledging this is a new virus and new disease. new information and science continue to accumulate, and u.s. government decisions to respond to this epidemic will continue to be based on that evolving science. our overriding goal is to protect america from the effects of the virus. we're working to slow its spread into the u.s. and to minimize the impact. the u.s. government's approach to covid-19 is built on years and years of preparing and responding to infectious disease emergencies such as sars, mers, ebola and pandem

cruz self-quarantined after coming in contact with someone. [indiscernible] -- this virus can affect older americans. are there concerns about protecting the senate in this? mr. mcconnell: yeah, if we have anything to add on, that i'll let you know. reporter: this is a challenging time for federal workers, especially those on the front lines of the coronavirus. we wanted to know, why has the senate not confirmed any -- [indiscernible] -- nominees -- [indiscernible] -- mr. mcconnell: if they're out on the calendar, you'd have to ask senator schumer. reporter: you're the leader of the republican party, the leader of the senate. why -- [indiscernible] -- mr. mcconnell: because the way those get confirmed is by consent. typically we don't have big fights over those kind of nominees. in the first two years of this administration, i had to file cloture 128 times to move even the most insignificant appointment through the senate. you go back six presidents, six of them, the number of times the majority leader had to file cloture cumulatively on the executive calendar, 24 times over six presidents in the first two years. so that's probably a question better directed

mr. johnson: madam president, i also ask unanimous consent that senator blackburn, senator cotton, senator cruz, senator love letter and senator -- senator loghler and senator perdue be added. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. johnson: i also ask unanimous consent that i be allowed and senator pennsylvania be allowed to finish our comments before we start the vote. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. johnson: thank you, madam president. madam president, we are facing with the coronavirus an unprecedented situation certainly in my lifetime. these are extraordinary times we're living in and trying to live through, and there's no doubt that extraordinary times require extraordinary measures. the good news is that there's a lot of agreement in terms of what we need to do. we all recognize americans and american businesses are suffering through no fault of their own, and they need help. and we all want to provide that help. hopefully we want to provide it effectively and efficiently with as few negative unintended consequences as possible. what i would sugge

mrs. garrett of "the facts of life" >> katie: beto o'rourke in texas, the timing interesting beto o'rourke did well against ted cruzby bernie sanders in texas. so whether he still has a poll after his presidential run, the timing is interesting. one mor"one more thing" up next. ♪ yeah, like a regular person. no. still half bike/half man, just the opposite. oh, so the legs on the bottom and motorcycle on the top? yeah. yeah, i could see that. for those who were born to ride, there's progressive. thousands of women with metastatic breast cancer, which is breast cancer that has spread to other parts of the body, are living in the moment and taking ibrance. ibrance with an aromatase inhibitor is for postmenopausal women or for men with hr+/her2- metastatic breast cancer, as the first hormonal based therapy. ibrance plus letrozole significantly delayed disease progression versus letrozole, and shrank tumors in over half of patients. patients taking ibrance can develop low white blood cell counts, which may cause serious infections that can lead to death. ibrance may cause severe inflammation of the lungs that can lead t

mr. gonzalez is recognized for five minutes. >> thank you, madam chair. and i want to begin by thaenging ann cruz ab, a dear constituent of mine watching from back home. i'll begin by saying formerly chair wom duke today you have the auspicious honor of being the first board member i believe to testify in front of congress since enron. you allege in your testimony that you and indeed the rest of the board learned from public statements over 20 times of the number of employees were terminated than originally disclosed to you by management yet no one in management was fired for this. at this point, you and the board retained independent counsel to conduct a full unfitered investigation into the scope and causes of misconduct, allegedly this is when the board acted to thoroughly repair the damage done. again your words, not mine. since then, wells fargo engaged in charging improper interest on your customers' accounts, sold unnecessary auto insurance, foreclosured op customer homes after wrongful denial of loan modification agreements. and essentially threw people out in the street. and finally, pur

cruz feels great, he has not exhibited any symptoms and is not currently experiencing any symptoms." president trump was asked tonight about whether he has been tested. >> have you been tested? >> thank you, mr> has he been tested? have you been tested? >> i have not been tested. >> stephanie grisham tweeting, "the president hasn't been tested because he is healthy not showing any symptoms." joining us now, ronnie jackson, currently running for congress out of texas, good to have you with us. in a moment like this, you gave the president and vice president who were at cpac should be tested? is the message, if you don't have symptoms, don't worry? >> absolutely. i would test the president if i was still his personal physician. he doesn't have any indication to be tested. i would treat him like any other patient. if he has some gems we will evaluate his symptoms. in the meantime i would test him unless he had any clinical indication. i suspect that is what is happening. >> shannon: i was reading an article, there is a lawyer in new york who is in critical condition, they expect him and they're hopeful he will recover. his family an and a neighbor and others around him were concerned. his famil

mr. cruz: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from texas. mr. cruz: i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cruz: madam president, today is text independence day. 184 years ago today the texans declared our independence, declared our independence from mexico and fired a shot for liberty that was heard around the world. as i have done a number of years in the past, i am going to read the letter from the alamo. lieutenant colonel william barret travis wrote calling for help. it is a letter that energized the texans across our great state, that energized lovers of liberty. it is also a letter that i read the very first time i ever spoke on this senate floor and these are words to inspire everyone. command danes of the alamo owe commanddancy ever the alamo, b bexar, to the people of texas and all americans in the world. fellow citizens and compatriots. i am besieged by a thousand or more of the mexicans under santa ana

cruz decided to work at home this week out of an abundance of caution. we will miss him around the capitol this but i thank him for taking the initiative. here's the bottom line, mr. president. our great nation is very strong. we have enormous expertise and tremendous capabilitiesies and congress, on a bipartisan, have made sure that our health experts and leaders have the funding they need. with calm and confidence, all americans, all of us, should continue to listen to the experts, take their advice, and take commonsense steps to protect ourselves, our families, and our communities. now on another matter. here on the senate floor we'll pick up where we left off last week, considering a comprehensive set of updates to the way our energy approaches energy efficiency, security, and innovation. as chairman murkowski pointed out last week, it's been about 12 years since the last such package and since then america's energy sector has undergone real changes. new folks opened new doors for energy production and also presented new threats to our electrical grid and other critical infrastructure. even at a time when a strong job market has continued to bring americans o