mr. durbin: mr. president. the presiding officer: the democratic leader. mr. durbin: mr. president, i rise morning of course to support the nominations of pete buttigieg to be secretary of transportation of -- and alejandro mayorkas to head the department of homeland security. they're both exceptional choices by the administration to fill critical positions. this afternoon when we vote on mr. mayorkas, it will be the completion of three of the four national security elements of the cabinet for president biden having previously voted for the secretary of state and secretary of defense. the post that's remaining, of course, after today's actions if they are favorable and i believe they will be is the office of attorney general. and i would like to address that directly. first let me say this, mr. president. when you feel that you're a target of terrorists, a personal target of terrorists, you'll never forget the moment. it's only happened twice in my life. on 9/11/2001 as united states senator i was at a meeting in a room just several feet away from the senate chamber when

mr durbin. mr durbin. _ duckworth, guilty. mr durbin. mr durbin, guilty. miss ernst. fisher. mrs fisher. — mrs feinstein, guilty. mrs fisher. mrs fisher, not guilty. mrsjulian brandt _ mrs fisher, not guilty. mrsjulian brandt. mrsjulian brandt, guilty. mr graham. mr brandt. mrsjulian brandt, guilty. mrgraham. mrgraham, brandt. mrsjulian brandt, guilty. mr graham. mr graham, not guilty. mr grassley~ _ mr graham. mr graham, not guilty. mr grassley~ mr— mr graham. mr graham, not guilty. mr grassley. mr grassley, not guilty. mr haggerty. mr haggerty, not guilty. _ mr haggerty. mr haggerty, not guilty. miss harrison. miss harrison. _ guilty. miss harrison. miss harrison, guilty. mr hawley. mr holly. _ harrison, guilty. mr hawley. mr holly. not — harrison, guilty. mr hawley. mr holly, not guilty. mr heinrich. mr heinrich, — holly, not guilty. mr heinrich. mr heinrich, guilty. guilty. mrs hyde smith, not guilty. mr ihhofe. — mrs hyde smith, not guilty. mr inhofe, not guilty. mrjohnson, not guilty _ inhofe, not guilty. mrjohnson, not guilty mr— inhofe, not guilty. mrjohnson, n

mr. durbin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: i ask consent the quorum call be suspended. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the statement i have in my hand here related to the impeachment trial of donald trump be placed in the congressional record. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. durbin: i ask consent that the statement i'm about to make be placed at a separate part of the record. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. durbin: mr. president, more deaths in 2020 than in any year in over a decade. that's what the chicago sun types headline read last week. but this wasn't a story about the coronavirus. it was an article about suicide. there were more suicides by black residents of cook county, illinois in 2020 than over the past ten years. all told, 437 of our neighbors in cook county took their lives. at the same time more than 700 cook county residents died from opioid overdoses between january and june 2020 alone, d

mr. durbin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the assistant majority leader. mr. durbin: last week i was home, as most members of the senate were, but i was asked to participate in a zoom call with two people i highly respect, dr. anthony fauci and dr. collins with the national institutes of health. sitting at my dining room table in springfield, illinois, there were about a dozen of senators who had the access to zoom to be part of that conversation. i felt like i was privileged to really hear some information which most americans wanted to hear, and i knew it had to be important for them to ask for the briefing in the middle of the week. what they were talking about during the course of that hour was variants. what's happening to this coronavirus as it replicates over and over and over again millions of times. and what they told us -- and i'm a liberal arts lawyer, so i don't profess any special medical expertise here. what they told us was there were dominant variants that were starting to emerge, and they told us the shorthand description that they used in the

mr. durbin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from from illinois. mr. durbin: i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be suspended. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: i just returned from the memorial service for capitol police officer brian sicknick. it was held in the rotunda of the united states capitol, a place which is reserved on such occasions for those who brought special honor to the united states. it was appropriate that brian sicknick receive that honor. on january 6, capitol police officer brian sicknick reported for duty and never returned home. a simple red wooden box contained his remains at the service. tributes were given to him, all deserved, because this man gave his life to protect our nation, to protect me. it was protection from an enemy, not a foreign enemy but, as we say in our oath, a domestic enemy. american-born and bred terrorists who streamed into this capitol building on january 6 at the instigation of president donald trump. he ha

mr cruise mr cruise mr daines mr daines ms duckworth ms duckworth mr durbin mr durbin mr ernst ms ernst mrs feinstein mrs feinstein mrs fisher this is fish or mrs jill abram mrs gillett and mr graham. just to say you're watching a live picture from capitol hill that's where the the impeachment trial of the former president donald trump has just begun and they are going through the roll call right now let's bring in allan fessor joining us from capitol hill allan so tell us exactly what's happening right now. they're going through there all call of all $100.00 senators it's a procedural motion then they will get into the debate on whether or not this hearing is constitutional donald trump's lawyers argue that it's not the can't be impeached after you leave office the democrats say that look if that was the case if that's what the founding fathers meant there's nothing to stop a president in the last couple of weeks in office even in the last day committing some huge big crime and then walking into the office thinking i'm free and clear so they will argue very clearly over the next 4 hour

mr. durbin. >> yeas 57, nays 43. former president of the united states, is not guilty as charged in the article of impeachment. >> the headline is that seven republicans broke ranks and voted to convict donald trump. that's huge. >> that was by far the most bipartisan impeachment and conviction vote in the history of the united states. >> we can go and put this behind us, but i think the sad reality is that for many democrats and partisans in washington, they're going to continue as long as president trump has the support of 75 million americans and is the single biggest name, the single biggest influence in american politics. >> the acquittal is heartbreaking on so many levels. but i believe the impeachment trial will show for history that this was the worst traitor, betrayer of his oath, and of our democracy. >> and you can watch "trump, the reckoning" exclusively on hulu. >>> coming up, rising from the ashes. restoring hope on the hallowed grounds of notre dame cathedral. ♪ ♪ this is my body of proof. proof of les

mr. durbin. mr. durbin guilty. ms. ernst. ms. ernst, not guilty. mrs. feinstein. mrs. feinstein guilty. missus fischer. missus fischer not guilty. mrs. jill brad. mrs. jill a brand guilty. mr. graham. mr. graham not guilty. mr. grassley. mr. grassley not guilty. mr. hagerty. mr. hagerty not guilty. miss hassan. ms. hassan guilty. mr. harley, mr. hawley, not guilty. mr. heinrich. esther heinrich guilty. esther hickenlooper. mr. hickenlooper guilty. miss her row no. miss her row no guilty. mr. hoeven. mr. hoeven not guilty. ms. hite smith, mrs. hite smith not guilty. mr. and half. mr. inhofe not guilty. mr. johnson. mr. johnson not guilty. mr. kaine. mr. kaine guilty. mr. kelly. mr. kelly guilty. mr. kennedy. mr. kennedy not guilty. mr. king. mr. king guilty. mr. klobuchar. ms. klobuchar guilty. stir a lankford. mr. lankford not guilty. mr. leahy, mr. leahy guilty. mr. lee. mr. lee not guilty. mr. lujan. mr. lujan guilty. miss lummus. miss lummus not guilty. mr. manchin, mr. manchin guilty. mr. markey. mr. markey guilty. mr. marshall. mr. marshall not guilty. mr. mcconnell. mr. mcconnell

mr. durbin: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: mr. president, i was just noting that the senate chamber has been rearranged because tomorrow we commence the impeachment trial, the second impeachment of donald trump. in the center of the well is a podium and microphone where the attorneys representing the house managers who voted the impeachment resolution will stand to make their case a few hours after we commence the trial. the president's defenders will have the same opportunity. they'll be standing in a spot that is literally four or five feet away from a location still fresh in my mind. it was there, right in the center of the aisle between the majority and minority leader of the senate on january 6 when two men appeared that i had never seen before, in plain clothes, and stood in the center of the well, holding automatic weapons it was just minutes after the vice president had been removed from the chair where you're sitting, whisked off the floor of the senate by secret service, i imagine. he was pulled off the floor. it wasn't

mr. durbin: i ask consent the quorum call be suspended. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: madam president, yesterday would have been john lewis' 81st birthday. that fearless young man who was threatened, jailed, beaten half to death so many times for the cause of love and justice actually lived to reach the age of 80 seems like a miracle. now as america celebrates our first black history month since his passing, we miss him. but we still have the moral force of his message. john made sure of that. two days before he died, he wrote an essay for "the new york times." he asked the paper to print his words on the day of his funeral, of his homegoing, as he said. it was his last message to america. in his essay, john lewis recalled how when he was a little boy in alabama, the threat of white supremacist violence and government-sanctioned terror was a fact of everyday life. he also remembered the moment that changed his life. hearing a young minister named martin luther king jr. on the radio. from dr. king's sermons, he learned about the philosophy and discipline of nonvi

mr. durbin: madam president. the presiding officer: assistant majority leader leader. mr. durbin: i ask the quorum call be suspended from ever without objection. mr. durbin: madam president, some day i'll write a book maybe, and one of the topics that i've thought of because i spent most of my adult life in the world of legislating is what motivates or inspires the idea to introduce a bill that might one day become law. i think many people would be surprised at what the motivation could be. i've -- for example, on health issues, i have found members who were inspired because of the knowledge of someone in their family or friend who went through a challenge with a medical condition and asked them if they would help in the field of research. of course, many bills come to us from constituents who contact us and have problems or challenges and we realize the only real recourse is a change in the law. and that's the case with the bill that i'm introducing today. it was 20 years ago that we had a phone call in my office in chicago. and a woman who was the director of a music prog

mr. durbin. mr. durbin guilty. ms. ernst. ms [roll call vote]. [roll call vote]. [roll call vote].ll vote]. [roll call vote]. [roll call vote]. [roll call vote]. [roll call vote]. [roll call vote]. [roll call vote]. [roll call vote]. [roll call vote]. [roll call vote]. [inaudible]. [inaudible]. the yeas >> yes, 57, no, 43. two thirds of the senators present pled guilty in the senate and judges as respondent of donald john trump former president of the united states, is not guilty as charged in the articles of impeachment. and presiding officer directs judgments to be entered in accordance with the judgment of the senate has called . having tried it donald john trump, and the president of the united states on the articles of impeachment, exhibited against him on the house of representatives. and two thirds of the senators present, not having found it really charged f continued thern is therefore ordered that the said donald john trump is hereby acquainted to charge and said article. >> mr. president . >> the majority leaders recognize . >> mr. president i sent an order to the desk.

mr. durbin. mr. durbin guilty. ms. ernst. ms. ernst, not guilty. mrs. feinstein. mrs. feinstein guilty. fischer. missus fischer not guilty. mrs. jill brad. mrs. jill a brand guilty. mr. graham. mr. graham not guilty. mr. grassley. mr. grassley not guilty. mr. hagerty. mr. hagerty not guilty. miss hassan. ms. hassan guilty. mr. harley, mr. hawley, not guilty. mr. heinrich. esther heinrich guilty. esther hickenlooper. mr. hickenlooper guilty. miss her row no. miss her row no guilty. mr. hoeven. mr. hoeven not guilty. ms. hite smith, mrs. hite smith not guilty. mr. and half. mr. inhofe not guilty. mr. johnson. mr. johnson not guilty. mr. kaine. mr. kaine guilty. mr. kelly. mr. kelly guilty. mr. kennedy. mr. kennedy not guilty. mr. king. mr. king guilty. mr. klobuchar. ms. klobuchar guilty. stir a lankford. mr. lankford not guilty. mr. leahy, mr. leahy guilty. mr. lee. mr. lee not guilty. mr. lujan. mr. lujan guilty. miss lummus. miss lummus not guilty. mr. manchin, mr. manchin guilty. mr. markey. mr. markey guilty. mr. marshall. mr. marshall not guilty. mr. mcconnell. mr. mcconnell not gui

mr. durbin, guilty. >> ms. urnst. >> not guilty. ms. feinstein. mrs. feinstein, guilty, mrs.mrs. fisher, not guilty. mrs. gillibrand, mrs. gillibrand, guilty. >> mr. graham. mr. graham not guilty. mr. grassley not guilty. >> mr. grassley, not guilty. >> mr. haggerty, not guilty. >> ms. hassim, guilty. >> mr. hawley, mr. hawley, not guilty. >> mr. heinrich, mr. heinrich, guilty. mr. hickenlooper, mr. hickenlooper, guilty. >> ms. mirono not guilty. mr. hoeven mr. hoeven, not guilty. >> mrs. hyde-smith, not guilty. mr. inhofe. mr. inhofe, not. mr. johnson, not guilty. mr. johnson, not guilty. mr. cain. >> guilty. >> mr. cain, guilty. mr. kelly. >> guilty. >> ? kelly, guilty mr. kennedy not. mr. king. >> mr. king, guilty. ms. klobuchar ms. klobuchar, guilty mr. lankford not guilty. mr. leahy guilty. >> mr. leahy, guilty. mr. lee, not guilty. >> mr. lee, not guilty. mr. lewhan guilty. >> ms. lummus, ms. lummus not guilty. mr. manchin guilty. >> mr. manchin guilty. >> mr. marquise, guilty mr. marshall not guilty. mr. mcconnell. >> mr. mcconnell, not guilty. mr. menendez, guilty, mr

mr. durbin guilty. ms. ernst not guilty. mrs. feinstein guilty. mrs. fisher not guilty. mrs.gillibrand guilty. mr. graham not guilty. mr. presley - - mr. grassley not guilty. mr. hagerty not guilty. this has some guilty. guilty. mr. kennedy. mr. kennedy not guilty. mr. king. mr. king guilty. mr. klobuchar. ms. klobuchar guilty. stir a lankford. mr. lankford not guilty. mr. leahy, mr. leahy guilty. mr. holly not guilty. mr. heinrich guilty. mr. hickey labor guilty. ms. sharon oh guilty. mrs. hyde smith not guilty. mr. inhofe not guilty. mr. johnson not guilty. mr. kane guilty. mr. kennedy not guilty. ms. klobuchar guilty. mr. lankford not guilty. mr. leigh he guilty. mr. lee not guilty.. mr. lujan guilty. ms. london is not guilty. mr. mansion guilty. mr. markey guilty. mr. marshall not guilty. mr. mcconnell not guilty. mr. menendez guilty. mr. merkley guilty. mr. moran not guilty. ms. murkowski guilty. mr. murphy guilty. mrs. very guilty. mr. paul not guilty. mr. peters guilty. mr. portman not guilty. mr. reid guilty. mr. ritesh not guilty. mr. romney guilty. ms. rosen guilty.

mr. durbin? ms. ernst? ms. feinstein? >> aye. >> ms. fisher? >> ms. gillibrand? >> aye. >> mr. grassley? >> no. >> mr. haggerty? >> no. >> ms. hasen? >> aye. >> mr. hawley? >> no. >> mr. heinrich? >> aye. >> mr. hickenlooper? >> aye. >> mr. hogan? >> no. >> mrs. heitsmith? >> yes. >> mr. johnson? >> no. >> mr. cane? >> aye. >> mr. kelly? >> aye. >> mr. kennedy? >> no. >> mr. king? >> aye. >> ms. klobuchar? >> aye. >> mr. lankford? >> no. >> mr. leahy? >> aye. >> mr. lee? >> no. >> mr. luhan? >> aye. >> mr. manchin? >> aye. >> mr. marcy? >> aye. >> mr. marshal? >> no. >> mr. mcconnell? >> no. >> mr. menendez? >> aye. >> mr. merkley? mr. muran? >> no. >> mr. murphy? >> aye. >> mr. ossoff? >> aye. >> mr. padilla? mr. paul? >> no. >> mr. peters? >> aye. >> mr. portman? >> no. >> mr. reed? >> aye. >> mr. reed? >> no. >> mr. romney? >> aye. >> ms. rosen? >> aye. >> mr. rounds? >> no. >> mr. rubio? >> no. >> mr. sanders? >> aye. >> mr. sass? >> aye. >> mr. schumer? >> aye. >> mr. scott of florida? >> no. >> mr. scott of south carolina? >> no. >> mrs. shahin? >> aye. >> mr. shelby? >>

mr. durbin, guilty. ms. ernst, not guilty. ms. feinstein, guilty. mrs. fischer, not guilty. mrs.librand, guilty. mr. graham, not guilty. mr. grassley, not guilty. mr. hagerty, not guilty. ms. hassan, guilty. mr. hawley, not guilty. mr. heinrich, guilty. mr. hickenlooper, guilty. ms. hirono, guilty. mr. hoeven, not guilty. mrs. hyde-smith, not guilty. mr. inhofe, not guilty. mr. johnson, not guilty. mr. kaine, guilty. mr. kelly, guilty. mr. kennedy, not guilty. mr. king, guilty. ms. klobuchar, guilty. mr. lankford, not guilty. mr. leahy, guilty. mr. lee, not guilty. mr. lujan, guilty. ms. lummis, not guilty. mr. manchin, guilty. mr. markey, guilty. mr. marshall, not guilty. mr. mcconnell, not guilty. mr. menendez, guilty. mr. merkley, guilty. mr. moran, not guilty. ms. murkowski, guilty. mr. murphy, guilty. mrs. murray, guilty. mr. ossoff, guilty. mr. padilla, guilty. mr. paul, not guilty. mr. peters, guilty. mr. portman, not guilty. mr. reed, guilty. mr. risch, not guilty. mr. romney, guilty. ms. rosen, guilty. mr. rounds, not guilty. mr. rubio, not guilty. mr. sanders, guilty. m

mr. durbin. mr. durbin, guilty. ms. ernst ms. ernlt, not guilty. mrs. feinstein. mrs.er, mrs. fisher not guilty. mrs. jill grand brand. mrs. jill brand, not guilty. mr. graham, will be graham, another guilty. mr. grassley. mr. grassley, not guilty. mr. hagerty. mr. hagerty, not guilty. mrs. hassan. mrs. hassan. guilty. mr. hawley. mr. hawley, not guilty. mr. heinrich. mr. heinrich, guilty. mr. hickenlooper. mr. hickenlooper, guilty. ms. her row noe. miss hirono, guilty. mr. hoeven. mr. hoeven, not guilty. mrs. hide smith. mrs. hyde-smith, not guilty. mr. inhofe. mr. inhofe, not guilty. mr. johnson. mr. johnson, not guilty. mr. kaine. mr. kaine, guilty. mr. kelly. mr. kelly, guilty. mr. kennedy. mr. kennedy, not guilty. mr. king. mr. king, guilty. ms. klobuchar. ms. klobuchar, guilty. mr. lankford. mr. lankford, not guilty. mr. leahy. mr. leahy, guilty. mr. lee. mr. lee, not guilty. mr. lujan. mr. lujan, guilty. ms. lummis. ms. lummis. mr. manchin. mr. manchin, guilty. mr. markey. mr. markey, guilty. mr. marshall. mr. marshall, not guilty. mr. mcconnell. mr. mcconnell,

durbin: when requests are made for information, i hope i can have your commitment to cooperation in providing timely answers. judge garland: yes, mr. chairman. we will be as responsive as we possibly can. as i said, i have great respect for and belief in the oversight role of this committee. sen. durbin: thank you. senator grassley? senator grassley: since you are currently a sitting judge bound by the code of conduct of u.s. judges i hope we can get frank answers from you on your views. when we talked last on the phone, you told me you would give guidance -- get guidance from the administering office on what you can and can't say. i assume you sought that guidance. if so, what did they advise you? judge garland: yes, senator grassley, i did. they advised me adjust as you and i thought they would, it bars me from commenting on any impending case that is in any court or any pending case per but i am free to talk about policy -- pending case. but i am free to talk about policy. sen. grassley: i will go to the durham investigation. at bars hearing, he stated the following to the mueller investigation. it is important the special coun

durbin: when requests are made for information, i hope i can have your commitment to cooperation in providing timely answers. judge garland: yes, mr. chairman. we will be as responsive as we possibly can. as i said, i have great respect for and belief in the oversight role of this committee. sen. durbin: thank you. senator grassley? senator grassley: since you are currently a sitting judge bound by the code of conduct of u.s. judges i hope we can get frank answers from you on your views. when we talked last on the phone, you told me you would give guidance -- get guidance from the administering office on what you can and can't say. i assume you sought that guidance. if so, what did they advise you? judge garland: yes, senator grassley, i did. they advised me adjust as you and i thought they would, it bars me from commenting on any impending case that is in any court or any pending case per but i am free to talk about policy -- pending case. but i am free to talk about policy. sen. grassley: i will go to the durham investigation. at bars hearing, he stated the following to the mueller investigation. it is important the special coun

mr. durbin, aye. ms. ernst, no. ms. feinstein, aye. ms. fischer, no. plsz gillibrand, aye. mr.grassley, no. mr. haggerty, no. ms. hassan, aye. mr. hawley, no. mr. heinrich, aye. mr. hickenlooper, aye. ms. herono, aye. mr. hoven, no. mrs. hyde-smith, no. mr. inhoff, no. mr. johnson, no. mr. kane, aye. mr. kelly, aye. mr. kennedy, no. mr. king, aye. ms. klobuchar, aye. mr. lankford, no. mr. leahy, aye. mr. lee, no. mr. luhan, aye. ms. lumus, no. mr. manchin, aye. mr. markey, aye. mr. marshall, no. mr. mcconnell, no. mr. menendez, aye. mr. merkley, aye. mr. moran. ms. murkowski, aye. mr. murphy, aye. mrs. murray, aye. mr. ossof, aye. mr. padilla, aye. mr. paul, no. mr. peters, aye. mr. portman, no. mr. reed, aye. mr. rish, no. mr. romney, aye. ms. rosen, aye. mr. rounds, no. mr. rubio, no. mr. sanders, aye. mr. sasse, aye. mr. shotts, aye. mr. schumer, aye. mr. scott of florida, no. mr. scott of south carolina, no. mrs. shaheen, aye. mr. shelby, no. ms. sinema, aye. ms. smith, aye. ms. stabinau, aye. mr. sullivan, no. mr. tester, aye. mr. thune, no. mr. tillis, no. mr. toomey, aye

mr. chairman. >> senator coops. >> thank you chairman durbin and ranking member grassley.come and congratulations on your nomination and extend my congratulations to lynn and your family for a decades long career at the bench and bar as someone dedicated to public service, to law enforcement and to upholding the balance between justice and liberty. i cannot think of a more urgent task before us than restoring our people's faith in institutions and law and your opening statement was dedicated to clarifying your view that the attorney general represents the public interest and enthusiasm for ensuring that the employees of the department of justice are appropriately sheltered for partisan or political influence is encouraging to me after some harrowing moments in the last few years. as i'm sure you know, there are quite a few admirers of yours who work here in this committee. some former clerks of yours who work closely with me and many who have reassured me not just of your professional skill and great insight but also of your personal decency, kindness and thoughtfulness. i

mr. chairman, my time counter is not working. is my time expired? sen. durbin: yes. senator hirono? are you within zoom range? sen. hirono: thank you, mr. chairman. starting with two preliminary questions that i ask every nominee that comes before any committee on which i sit. since you became a legal adult have you ever made unwanted requests for sexual favors or committed any verbal or political harassment -- physical harassment or assault of a sexual nature? judge garland: no. sen. hirono: have you ever face to discipline or entered into a settlement related to this kind of contact? sen. hirono: no. -- judge garland: no. sen. hirono: considering that we just had a president who did not think the rule of law applied to him i am gratified to hear that so many of my republican colleagues are asking you whether you as attorney general will follow the rule of law, and of course you will. i want to get to the consent decree. i don't think you have been asked about consent decrees about. in the justice department civil rights division -- as described consent decree as "most effective at

mr. chairman. >> senator coons. >> thank you, chairman durbin. judge garland, welcome. congratulations on your nomination. please convey my thanks to lynn, to jake, becky, your family for supporting what has been a decades long career at the bench and bar dedicated to public service, law enforcement and upholding the balance between justice and liberty. i cannot think of a more urgent task than restoring the people's faith in our institutions and the rule of law. your opening statement, which in part was dedicated to clarifying your view that the attorney general represents the public interest and your enthusiasm for ensuring that the 115,000 career employees of the department of justice are appropriately shelters is encouraging after i think were some harrowing moments in the last few years. as i'm sure you know, there are quite a few admirers of yours who work here in this committee. some former clerks of yours who work closely with me and many who have reassured me not just of your professional skill and great insights but also of your personal decency, kindness and

mr. chairman, my time counter is not working. is my time expired? judge garland: -- sen. durbin: yes. senator hirono? are you within zoom range? sen. hirono: thank you, mr. chairman. starting with two preliminary questions that i ask every nominee that comes before any committee on which i sit. since you became a legal adult have you ever made unwanted requests for sexual favors or committed any verbal or political harassment -- physical harassment or assault of a sexual nature? judge garland: no. sen. hirono: have you ever face to discipline or entered into a settlement related to this kind of contact? sen. hirono: no. -- judge garland: no. sen. hirono: considering that we just had a president who did not think the rule of law applied to him i am gratified to hear that so many of my republican colleagues are asking you whether you as attorney general will follow the rule of law, and of course you will. i want to get to the consent decree. i don't think you have been asked about consent decrees about. in the justice department civil rights division -- as described dissent -- consent decree as "most effective at ensuring account

visit ncicap.org] senator durbin: the hearing will resume, senator kennedy of louisiana. senator kennedy: thank you, mr. chairman and thank you judge. judge garland: nice to see you senator. senator kennedy: i wanted to follow-up on what senator booker talked about. what, to you, is justice? judge garland: everybody treated equally regardless of their position in society, powerful, powerless, rich, poor, democrat republican, black, white, equal treatment, equal justice under the law. senator kennedy: i want to press you a little bit on that. is it justice if you have an unjust law that applied equally? judge garland: that's a lack of justice. senator kennedy: let's tero it down to punishment and justice. if i suggested to you that justice and the concept of punishment is when someone gets what he deserves, would you agree or disagree with that? judge garland: i suppose that depends on what it means. yes, i think justice requires individuals -- individualized determination of a crime you did. there are mitigating circumstances. senator kennedy: let me put another way -- is a person who commits a crime a

mr. trump and his behavior. my guest this morning, the top democratic impeachment manager jamie raskin, larry hogan and dick durbin. plus, the cdc announced new guidelines on opening schools. the biden administration secured 200 million more vaccine doses. i will talk to the director of the cdc rochelle walensky. joining me is kasie hunt, carlos carmelo and audie cornish. welcome to sunday, it's "meet the press." >> from nbc news in washington, the longest running show in television history, this is "meet the press" with chuck todd. >>> good sunday morning. during the presidential campaign, donald trump made what will be the most accurate public statement he has made. >> i could stand in the middle of fifth avenue and shoot somebody and i wouldn't lewis any voters. >> 43 of 50 republican senators voted to absolve him of responsible for the deadly january 6 riot at the capitol. le final tally was 57-43 to convict. ten votes shy of the 67 needed. this was after democrats read into the record a statement that president trump sided with the mob in a call to kevin mccarthy as the riot was underway. it was after they ma

he'll get a letter from me, and i look forward to working with senator durbin on the path forward. i yield the floor. mr. murphy: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from connecticut. mr. murphy: thank you very much, mr. president. rightfully, when we talk about the issue of gun violence in this country, we think about it through the prism of those lives that have been lost because the numbers are just stunning. they're hard to get your head wrapped around. here are the rough numbers in front of me. this is on an average year we have 39,000 people who lose their lives through a gunshot wound. that's a suicide, homicide, an accidental shooting, domestic violence crimes. if you break it down, that's around 100 people a day. and there is no other high-income nation in the world that comes anywhere close. we talk about the issue of gun violence through the prism of people whose lives have been lost because so morally disrupting, cataclysmic when you have a loved one. normally a young loved one, a brother or sister, a child who is there one instant and then gone the next because of a random sho

mr. trump and his behavior. my guests this morning, the top democratic impeachment manager, jamie raskin, republican governor larry hogan of maryland, and democratic whip, senator dick durbin of illinois. plus, the cdc announces new guidelines on opening schools and the biden administration secures 200 million more vaccine doses. i'll talk to the new director of the cdc, rochelle walensky. joining me for insight and analysis are nbc news capitol hill correspondent kasie hunt, former democratic senator of missouri, claire mccaskill, former republican congressman of florida, carlos curbelo, and audie cornish, host of npr's "all things considered." welcome to sunday. it's "meet the press." >> announcer: from nbc news in washington, the longest running show in television history. this is "meet the press" with chuck todd. >> and a good sunday morning. during the 2016 presidential campaign, donald trump made what may be the most accurate public statement he's ever made. >> i could stand in the middle of fifth avenue and shoot somebody and i wouldn't lose any voters, okay? it's like incredible. >> yesterday, senate republicans largely proved him right. 43 of 50 republican senator

. >> senator durbin, chairman of the judiciary committee, you will do something we never thought we would see. hold a hearing for mrthe democrats plan to president and how former president trump was fuming as he watched his lawyers yesterday. we will talk to the legal scholar who says the trump team is twisting his words. stick with us for more of the coverage of the second impeachment trial of donald trump. d trump. ♪ [triumphantly yells] [ding] don't get mad. get e*trade. dad! no shoes in the house. our son says, since tide antibacterial fabric spray kills 99.9% of bacteria. just to be sure. he wants us to spray everything every time we walk into the door. it's just to be sure. just to be sure! i thought you just sprayed those. ma, it's just to be sure. see, he takes after my side of the family. for every just to be sure, it's got to be tide antibacterial fabric spray. are the color cartridges in your printer ready for another school year? (boy) what's cyan mean? it means "cyanora," honor roll. (mimics missile dropping) the ink! dad!!! dad!!! i'm so hosed. yeah, you are. (shaq) the epson ecotank printer. no more

mr. ya. >> no. >> ya. >> no. >> . >> senators voting in the affirmative, baldwin, bennett, blumenthal, booker, brown, can't well, cardin, carper, casey, collins, kunz, cortez masto, duckworth, durbinelly, king, klobuchar, leahy, lieu honor, manchin, markey, menendez, merkley, murkowski, murphy, murray, ossoff, padilla, peters, read, romney, rosen, sanders, sass, shots, schumer, sheheen, cinema, smith, stabenow, tester, van hollen, warner, warnock, warren, whitehouse, widen. senators voting in the negative, vor ras sow, blackburn, blount, boseman, braun, burr, cap cho, cassidy, cornyn, cotton, cramer, crapo, cruz, gaines, aren't, fisher, graham, grassley, haggerty, hally, hoe vin, hyde-smith, inhofe, johnson, kennedy, lankford, lee, lum muss, marshal, mcconnell, moran, paul, portman, rich, rounds, rubio, scott of florida, scott of south carolina, shelby, sullivan, thune, tillis, tumi, tuberville, wicker, young. >> mr. president? >> i'd like to change my vote to aye. >> mr. gram graham. >> mr. graham, aye. >> mr. president. >> mr. sullivan. >> just a point of inquiry, there's a little confusion here, was that a vote on one witness? >> debate is not allowed during the vote. >> it's n

mr. durbin: mr. president. the presiding officer: the democratic leader. mr. durbin: mr. president, i rise morning of course to support the nominations of pete buttigieg to be secretary of transportation of -- and alejandro mayorkas to head the department of homeland security. they're both exceptional choices by the administration to fill critical positions. this afternoon when we vote on mr. mayorkas, it will be the completion of three of the four national security elements of the cabinet for president biden having previously voted for the secretary of state and secretary of defense. the post that's remaining, of course, after today's actions if they

mr. durbin: mr. president. the presiding officer: the democratic whip. mr. durbin: the senate is not in order. the presiding officer: can the senate return to order. take conversations out of the chamber. mr. durbin: mr. president, it is already current law that all federal protections for people apply to every infant born alive, including those born alive during the course of an abortion. simply put, you cannot kill an infant regardless of how they came into this world. this is the law of the land thanks to the born alive infant protection act which passed the house and senate by a voice vote and was signed into law by president george bush in 2002. does it work? in 2013, dr. kermit gosnell, a physician in pennsylvania, was found guilty on three counts of murdering babies born alive in his clinic after botched late-term abortions. he is currently serving three life terms in prison. i would say to the senator from nebraska, of course we agree. people like dr. gosnell should pay a heavy price. but to put this into a budget resolution just doesn't fit, and i'm

mr. durbin: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: mr. president, the constitution does not stipulate the number of supreme court justices. that's up to congress. congress has a long history of altering the makeup of the court, the number of justices changed six sometimes before we arrived at the number nine. this amendment chooses to ignore the history. but for the record, there is exactly one living senator who has effectively changed the size of the supreme court. that's senator mcconnell, who shrank the court to eight seats for nearly a year in the last year of the obama presidency by refusing to fill the scalia vacancy. now president biden established a bipartisan commission to study supreme court reform. let them do their work. and come to think of it, should we be changing the senate rules in the budget resolution? i think not. in fact, as a result, i raise a point of order that the pending amendment is not germane to the underlying resolution. therefore, it violates 305-b-2 of the congressional budget act of 1974. the presiding of

mr. durbin: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: mr. president, let me clarify something at the outset. undocumented immigrants do not qualify for stimulus relief under current law or any proposal by the biden administration. this amendment is unnecessary. there are estimated to be 11 million undocumented immigrants in the united states. 7.5 million i-10's. these are men and women working in the united states, paying federal taxes, living in this country. we can save the debate for another day as to their entitlement for any financial relief, but let me hope that we do agree on one basic thing -- children who are legal citizens in the united states of america are entitled to help, regardless of the immigration status of their parents. unfortunately, senator young's amendment, as written, would preclude these children of immigrant parents from this financial assistance. whether you are for or against their parents receiving a payment, be fair to these american children, these legal citizens in the united states, and vote no on the young

mr. durbin: mr. president. the presiding officer: the democratic leader. mr. durbin: mr. president, i rise morning of course to support the nominations of pete buttigieg to be secretary of transportation of -- and alejandro mayorkas to head the department of homeland security. they're both exceptional choices by the administration to fill critical positions. this afternoon when we vote on mr. mayorkas, it will be the completion of three of the four national security elements of the cabinet for president biden having previously voted for the secretary of state and secretary of defense. the post that's remaining, of course, after today's actions if they are favorable and i believe they will be is the office of attorney general. and i would like to address that directly. first let me say this, mr. president. when you feel that you're a target of terrorists, a personal target of terrorists, you'll never forget the moment. it's only happened twice in my life. on 9/11/2001 as united states senator i was at a meeting in a room just several feet away from the senate chamber when

mr. durbin: mr. president, a lot of people are familiar with this saying. it goes like this. neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night shall delay these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds. i ask that the senate come to order. the presiding officer: will the senators take their conversations off the floor, please. could the senators take their conversation off the floor, please. mr. durbin: the excerpt i read was written by charles elliott in a poem known as the letter, and it has been adopted by the u.s. postal service and only blazenned in our memories of the cuteful work and awesome responsibility of the u.s. postal service throughout our history. i'm proud of that postal service and most americans are as well. if you ask many people, what is your contact with the federal government, the united states federal government? they might be hard pressed to identify it, but when you mention the postal service, they say, of course, six days a week, my mailman, my person delivering mail. during the recent covid-19 pandemic, many of us stayed home in