mr. grassley: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from iowa. mr. grassley: one minute for morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. grassley: i want to visit with my colleagues about something that hasn't happened in iowa for over 100 years. over the weekend the iowa state football team completed their regular season play. the cyclones are having a noteworthy season. they secured the first place rank in the big 12 conference regular season after winning five consecutive conference games and eight overall conference wins this season. the good news doesn't stop there for the iowa state football program. the cyclones finished first place in the league play for the first time since 1912, when they won the missouri valley conference. this has earned the cyclones their well-deserved spot in the big 12 title game on december 19. the first ever big 12 championship appearance in iowa state university's history. i want to applaud the cyclones for their historic season. so many fans, including me, will be rooting them on for the big 12 ch

mr. grassley: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from iowa. mr. grassley: could i have one minute for morning business? the presiding officer: without objection. mr. grassley: long before he was sworn into the united states senate, my former colleague thoom harkin from iowa -- tom harkin from iowa served in the united states navy in vietnam. he and i represented iowans for 30 years together here in the united states senate. six years ago i came to the floor to wish my friend well in retirement, and i used these words so that he could enjoy the blessings of hearth and home. i'm not so sure that he took my advice to heart. i recently learned that tom has been moonlighting in retirement as an intrepid crew member sailing the icy waters of the north atlantic. in fact, he joined the crew of 59 north sailing for five voyages. his most recent adventure found tom aboard ice bear, navigating gale force winds in and around the rugged coastline of newfoundland. they say you can't take the farm out of the iowa farm kid. the same must be true for a lifelong sai

mr. grassley: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from iowa. mr. grassley: one minute for morning business, please. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. grassley: i want to the tell my colleagues about a disappointment i have in some u.s. department of agriculture recent revisions of a proposed rule. here's background. i've long fought to strengthen the safety net so that iowa family farmers and other farmers are protected from natural disasters or other unforeseen events that they have no control over, like flooding or windstorms. family farmers work hard to make sure that americans have food on the table. these same family farmers operate on very thin margins. these farmers ought to qualify for help during tough times since losing these operations would risk our nation's food supply. however, taxpayers and nonfarm state lawmakers may stop supporting a federal farm safety net if spending programs aren't held accountable or left unchecked. losing urban support for this farm safety net is why i'm deeply concerned that the usda's recent propo

mr. grassley: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from iowa. mr. grassley: there has been a lot of finger wagging across the aisle by both senate and house democrats about accepting election results. most of that has been related to whether or not trump would concede the results of the election to biden. but obviously there's somewhat of a double standard because these same democrats are mum about a looming challenge to the certified results of the election of iowa's second congressional district. representative-elect miller meeks won by six votes and that was after careful recounts conducted and certified on a bipartisan basis, according to iowa law. on election night, the democratic candidate lost. a few days later, two counties were recounted and the democratic candidate still lost. then the democratic candidate asked for a recount of all 24 counties, and after that recount, the democratic candidate lost. a day later, the secretary of state of iowa certified the election just like the secretaries of states of our 50 states certified their electio

mr. grassley: one minute for morning business, please. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. grassley: we're probably all guilty of not remembering the sacrifices of our men and women in uniform, but particularly during this time of year it is especially difficult for them to be away from friends and family. right now there are almost 1,500 iowans deployed overseas with the iowa national guard, just as one example of a group we should be thinking about. and i think about this group because that 1,500 includes one member of my own staff. we rely on our brave men and women in uniform to protect our way of life, our democracy, and the liberties we cherish. the sacrifices they make are not taken for granted and won't be forgotten by future generations. all of our nation's service members and their families will be in my prayer and i hope the prayers of all of my colleagues during this holiday season. i yield the floor. mr. mcconnell: madam president. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: over the last four years our country has been benefited from a presidenti

mr. grassley: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from iowa. mr. grassley: one minute for morning business, please. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. grassley: i want to remind people of how senator johnson and i have been attacked over the months of 2020 for some investigation we have been doing, and i want to speak to that now. for over a year senator johnson and i investigated the biden financial family dealings. we found that they engaged in potential criminal financial deals across the globe, including china, which created counterintelligence concerns. we showed our work and we made our findings very public, but the liberal media and members of the other political party chose to dismiss our work, even falsely claimed that our work was russian disinformation. and i think they did this in order to protect leaders of the other party. those same liberal outlets that disparaged our investigation now report that hunter biden's financial deals in china raise counterintelligence concerns. yesterday the biden transition team confirmed that h

mr. grassley: one minute for morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. grassley: history will look back at 2020 and find many lessons and even some silver linings to impact. the loss of more than 300,000 american lives so far will be worn for years to come, operation warp speed, which president trump launched turned out to be an historic public-private partnership. it's delivered a lifesaving vaccine in record time, shattering scientific benchmarks along the way. for the last nine months americans have pulled together and shared -- entershared sacrifice -- in shared sacrifice to do their part as the covid-19 moves through the country as it is right now, i encourage my fellow iowans to keep pulling together. when public health officials say it's your turn to get a vaccine, roll up your sleeve. i'll be doing the same when my turn arrives. getting immunized is the only way we'll beat the virus and get back to the normal way of american life. history will show americans turned the page on the pandemic when all of us roll up our sleeves. i yield the floor. mr.

mr. chairman. senator grassley: i don't have :00 in front of me so when i use my time you'll have to tell me. , mr.tevenson, you note both the opportunity and the means to save are needed in what you call the beginning planning stage of savings. i agree with you that both are essential. question, in your opinion how , important is automatic enrollment in this equation? stevenson yeah, i think it's : very important and i would add another one of the provisions in the bill is around the savers credit. i think that's an important provision. we need both the means and opportunity. auto enroll and auto escalate creates the opportunity. the tax saversd credit especially the part that , allows the refund to go right into the account for retirement savings and not spent i think is critical. senator grassley ok. :i guess i have time for one more question. so mr. barr, in your testimony, you cite data that says 37% of the businesses point two the cost as the main reason for not starting a retirement plan. the current small start up business credit seems to do -- seems to decrease some of those costs. in your

mr. president, as the senate reconvenes this afternoon, i'm especially happy to welcome back especially happy to welcome back stomach as the senate reconvenes i'm especially happy to welcome back senator grassley from quarantine working from home following his covid test two weeks ago we all predicted if any member of the body had the stamina and the spirit to kick the virus to the curb it would certainly be him. and sure enough, xpour colleague reports he experienced no symptoms and his doctors and cleared him to come back to work and we are glad to have him back. chairman grassley had to put consecutive votes temporarily on hold for the sake of other people of course that leadership is nothing new for the senator from iowa i am confident our colleague will pick up exactly where he left off with his perfect attendance record and the tireless work for iowans that it represents. may benefit from his leadership so the senate is back in session to finish up 2020 the american people are counting on us to finish strong we need to reach an agreement on the federal government funding for lapses and programsut and sure of the us military and to continue processing the government especially on the fede

neil: that was chuck grassley's way of saying mr.sident, focus when you are in georgia this weekend. he will be there tomorrow, by the way, on behalf of the republicans, the senators who are running right now in that race. focus on getting them back to the united states senate and save any other problems you have with counts in the state for another day. not this state, not this weekend ahead of that january 5th runoff race that is as tight as a tick. steve harrigan with the latest on that. reporter: big day of campaigning and big weekend of campaigning for the two senate run-off seats set for january 5th. those two races could determine which party controls the senate for the next two years. today, vice president pence in town here in atlanta, later going to savannah to campaign with both republican senators. also on the other side, former president obama today holding a virtual rally for the two democrats. now, among republicans who are dissatisfied with the voting process here in georgia, how it's gone so far, some of them are enc

grassley who recently self quarantine after testing positive for covid-19. he talked about the need to reach agreement on extending federal spending past december 11 and work on the defense authorization bill. >> first, mr. president, the senate reconveneser this afternn i am especially happy welcome back our president pro tem, senator grassley quarantined, work from home following his positive covid test two weeks ago. we all predicted if any member of the body had the stamina and the spirit to t kick the virus o the curb, it would certainly be him. and sure enough our gallic reports that he experienced no symptoms. as doctors have cleared him to come back to work and we're sure glad to have him back.

dossier, the ranking meter peters accusing senator grassley and i of disseminating russian disinformation, that's where the disinformation is coming. >> mr. chairman, i have got to respond to that you are saying. >> why? , one, i had nothing to do with this report. >> you lied repeatedly. >> did i not. >> you lied repeatedly in the spread that i was spreading russian disinformation. that was outright light and i told you to stop lying and you continued to do it. >> mr. chairman, this is not about airing your grievances. i don't know what rabbit hole you are running down. >> you talked about many russian disinformation. will will brian brian let's bring be in jonathan turley, george washington university law professor. good morning to you. >> good morning. ainsley: this hearing was was supposed to about election irregularities. you will could see senator johnson had a grievance with senator peters and wanted to talk about it. do you think he was right to do that? >> he was right about the accusation. i tweeted immediately when senator peters denied it that they actually did issue that statement that the hunter biden matter was russian dis

dossier, the ranking member peters accusing senator grassley and i of disseminating russian disinformation, that's where the disinformation is coming. >> mr. chairman, i have to respond to that. you're saying i'm putting out information -- >> right. >> one, i had nothing to do with this report -- >> you lied repeatedly in the press that i was spreading russian disinformation. that was a lie. i told you to stop lying and you continued to do it. >> mr. chairman, this is not about airing your grievances. i don't know what rabbit hole you're running down -- >> you talked about russian disinformation. senator paul -- >> bill: got our attention. senator ron johnson shared that hearing. he joins me now. good afternoon to you. >> bill, merry christmas. >> bill: merry christmas as well. three issues. what did this hearing accomplish today on that? >> well, the goal of the hearing contrary to what senator peters said is to try to resolve the suspicions around the election. we are in an unsustainable state of affairs where you have large percentages of the population started in 2016, how many millions would never accept a legitimacy of president tru

mr. chairman, welcome? >> well, mike, merry christmas. >> you've been in the middle of a hunter biden probe for a long time. you and senator grassley put out a comprehensive report. are you convinced there's some criminal wrongdoing in the biden family overseeing business dealings? >> it's not my call. i'm not a prosecutor. troubling and many connections with the chinese persons who have connections with the people's liberation army, the communist party of china which i think the main stream media would have paid attention to before the election. this is a mess. under the biden administration, it's a bigger mess, it's not going away. >> you know this week you held the final hearing as chair of the homeland security committee. what's the future of the hunter biden probe on capitol hill? will there be hearings in the next congress? >> it depends on what's uncovered. it's now in the hands of the justice department. i hope this is a legitimate and real and rigorous investigation. the only reason i say that, i have no suspicions one way or the other other than we did the investigation to the scandal, that was an investigation to hillary

, the ranking member peters accused senator grassley and i have disseminated russian disinformation. i told you to stop lying and you continue to do it. >> mr. chairman, this is not about airing your grievances. i don't know what rabbit hole you are running down. >> martha: okay, so tonight karl rove is back with us. he will react to those future concerns about election integrity with early voting already underway in georgia tonight. as we continue to have questions about troubling stories coming out of that state. first, a politics investigation claims that 1700 georgians illegally cast two ballots in the 2020 election saying most voted by absentee ballot and again in person. the majority of the offenders, they write, were in fulton county home to atlanta, the county that put joe biden over the top. whatever happened to the investigations that we told you about here into the get out the vote groups? some with ties to stacey abrams, accused of registering dead and out-of-state voters. what happened to those? a republican poll watcher said that in her opinion appears doesn't have the backbone for her fights. she appeared in court, one of the

accusing senator grassley and i of disseminating russian disinformation, that's where the false information is coming, the lies, the false allegations. i can't sit by here and listen to this -- >> mrrman, i've got to respond to that. you're saying i'm putting out -- >> [inaudible] >> well, one, i had nothing to do with this -- >> you lied repeatedly in the press that i was spreading russian disinformation, and that was an outright lie, and i told you to stop lying, and you continued to do that. >> mr. chairman, this is not about ouring your grievances. i don't know what rabbit hole you're running down -- >> senator paul. >> sum blue not what we're doing. >> senator paul. >> mr. chairman, you can't make false accusations and then drop it there. that is why -- >> senator paul. >> -- needs to return back to -- >> [inaudible] [inaudible conversations] >> this is, this is terrible, what you're doing to this committee. of all the great work that you -- >> it is what you have done to this committee. falsely using the chairman as spreading disinformation. nothing could have been further from the truth, and you're spouting it again, which is why -- >> oh, come on. >> senator paul. >> judge

grassley and eye of having russian disinformation is where the disinformation is coming. that's where the lies and the false allegations, i can't sit by here and listen to this -- >> mr. chairman, i have to respond to that. >> i had nothing to do with the report. >> you lied repeatedly in the press! and i was -- and i was an outright lie, and i told her to stop lying, and you continue to do it. >> mr. chairman, this is not about airing your grievances, i don't know what rabbit hole you are running down? it is simply not what we are doing. you can't make false allegations and then drop it. that is why it needs to return back to -- this is terrible, what you are doing to this committee and all the great work that you talk to. >> it is what you have done to this committee. falsely accusing the chairman of spreading disinformation, nothing could have been further from the truth and you are spouting it again. >> mr. chairman? this is outrageous. >> judge star. >> in case you missed it earlier, it is where we started today, chad pergram is live on capitol hill, that had to have had some sort of affect on what has played out inside that room today, chad. >> absolutely, this

mr. president, as the senate reconvenes this afternoon, i'm especially happy to welcome back especially happy to welcome back stomach as the senate reconvenes i'm especially happy to welcome back senator grassley from quarantine working from home

grassley, president pro tempore. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved. the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: mr. mcconnell: madam president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: i ask consent that further proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent that the veto message on h.r. 6395 received from the house be considered as having been read, spread in full upon the record -- upon the journal and be printed in the record. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: mr. mcconnell: madam president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: i ask consent that further proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: congress has returned to work this week to enact the 60th annual national

grassley and i disseminating russian information. that is the where the disinformation is coming. >> mr. chairman, i have to respond to that.formation. one i had nothing to do with this report -- >> you lied repeatedly, you lied repeatedly in the press i was spreading russian disinformation. stuart: oh, nice and feisty, was it not? senator johnson went on to say after democrats called revelations from hunter biden's laptop just russian disinformation they later learned there was really was a real ongoing justice department investigation involving hunter biden. nice verbal fireworks. stuart: you don't see it often though, you don't. i would reich to see more, i really wood. really would. thanks ash the white house is optimistic there will be a covid relief deal within 24, 48 hours. that gentleman on the right-hand side of the screen is blake burman. when do we get the checks? reporter: well, it would take, if the deal eventually comes forward, who might get the checks, probably stuart, a couple weeks for the checks to go out sharks is one component of this 900 billion-dollar or so package. safe to say, that they have the fra

grassley and i of disseminating disinformation. that's where the disinformation is coming. >> i had nothing to do with this report. >> you lied repeatedly in the press that i was spreading russian disinformation. >> mrnot about airing your grievances. >> sandra: a heated argument on capitol hill two senators battling it out on voter fraud in the 2020 election during these hours yesterday. democrats positioning themselves for another run at investigating president trump's ties to russia. republicans argue the real investigation should be into hunter biden's overseas dealings. here to break it down pete hegseth. great to have you here. many are saying wait, russia again with the president? will this continue under the biden administration, pete? >> of course it is because they have not overcome their obsession with this idea. take the hunter biden example, the immediate back and forth. the only thing representative peters should be issuing to senator johnson is an apology. ultimately the hunter biden laptop, nothing has been denied on that. the social media coverage was completely suppressed. "new york post" has been completely vindicated. now the government acknowledges an investigation is indeed ong

grassley and senator leahy for working so persistently to get it passed in that chamber. i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from colorado reserves. the gentleman from north dakota is recognized. mr. armstrong: i yield myself such time as i may consume. senate bill 2258 criminal antitrust anti-retall yation act protects whistleblowers who help the federal government to investigate and prosecute violations of antitrust laws. when workers give information or testify about an employer's crimes, their employer may retaliate. it can take forms, such as firing, demotion or suspension or other forms of discrimination. retaliation is wrong. workers should not be punished when they help authorities. violations that ultimately harm american consumers. if this retaliation goes unaddressed, it could have damaging effects. unaddressed could prevent future whistleblowers who might shine a light on my wrongdoing. when they are scared to speak out, law enforcement may never never learn of the violations in the first place. law enforcement agencies may be unable to successfully prosecute wrongdoers. senate bill 2258 addresses these policy concerns by prohibiting discrimination against whistleblow

mr. grassley: mr. president? the presiding officer: objection is is heard. the senator from iowa. mr. grassley: of course i am disappointed but i know that senator menendez is a serious legislator and if that's what we have to do to do something in this area is work into the next congress on this issue, i look forward to continuing to work. the reason i am disappointed is the fact that we had two democrat bills and two republican bills. i introduced my first bill in 2017, and it took a lot of work to put together the bill that i asked unanimous consent on, without objection work out differences in several different approaches and i thought we had taken everything into consideration, particularly bringing together people from the intelligence community -- judiciary committee, i should say, that have interest in this legislation as well. and maybe another reason i'm disappointed out of that hard work that so many people put into this is the fact that on the part of particularly of our democratic colleagues, we've heard so much over the years lecturing about foreign influence and that's w

mr. grassley: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from iowa. mr. grassley: i ask for one minute in morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. grassley: we're getting perhaps close to a new presidency and so there's a lot of talk about how the senate might handle new cabinet people. democrats are always lecturing republican senators about approving future biden cabinet nominees even if we don't agree with them. now, that's pretty darn rich. in other words, they are saying something like this. don't follow our example from the past four years, or another way to put that is, don't treat biden nominees to the cabinet like we treated trump nominees to the cabinet. so they seemed to want two sets of rules for republican and democratic cabinet nominees just like they want with judicial nominees. president obama had six cabinet secretaries approved by the senate on his inauguration day without even needing a roll call vote so that president obama could hit the ground running. president trump had none by voice vote and only two were appr

mr. grassley: can i please have one minute for morning business. the presiding officer: the president pro tem is recognized. without objection. mr. grassley: today's sunday and i want to remember what senator byrd said on a lot of sundays when the senate was in session, and ebb didn't say this -- and he didn't say this because he didn't want to work on sunday, but he wanted everyone to remember the significance of this, especially christians, he said remember the sab assault and battery -- -- sabboth. never before has the senate convened on a sunday. the constitution says that the senate will -- congress will meet at noon. of course, january 3 has fallen on a sunday over the last 238 years and each by unanimous consent the congress set a new convening day other than that sunday. so now it appears for the first time in history that senate democrats don't want to agree to such a unanimous consent and instead are insisting that the senate start the 117th congress on sunday. i'm not looking to get out of work. i've proven that i have respect for attend

mr. grassley: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from iowa. mr. grassley: for over a year -- i askhat the calling of the quorum be suspended. the presiding officer: whout objection. mr. grassley: for over a year, nator johnson and i investigat bid's fincial family dealings. for over a year, the liberal media and my colleagues on the other side of the aisle falsely said that we were peddling russian disinformation. they ginned up any story they coul to do and falsely portray our investigation in an effort to delegitimize the report's findings. even my colleague, senator wyden, whom i have worked with on many bipartisan investigations, said the following -- quote -- this disinformation also became the basis of the johnson-grassley investigation. the political nature of this investigation has been clear all along. bottom line -- the johnson-grassley investigation it is laundering russian propaganda for circulationn the united state end quote. democrats have a very nervous tic. any time a republican gs close to the truth and is about to serve justice t

mr. grassley: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from iowa. mr. grassley: i ask for one minute for morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. grassley: on november 27, it was an announced that the iowa international guard 158th air refueling wing in sioux city, iowa, has been awarded the air force outstanding unit award. this award was earned for the wing's exceptional service to the air force in 2019 which included the usual thousands of flying hours, refueling. but it also included things like the humanitarian efforts of this wing's effort in the multiple puerto rico natural disasters. in addition, the 185th wing has been working tirelessly to support clean up efforts from this great wind storm in iowa called the did -- duratio which wiped out crops through the middle of iowa. but it also included such things that they may not be recognized for enough -- helping with the covid-19 testings in the state of iowa. so i say congratulations to the 185th wing, and most importantly, thank you for your dedication toking serving our st

mr. grassley: madam president? the presiding officer: t senator from iowa. mr. graley: one minute for morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. grassley: each 52 weeks of the year i do four telephone news conferences with different groups of journalists. most of the journalists are iowans. so each week without failure, a familiar voice opens one of my press calls with a very thoughtful question on some matter of interest to folks in the heartland of america. for more than two decades at the "omaha world herald," joe morton has cut through the beltway noise to deliver real news to my constituents in iowa and those in nebraska. sadly his tenure at the paper ended just before thanksgiving. so i want to take this opportunity to thank joe for his decades of keeping americans informed about the work of their elected leaders. so i say best of luck to joe in wherever the future takes him. and if anybody in this area is looking for a dedicated journalist, you ought to consider joe. i yield the floor. mr. connell: madam president? e presiding officer

mr. grassley: mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority leader. sorry. i was not looking at the rig person. the senator from iowa. mr. grassley: thank you ry much. one minute f morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. grassley: i would speak about iowans who are well noted for things wherever they lived in iowa, but i'm particularly proud to speak about a person from cedar falls, iowa, a town i know well because i've lived my entire 87 years eight miles on a farm from cedar falls. so this week, nasa announced that raja shari from cedar falls, iowa, has been selected for team of astronauts that will go to the moon as part of the artemis mission. the artemis mission will land astronauts on the moon in the year 2024, with the goal of establishing a long-term presence. raja shari will be a part of this effort that will assure americans continue leadership and preeminence in space. i congratulate raja on his accolishments and wish him and all the astronauts that are part of this mission great success i yield the floor. mcconnell mr. pre

mr. grassley: i ask for one minute for morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. grassley: the tuesday after thanksgiving has been known as giving tuesday, and i suppose this giving tuesday is receiving more attention than usual because of the virus pandemic that we've been in for the last 12 months. like many sectors, the nonprofit industry is hurting because of covid-19. as part of the cares act passed last march, congress enacted key provisions encouraging charitable giving to help support organizations that are being called upon more than ever to help americans because of the virus pandemic. these charitable giving provisions that are in the cares act apply both to individuals who itemize their taxes and those who do not itemize. iowa is blessed to have an extensive network of charitable organizations who are support by incredible volunteers, who open up their pocketbooks to support their neighbors in need. this fall, senator ernst and i heard from at least 20 nonprofits in the cedar rapids area about their challenges that they face because of the pandemic and

mr. grassley: one minute for morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. grassley: in this town political arguments often change places very quickly. actually, observers could get whiplash when that happens. now think about that a few months back. before this election, we had elected democrats scaring voters with irresponsible conspiracy theories that president trump was somehow going to use his office to interfere with state elections or that he was in cahoots with the postal service not to deliver ballots. remember back after the 2016, the irresponsibly worded talking points was that russia hacked our elections leading to polls two years later showing that 67% of the democrats believed falsely that russia tampered with vote tallies in order to get donald trump elected. now let's turn to the 2020 election just completed. those same people are now earnestly warning of the dangers of americans questioning certified election results. think just for a minute those who supported hashtag resist after trump's election are now lecturing others about the need for f

mr. grassley, proposes amendment numbered 2689. mr. mcconnell: at 4:00 p.m. today, the senate will vote on the grassley amendment to s. 578 and passage of the bill. until that time, the senate will resume consideration of the waller nomination. the presing officer: the nomination is pending. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from wyoming. mr. enzi: this morning, we got to hear the farewell speech of my friend, lamar alexander. he's a fantastic speaker and legislator. it's been an honor to serve with him and to learn from him. now you get to hear from the accountant. i rise today to give my farewell speech on the floor of the united states senate. it's been an honor of a lifetime to serve the great people of wyoming in this position for the last 24 years. i've really enjoyed being a senator. not for the title, not for the recognition, and certainly not for the publicity. i love solving problems for folks in wyoming and america. i like working on legislation. it might shock those who know me, but i never intended to get into politics.

mr. grassley: as we approach the holiday season, many of us will be celebrating differently. covid-19 may be limiting travel travel, family members we see in person or other holiday traditions. yet, there's much to be grateful for. for me, i'm thankful for my health, my family, my country, and my staff. i'm also grateful to serve iowans and work in the senate to tackle legislation, conduct oversight, and work for the best interest of the people of iowa. i'm also thankful to reflect upon previous accomplishments. this time of year coincides with the milestone achievement, that being the anniversary of the passage of the first step act. and remember that criminal justice reform bill we call the first step act is the most be comprehensive overhaul of criminal justice legislation in a generation. on december 18, 2018, the senate passed the most significant criminal justice reform legislation in a generation. three days later president trump signed the bill into law. the first step act is an example of what the senate can accomplish when we reach across the aisle to address our na

grassley who recently self quarantine after testing positive for covid-19. he talked about the need to reach agreement on extending federal spending past december 11 and work on the defense authorization bill. >> first, mr. president, the senate reconveneser this afternn i am especially happy welcome back our president pro tem, senator grassley quarantined, work from home following his positive covid test two weeks ago. we all predicted if any member of the body had the stamina and the spirit to t kick the virus o the curb, it would certainly be him. and sure enough our gallic reports that he experienced no symptoms. as doctors have cleared him to come back to work and we're sure glad to have him back. chairman grassley had put his epic streak of consecutive votes temporarily on hold for the sake of other people. of course leadership and example setting are nothing newpl for te senior senator from iowa. i'm confident our colleague will pick up exactly where he left off, resuming both his perfect attendance record and the tireless work for iowans that he represents. we all benefit so very much from his leadership. so the senate is back in session to finishe up 2020. 2020. the american people are counting

signed: chuck grassley, president pro tempore. mr. mcconnell: madam president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: i move to proceed to calendar number 480, s. 3985. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: calendar number 480, s. 3985, a bill to improve and reform policing practices, accountability and transparency. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved. mr. mcconnell: madam president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: yesterday the senate was finally able to proceed to this year's national defense authorization act. a few of our democratic colleagues have pulled out all the stops to hold back this crucial bill. but last night a big bipartisan majority of 80 senators voted to proceed. there should be nothing controversial about giving our brave men and women in uniform the tools and training they need to stay safe. there should be nothing controversial about continuing the work of rebuilding and modernizing our capabilities. it should be a nonpartisan prop