mr. manchin: 1.82 million people. mr. durbin: you cannot tell the rate of infection unless you have a test of those who are suspicious. mr. manchin: if you've seen the map of the united states, senator, if you've seen the map, west virginia stands out. it doesn't show any. i think how could that happen. mr. durbin: we face the same thing in illinois with 12.5 million people. we were testing 360 a day. 360 a day for the entire state. ridiculous. governors --. mr. manchin: total? mr. durbin: i know. the governor told me we don't know how many people are infected. we don't know the rate if it's going up or if it's going up at what rate, whether it's in certain areas in our state and not others. if you don't have testing you don't have knowledge and you can't fight a pandemic. i would say to the senator it was the highest priority in this bill, passed the house of representatives on saturday. mr. manchin: we should have been here saturday. mr. durbin: we should have been here saturday. we should take it up today. what are we

mr. manchin: yeah. mr. mcconnell: if my friend, if that were invoked, there is still 30 more hours postcloture on the motion to proceed. once you get on the bill, you have to go through it again. so there is no way in which -- the presiding officer: the senator from west virginia. mr. manchin: we should be able to get a deal and we can move forward with unanimous consent. we really should. that's what i am hoping for. i think we can do it. my whole thing is based around the health care right now. you can't throw enough money to fix this if you can't fix the health care. if you can't give my people in west virginia and across this country the feeling that we have a treatment and we're moving towards a vaccine, they're not leaving their homes. my restaurants aren't going to open up. the most important thing, how do we take care of the workers that have lost their job no fault of their own. businesses have closed same in my state as well as your state, no fault of their own. that's the package we have to get o

mr. manchin: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from west virginia. mr. manchin: mr. president, thank you. i want to thank my colleague from oregon for his big heart and compassion and continuing to worry about those who are left behind and forgotten. i can assure you senator merkley does not leave anyone behind or forget those who are in need of help. this is not like anything i've ever seen in my lifetime or most people's lifetimes. up until a few days ago my state of west virginia felt we were immune. there were another cases report -- there were no cases reported. we were like an island with infestation around. i knew that wasn't the case and many people knew we weren't testing. the amount of tests weren't out there, so people had a false sense of maybe hope or security, and now that has been shattered. we have our first case now, and i'm praying to the good lord that we don't have many more, but i suspect that because of the fragility of our citizens, the elderly population that we have, those who have done hard work all their lives, have respiratory illnesses, t

mr. manchin: are we in a quorum call? the presiding officer: it is. mr. manchin: wish to vitiate the quorum call. i will -- i am doing so because i believe he is well qualified for the job. he has been the commission's general counsel for the past two and a half years. he understands the complex legal issues that come before the commission. i voted to report mr. danly's nomination both last november and last week on the strength of his qualifications, not on politics. i urge my colleagues to do the same. but the position to which mr. danly has been nominated is one of five seats on the federal energy regulatory commission. by law, no more than two of the five seats can be held by one party. only three of the seats are now filled. two by republicans and one by a democrat. the other democratic seat has been vacant since last august. traditionally when both a republican seat and democrat seat has been vacant, the president -- past presidents have sent nominations to fill both at the same time. i am deeply disappointed this has not happened this time. the poli

mr. president, could yosee yourself supporting... >> narrator: to swten the deal, manchin would offer tolsense gun bill.d >> ...amid a heatedebate that put him at odds with the powerful nra... >> narrator: the nra sprung into action. wayne lapierre headed to the white house for a face-tfacede with the pre. >> the nra quickly reacting to that exchange, strongly disagreeing... >> narrator: he made it clear where the nra stood. >> ...fighting back against something the president said about assault-style... >> wayne lapierre got with president trump and knocked him upside the head a little bit, and, you know, before you knew it, the was no gun-safety legislation. and parkland had produced nothing in washington. >> despite denials from the white house, it's the presidentg who appears to beno the nra. >> trump appears to be bowing to the demands of the nra. >> the nra meanwhile claims it has the president on its side. >> they are the best equipped, most feared ecial-interest group on capitol hill. i mean, they are sort of the gold standard in how to do lobbying work in washington. >> i think, t

mr. president, for the recognition. and let me begin today by commending the efforts of senators murkowski and manchin for working across the aisle to bring an energy bill to the floor. this bill has positive initiatives promoting energy efficiency, modernizing the electric grid, and research funding for clean energy. but the full senate deserves a chance to be heard on the important issues at stake with this bill. namely, energy. most importantly, we must take real action on climate change and address a problematic provision in this bill to limit environmental reviews of massive, potentially toxic mining projects. everywhere we look, we're experiencing the devastating effects of climate change, whether it's hurricanes along the southeastern coast, flooding in the midwest, drought in the southwest, or out-of-control wildfires in california. and we're careening too close to climate change tipping points that scientists warned will doom the planet. the bill before us does not set targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to the levels required to meet global targets or transition us to a clean energy economy which is whe

mr. manchin: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator for west virginia. mr. manchin: i ask unanimous consent that the senate stand in recess until 5:00 p.m. today. the presiding officer: without objection. the senate stands in recess until 5:00 p.m.

mr. manchin: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator for west virginia. mr. manchin: i ask unanimous consent that the senate stand in recess until 5:00 p.m. today. the presiding officer: without objection. the senate stands in recess until 5:00 p.m. recess: with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: mr. president, senators have now spent days engaged in vigorous bipartisan discussions among ourselves and with the administration. earlier today, i hosted a productive meeting in my office with the democratic leader, the speaker of the house, the house republican leader, and the secretary of the treasury. these intense conversations have built a piece of legislation that is

mr. manchin: i'd like to say a few words about what we're going through. in west virginia, i've been on conference calls because of social distancing, as we all are. i've talked to the nurses association, the medical association. i've spoken to the hospital association. the main concern that we have right now is our medical providership being stable enough, being protected enough so they can continue to take care of us if need be.

mr. manchin: mr. president, i would like to ask for u.c. for my floor fellow, patrick laird for the remainder of the 116th congress. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: mr. president? the presiding officer: the democratic leader. mr. schumer: the coronavirus continues to spread. with more than 500 confirmed cases in the united states in two-thirds of the 50 states. given the inconsist tency in the delay of testing, we don't know if the number of cases accurately eflects the number of indicates in the united states. we now know that when the coronavirus first appeared on our soil, the centers for disease control produced kits that did not work properly and sent many of these tests to our hospitals and medical labs. the administration turned down tests from the world health organization. even though 60 countries accepted it, and we have no answers as to why. it took weeks to get an accurate test out. and when it took weeks for the federal government to approve certain sites to run those tests, like the northwell facility on

mr. manchin: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from west virginia. mr. manchin: mr. president, before my colleague leaves, i want to thank the senator from alaska and my chairman for all the hard work, because it has been a labor, and both of us have worked together because it is something our country needs very desperately. and it's something that has been worked on for 12 or 13 years, so time has come. with that i'm pleased that we've started the process and turning to the american energy and innovation act. last year chairman mur could you skill kicked off -- murkowski kicked off the congress with the innovation. we've heard from experts who have come before the committee advancing a broad range of technologies. we have no silver bullet to solve the problems we face. namely, maintaining affordable, reliable energy and reducing greenhouse gas emissions while ensuring that hardworking families and communities aren't left behind. it's for this reason i say we need to innovate, not eliminate. i repeat that, innovate and not eliminate. there is a misconception that all

mr. manchin: and thank you to the members of the energy and natural resource committee for their contributions to the development of this legislation. the american energy innovation act draws from 53 bills from members of both sides of the aisle. 39 of those were truly a bipartisan effort. and 63 members of the senate have either sponsored or cosponsored a piece of this package. it truly is a bipartisan product and one that i believe will benefit this country greatly. so far we have had over 150 amendments filed, several of which are bipartisan, and there was no controversial issues that i know of. i'm hoping that we can work together to incorporate some of those amendments from both sides of the aisle. as it stands, the american energy and innovation act will advance the department of energies and national laboratories' ability to deliver much-needed technology that american workers can then export across the global marketplace. not only will it further our ability to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from energy transportation, industry, and buildings, but it would also enhance our cyber grid