mr. mcconnell: mr. president. the presiding officer: the republican leader. mr. mcconnell: i ask consent that further he proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: last election cycle, americans elected a 50-50 senate, a closely divided house, and a president who promised unity and moderation. what have washington democrats done in response? they've set out trying to tax and spend our country into oblivion. they have added the keys to domestic policy making to senator sanders and some socialist house members. in the spring they passed a massive inflationary liberal spending bill that democrats bragged was the most liberal bill in american history. now this week, just a few months later, they want to start ramming through trillions more that will make that disaster look like child's play. they call it $3.5 trillion in spending. nonpartisan experts say those plans would more likely cost americans about $5.5 trillion. trillions more borrowing and trillions more spending when inflation is already stick

mr. mcconnell: madam president. the presiding officer: the republican leader. mr. mcconnell: well, here we go again, colleagues. we have seen this once before. and i think it's fitting that after passing this budget resolution full of reckless taxing and spending, we end the evening with an effort to federalize, take over all elections all across america by the federal government. now, we're hearing there is going to be a substitute, but what's technically before us is as follows -- after ramming through this reckless taxing and spending spree, here in the dead of night, they also want to start tearing up the ground rules of our democracy and writing new ones, of course on a purely partisan basis. i suppose the timing actually makes sense, given the terrible votes that every democratic senator just cast here tonight. i can understand why their thoughts have turned so quickly to their next elections. and why they might be feeling especially anxious to tilt the playing field in their direction. this ridiculous, go-nowhere bill is stuck in the rules committee would let

mr. mcconnell: i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: quorum call: mr. durbin: mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority whip is recognized. mr. durbin: are we in a quorum call? the presiding officer: we are. mr. durbin: i ask unanimous consent the quorum call be suspended. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: mr. president, this past saturday at 9:00 p.m., chicago police officer ella french was shot and killed during a traffic stop on the chicago south side. her death is devastating. officer french was 29 years old. she had served as a member of the chicago police department since 2018. her brother described her as the epitome of a good samaritan. a fellow officer said of her, and i quote, she truly showed the community that she loved them and would do anything for them. officer french's partner was also shot and critically wounded. we pray for his recovery. two men have beening charged by the cook county state's attorneys office in the shooting of these officers. a third man has been charged by th

mr. mcconnell: are we in a quorum call? the presiding officer: we are not. mr. mcconnell: earlier this week, the senate proudly and unanimously passed a resolution awarding the congressional gold medal to the u.s. capitol police. along with other law enforcement personnel who helped defend this institution on jaiks. today d january 6. today president biden will pass this into law and the brave men and women today will receive the highest honor the congress can bestow. with the home of our representative democracy literally under attack, the officers of the capitol police, their colleagues from the d.c. metropolitan police, and others, made huge, huge sacrifices to keep all of us safe. on january 6, congress got a first-hand reminder of a reality that many american citizens face every day, that the brave men and women of law enforcement really are the thin blue line standing between peace and chaos. i'm so proud we're adding our own colleagues in blue to the list of extraordinary americans that congress has honored with its gold medal. so thank you and congratulat

mr. mcconnell: i ask consent further proceedings under the quorum call be suspended. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. mcconnell: a number of our colleagues in both parties worked through the weekend to finalize their draft agreement on a major bill for our nation's infrastructure. so i want to thank the senators who worked hard and long to get this effort this far already. i'm confident that out of the 100 of us who serve in this body, 100 will be able to find parts of the legislation that we wish were different, but i believe our colleagues' draft text provides a good and important jumping off point for what needs to be a robust and bipartisan process out here on the floor. infrastructure is exactly the kind of subject that congress should be able to address across the aisle. roads, bridges, waterways, airports, these things are not luxaries for the greatest nation in world history. they are necessities. necessarily legislation like this will be big and complex. it will necessarily affect all 50 states. that's why while i salute the hard work

mr. pink shirt. >> senator mcconnell says this to me yesterday, they have the house and senate and presidency this year. [indiscernible] your reaction to that and this morning's vote on the budget [indiscernible] >> let me just say this, i cannot believe the republicans would let the country default, and it has always been bipartisan to deal with the debt ceiling. when trump was president, i believe the democrats joined with him to raise it three times. i cannot believe republicans would let us default. as for reconciliation, the white house and janet yellen, vertically done outside of reconciliation, one to keep it bipartisan and stop making this a partisan issue because it is fraught with peril. mitch mcconnell seems to want to do that. i do not think he will succeed. second, because reconciliation limits what you can do there and doing it outside gives you more flexibility. yes? >> on voting rights. with failure not an option and everything on the table here, [indiscernible] sen. schumer: we have made progress and we are showing very clearly to everyone of our 50 senators that republicans will

mr. mcconnell for citing the cares act, for examples of where bipartisanship has worked.a vested interest in seeing climate change legislation moving forward, specifically i would like to see a price on carbon in the reconciliation bill. the only way something like that is going to work is if it is bipartisan, if both parties can come to an agreement. that is my endorsement and i hope everybody will act, rather than talk about, bipartisanship. host: question for you before you go. what makes something bipartisan? to be bipartisan, does it have to be supported by voters on both sides and members on both sides? what if there's an issue that some voters have gotten behind but there is no member from congress from one party or another that has gotten behind it? how do you define bipartisanship? does it need an elected member of congress on the record to say i support this issue for it to be officially bipartisan? steve, are you still with us? caller: yeah, i am. host: what do you make of that question? caller: the question? i think you can declared bipartisanship anyway you l

mr. pink shirt. >> senator mcconnell said this to me yesterday.se, the senate and the presidency. it's their obligation to go over the governing -- [ inaudible ] your reaction to that and can you rule out once and for all reconciliation? >> look, let me just say this, i cannot believe the republicans would let the country default, and it has always been bipartisan to deal with the debt ceiling. when trump was president, i believe the democrats joined with him to raise it three times. again, i cannot believe republicans would let us default. as for reconciliation, the white house and janet yellen preferred it be done outside of reconciliation, a to keep it bipartisan, to stop making this a partisan issue because it's fraught with peril. mitch mcconnell seems to want to do that. i don't think he'll succeed, and second, because reconciliation limits what you can do there and doing it outside gives you more flexibility. yes? >> on voting rights, failure is not an option and everything is on the table here. when you come back in september what is it ac

top republicans in the house and senate, kevin mccarthy and mitch mcconnell, have asked mr.en for a classified briefing with the so-called gang of eight. we'll watch the calendar for that. that could happen as soon as friday. meantime more flights and more evacuations and certainly manifestly more questions about how we got here in the first place. shannon. >> shannon: got to keep up the heat. getting those folks out. kevin, thank you. to sum it seems president biden is talking tougher to vaccine hesitant americans than he is to the taliban in afghanistan. that's just one of the many aspects of this crisis we are going to address tonight with the author of the new book, the long flight and the host of tucker carlson originals. brand-new episode tomorrow fox nation called the uso files. tucker carlson, good to see you, sir. >> shannon bream, my favorite. thank you for having me. >> shannon: i want to start out by talking about the situation. with the president said tonight about how he could've calculated what's happened in afghanistan, here's what he said on abc. >> you don'

mr. murphy this following quote from mitch mcconnell in the wall street journal caught our eye joe the firstthese two sentences is on the indecipherable side, it reads quote, there is nothing to back you up like the promise of a presidential signatory, if you're in the same party as the president here is the money bite, and so i think the president deserves a lot of credit for getting the democrats open to reaching a bipartisan agreement on this bill, as a mcconnell whisperer, mike does that mean anything for the future, or is it simply a quote for the wall street journal? >> no, i think he means it mcconnell could've torpedoed this thing, i think the translation is, biden stop the liberal wing of the democratic wing of the party to get to a place where republicans could vote for it. i will give all of them a ton of credit for this, we needed to show our allies and nato around the world that we can pass a grown-up bill on something we really need to be economically competitive with which is in construction, i think we're going to part two and i'm worried about the house where there are a lot

mr. murphy, this following quote from mitch mcconnell of the "wall street journal" caught our eye.es is on the indecipherable side. it reads, quote, there is nothing to back you up like the promise of a presidential signatory. a word people use every day. if you're in the same party as the president. here's the money bite. so i think the president deserves a lot of credit for getting the democrats open to reaching a bipartisan agreement on this bill. as a mcconnell whisperer, does that mean anything for the future? or is it simply a quote for the "wall street journal"? >> i think he means it. mcconnell could have torpedoed this thing. i think he went for it. i think the translation is biden stopped the liberal wing of the democratic party from screwing with this thing to let us get to a place where a bunch of republican cosmetic vote for it. i'll give president biden and leader schumer and leader mcconnell a tunnel of credit for this. we needed to show our allies and nato and around the world that we can pass a grown-up bill on something we need to be economically competitive with

moving toward a back from the dead infrastructure deal and the president giving mitch mcconnell some credit? good morning, mrsun. good morning, blair. [ chuckles ] whoo. i'm gonna grow big and strong. yes, you are. i'm gonna get this place all clean. i'll give you a hand. and i'm gonna put lisa on crutches! wait, what? said she's gonna need crutches. she fell pretty hard. you might want to clean that up, girl. excuse us. when owning a small business gets real, progressive helps protect what you built with customizable coverage. -and i'm gonna -- -eh, eh, eh. -donny, no. -oh. -and i'm gonna -- -eh, eh, eh. we did it again. verizon has been named america's most reliable network by rootmetrics. and our customers rated us #1 for network quality in america according to j.d. power. number one in reliability, 16 times in a row. most awarded for network quality, 27 times in a row. proving once again that nobody builds networks like verizon. that's why we're building 5g right, that's why there's only one best network. a lot of people think dealing with copd is a walk in the park. if i have something to help me breath

mr. president, you've seen this movie before. mcconnellr to get justice neil gorsuch confirmed. after rbg died mcconnell rushed to get justice amy coney barrett confirmed to the supreme court eight days before the 2020 election. so we've all seen enough to be certain mcconnell would end the filibuster if republicans retake the senate, and he would justify it by using the very principled arguments made by democrats against it. mr. president, in your oval office address you should argue that the nationwide assault on voting rights demands to be met with more than stirring rhetoric. you should call for the elimination of the filibuster to get a voting rights package through the senate and dare mcconnell to make good on his threats if he becomes majority leader again. it's a gamble, but it's a gamble worth taking. all that's needed, mr. president, is for you to call on senate democrats to roll the dice. i'm jonathan capehart and this has been "the sunday show." - i'm norm. - i'm szasz. [norm] and we live in columbia, missouri. we do consulting

senator: well, i think the fact that mitch mcconnell votes for this, he's a pretty savvy analyst by the way. mr. doocy said earlier that pelosi will link these two, one tells you she doesn't have the vote for 3.5 trillion and secondly it tells you that mcconnell thinks is less likely to get the 3.5 trillion if we pass this bill. i love my infrastructure bill. hate the $3.5 trillion tax and spending extravaganza. mcconnell would say the same thing. it's important that he made the decision. jacqui: if speaker pelosi does cave to pressure of moderate democrats to take the bipartisan bill, the stand-alone bill immediately after it goes over to the house, do you think they'll be enough republicans in the house to cover progressives who are now threatening to block it? senator: yeah, the problem-solver's caucus, 28 republicans, 28 democrats, brian fitzpatrick, they have voted as a group that they would support this bill. those 28 republicans voting for jobs, jobs, jobs, bridges, flood protection, you name it, voting for good policy would outweigh the crazy left-wing that wants to have the tax and spe

what is common between mitch mcconnell, leader mccarthy, mr.thorn, senator johnson, do you notice what they do? they speak out of both sides of their mouth. so they play one set of tapes to their base for political purposes and they play the other very minutely, very seldomly, when the truth is actually obvious. it is a despicable position they are in. they do not -- they're not worthy of the oath of office, and i hope that ultimately their voters and constituents will say, "you are not worthy, you are being literally unamerican in trying to incite further harm." and so we have to be very mindful. 1/6 is not over. as the representative said, it sounds like he might even be a part of some planning for further violence or americans attacking americans. it couldn't be more serious than this. the select committee will get to the bottom of it, but we need to protect our democracy in the meantime. >> frank figliuzzi, i will give you the last word on what is a really -- i won't call it a crush, but a series of reports about jim jordan's contacts with

about the republicans i am glad you mentioned mitch mcconnell because, the republicans i believe 18 or 19 republicans agreed to this infrastructure plan mr. president. each though the biden administration has yet to acknowledge the crisis at the border, we are talking about 7,000 people being apprehended every day, if you look at july numbers 212,000 people apprehended in month of july and these 19 gop senators agreed to spend money on infrastructure, and open the door to a 3 1/2 trillion, really 5 1/2 trillion dollars reconciliation package even though they got no promises on border no comments swaefr be fentanyl into this country 93,000 doses of fentanyl you're thoughts what republicans got us into with infrastructure vote. >> it is a shame that the republicans did it, it was led by mitch mcconnell, note a leader you know that known that for a long time, i have i have known for the a long time i am the one got him elected with when i endorsed him, i endorsed him went up 20 points in kentucky, i love kentucky if they like me, i shouldn't have done it i should have taken him out in primary i could have done we had a guy could have absolu

mcconnell. it is one of the most significant steps to date by elected republicans to defy mr. trump.sident trump said this bill shouldn't pass. it doesn't feel like all the republicans in the senate are listening to him. guest: when you are the leader of the majority in the senate and you have a president of europe's same party in the white house, democrat or -- presidents of the same party in the white house, -- the second thing is it is no surprise to me that mcconnell feels more freed up to how he ultimately wants to vote. the republican party is deeply divided between more conservative members for various reasons and more establishment leaders and the divide is centered around things like infrastructure. what we see with donald trump opposing this bill it echoes internal divisions. we saw bill hagerty objecting to the bill for the price tag. others rejecting it for other reasons. if donald trump was in office, i'm not sure he would take the same position. i don't think donald trump is a deficit hawk. he has promoted big infrastructure bill like building the wall for border securi

mr. neguse: thank you, madam speaker. i'm going to yield in a moment. i must say with great respect to my colleague from minnesota, i think the republican minority leader in the united states senate, mitch mcconnell, would disagree with the gentlewoman's carkization of the bipartisan infrastructure bill being more, i think she said, urban cities or blue cities. 19 republicans voted for that bill in the united states senate. 19, including the senate minority leader. i think it's important for us to recognize the investments made in that bill as well as the investments made in the resolution, the build back better plan we are considering over the coming weeks, are incredibly important for the future of our country. to that end i'd like to yield two minutes to the gentlewoman from north carolina, a distinguished member of the rules committee and judiciary committee, ms. ross. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. ms. ross: thank you, madam speaker. the rule before us provides for consideration of three landmark pieces of legislation. first and foremost, we are here to assure -- assume our duty to protect our american democracy. just this year alone 18 states have enacted 30 voter suppression l

mr. neguse: thank you, madam speaker. i'm going to yield in a moment. i must say with great respect to my colleague from minnesota, i think the republican minority leader in the united states senate, mitch mcconnell, would disagree with the gentlewoman's carkization of the bipartisan infrastructure bill being more, i think she said, urban cities or blue cities. 19 republicans voted for that bill in the united states senate. 19, including the senate minority leader. i think it's important for us to recognize the investments made in that bill as well as the investments made in the resolution, the build back better plan we are considering over the coming weeks, are incredibly important for the future of our country. to that end i'd like to yield two minutes to the gentlewoman from north carolina, a distinguished member of the rules committee and judiciary committee, ms. ross. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. ms. ross: thank you, madam speaker. the rule before us provides for consideration of three landmark pieces of legislation. first and foremost, we are here to assure -- assume our duty to protect our american democracy. just this year alone 18 states have enacted 30 voter suppression l

that he believes that a bill that mitch mcconnell voted for in the united states senate is part of the green new deal approach. that's kind of weird. i heard mrs. mcmorris rodgers say that a bill that was originally drafted in the bipartisan problem solvers caucus with 28 republicans in it that got 19 republican votes, in the senate was a, quote, partisan power play. so little bit confusing. i heard a variety of members on the other side say that this was inflationary, make other criticisms, and then criticize democrats for not voting for it right away. which is it? i don't get it. it seems like bipartisanship truly confuses some of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle. this is a bipartisan bill. there is not a single democrat who loves everything in it. we all made compromises. there are things i really wanted in this bill that i think should have been accepted but i think should have been bipartisan that were not. and i'm a little upset about that. i will vote for this bill. i think every democrat pretty much at the end of the day is going to vote for it. and, yes, i understand my republican colleagues are going to oppose a more part

mr. mcconnell: mr. president. the presiding officer: the republican leader is recognized. mr. mcconnell: it's been more than six months since the biden administration and our democrat-led congress were sworn in, so let's zoom out from the daily political drama and ask the simplest possible question. how is it going? mr. mcconnell: how is the leadership working out for middle-class families? or put more directly, what big aspects of our national life could democrats even claim are headed in the right direction on their watch? in january, our democratic friends inherited the most favorable trend lines that any incoming administration could possibly ask for. three safe and effective vaccines have been discovered, developed, and were already spreading across our country. our economy was packed with dry powder and ready for an historic comeback. it was already morning in america when this democratic government showed up. mostly what they had to do was not get in the way. so where are we six months in? the u.s. economy has broken some recent records, mostly the wrong ones. inflation

mr. mcconnell: mr. president. the presiding officer: the republican leader. mr. mcconnell: i ask con send that further proceed -- consent that further proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: this morning the appropriations committee considered a first partial batch of government funding bills for next year. i want the senate to secure bipartisan appropriations through the regular process. i want us to fund the government in an orderly fashion just like the successful appropriations committee work we saw throughout republicans recent years in the majority. we accomplished that because we built a truly bipartisan process, importantly can began at the beginning. early in the calendar year we convened bipartisan talks so appropriators would have actual targets. that led good-faith bipartisan conversations happen at the subcommittee and committee levels throughout the spring and summer. and we got results on a bipartisan basis. unfortunately this year our democratic colleagues haven't done anything l

mr. mcconnell: mr. president. the presiding officer: the republican leader. mr. mcconnell: i ask consent that further proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: today the senate will decide whether to move the bipartisan infrastructure bill closer toward a final vote. like i have said before, i am quite confident that out of 100 united states senators, there are 100 of us who believe the bill is imperfect. this isn't exactly the bill i would have written on my own in my office, and 99 of my colleagues would say the very same thing. this is a compromise product crafted by colleagues with big, principled differences, and the senate with the narrowest -- in a senate with the narrowest possible split. in my view, what our early statesmen called internal improvement is a core government responsibility. the american people need roads, bridges, ports, and airports to build their businesses, build their families, and build their lives. republicans and democrats have radically different visions these days,

mr. mcconnell: -- and. mr. carper: when we start this vote, folks have is a 15 minutes to vote. if they're not here, they've -- they're too late. so that's the idea. we've spent way too much time waiting for people. we have three amendments lined up and we're going to vote them and be punctual. mrs. capito: i am in full support of using the 15-minute deadline that we have anyway and actually enforcing this. there's a lot of interest in this bill, as there should be. there are a lot of amendments pending. we want to get as many members in and have their amendments in the queue as we possibly can. if people don't come down and vote and show courtesy, i said we're going to go to punitive measures, i'm not sure voting in the allotted time is is a punitive measure. i'm fully supported of that. mr. carper: i would ask any staff members, let your senators know it is 15 minutes. that's it t -- that's it. mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the following amendments be called up to the substitute and be reported by number -- number one is lee 2279, number two is rosen, 2358, furth