mr. president. among the amendments house democrats rejected were commonsense proposals to the school funding to the reopening reopening -- the school funding to the reopening of schools. there was an amendment to unfreeze coronavirus food assistance program for freanches. farmers and ranchers. and an amendment to protect health care providers from frivolous lawsuits. mr. president, the one thing that can be said for the house is at least it gave members in the house a chance to review the bill in committee. here in the senate, democrats' covid package will come to the floor without any committee consideration. senators are just supposed to accept wheamb -- whatever the house sent over minus items excluded from a reconciliation package by senate budget rules. mr. president, democrats' partisan course on covid legislation is particularly disappointing because up until now covid relief has been a bipartisan process. that's right. to date, congress has passed five covid relief bills, and every single o

mr. president so far they haven't been met with much action. on the first day of his presidency coronavirus legislation president biden and democrats in congress have pursued a resolutely partisan course. not only failed to invite republican inputn in any meaningful way they deliberately excluded it at passing their coronavirus package using budget reconciliation. this allowed them to pass the bill in the senate by a simple majority vote instead of requiring the concurrence of 50 senators to move to a vote on the bill which is typically how legislation is passed here in the senate including the five coronavirus bills we passed last year when the republicans have the majority here in the senate. mr. president democrats decision to use reconciliation might be understandable if republicans declared their opposition to any further coronavirus legislation but of course that is not the case. republicans made it clear that we were willing to work with democrats on additional coronavirus legislation. in fact every republican senator put together a plan

mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator there texas. mr. cruz: i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cruz: mr. president, in a moment i'm going to propound a unanimous consent but before i do so i want to make some brief observations. earlier this month, democrats passed their extreme partisan reconciliation bill, a bill that president biden signed into law. when the senate was considering the bill, i introduced an amendment to ensure that illegal aliens would not receive the $1,400 taxpayer payments provided in the bill. every single democrat in this body voted against that amendment. is failed by a single vote. if even one senate democrat had voted for that amendment, it would have passed. at the time senator durbin incorrectly told this chamber that no illegal aliens would receive stimulus checks under this bill. it was clear then and it is now been even more clear now that that statement was very much in error, as even senator durbin has admitted. last thursday i gave my d

mr. president, i yield the floor. mr. kennedy: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, since we've got a few minutes here -- i think senator sanders is supposed to be next. am i right about that? i just thought i'd spend a few minutes to talk about president biden's coronavirus bill. let me see if i can explain why so many of my republican colleagues -- and i'm a part of that -- are disappointed in the bill. this bill -- this bill will be our sixth coronavirus bill. i don't think anybody, any fair-minded person, can accuse the united states senate, both democrats and republicans, are not trying -- of not trying to respond to -- to this devastating virus and the -- the -- the economic problems that it has created. and i've been very proud that in the first five bills that we did it on a bipartisan basis. we spent a lot of money, about $4 trillion. that's four 4000000000000000 taxpayer dollars. and, of course, we don't even have 5% of that. we borrowed every bit of that. it's a staggering sum. but we did it, it was a crisis. we had to deal with it. that's what w

the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: mr. president, mr. mcconnell: mr. president, >> mr. president today like w to begin with a few quotations. quote the legislative filibuster is the most important distinction between the senate and the house. without the 60 vote threshold for legislation the senate becomes a majoritarian institution just like the house. much more so kicked to the went to short-term electoral change. no senator would like to see that happen. so let's find a way to further protect the 60 vote rule forio legislation. that is the current democratic leader senator schumer in april of 2017 less than four years ago. here's another quote mr. president, what about the nuclear option, doing away with the filibuster? i can tell you that was at the end of the senate as it was originally devised and created going and created going back to our founding fathers. we have tos acknowledge or respect for the minority and that is what the senate tries to do in this composition and in its procedure end quote. that was the assistant democratic leader senator

mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from minnesota. ms. klobuchar: mr. president, i ask that the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. klobuchar: mr. president, today i rise in support of isabel guzman, currently the director of the presiding officer in calf to be the -- in california to be the administer of the u.s. small business administration. we all know the importance of small businesses and how they have been hit so hard during this pandemic. small businesses employ nearly half of all private sector workers and make outside contributions to the innovation that make america's economy strong. yet the coronavirus has put millions of people out of business, hundreds of thousands of these mom and pop brick and more tar -- mortar retail shops out of business, restaurants out of business, and we are so pleased that there is, as we say in minnesota, a lighthouse that we're looking to now. i was up in duluth on sunday and instead of the light at the end of the tunnel which so many of us talk about with the end of this pandem

mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from wyoming. mr. barrasso: mr. president, i've come to the floor on several occasions now to talk about this $1.9 trillion spending bill that will be soon before this body. i talked about different parts of the bill on different occasions. i talked about the mandates, the bailouts, and the billions and billions of dollars of spending completely unrelated to coronavirus. now, it these are all reasons enough to oppose this piece of legislation. today i'd like to talk about another problem that i see with the bill and that's that this bill would now subsidize health insurance far beyond what was ever imagined when the house and the senate passed the obama health care law. way beyond the subsidies ever envisioned in that. one analysis shows that this bill would give a family of four making close to a quarter million dollars a year -- a family of four making close to a quarter million dollars a year up to $9,000 in free subsidies in health care. that's not four times the poverty level, that is almost four times the avera

the presiding officer: without objection. mr. barrasso: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, i come to the floor today to oppose president biden's executive orders on immigration. now, there were more than 11 million illegal immigrants in the country today. this is a group equivalent to the population of the entire state of georgia. and this number has nearly tripled in the last 30 years. in fact, some experts say the number is a lot higher than that. folks at yale and m.i.t. and the researchers there say it could actually be ties as high. there could be 22 million people in the country illegally. well, that's more than the population of the entire state of new york. so it appears to me, mr. president, that illegal immigration is making a mockery of our borders. yet president biden and this administration refuse to admit, even as of this morning, refuse to admit that there is a crisis at the southern border. now, if you talk to law enforcement all across the country, they will tell you that many of the problems that they face every day are problems related to our op

mr. president? >> it's not because republicans were unwilling to cooperate with democrats on covid legislation. in fact, in fact, republicans made it very clear that we willing to work with democrats. the bill before us today is so heavily partisan because democrats didn't want to work with republicans. democrats saw an opportunity to use the covid crisis to advance a whole host of liberal priorities. they were afraid to allow republicans to participate in the process would mean some other pet projects would be excluded. or that they wouldar have to pae back some of their moree spending. democrats decided to use reconciliation to ensure that republicans wouldn't be able to interfere with their democrat legislation. and let's be very clear about the nature of that legislation, mr. president. democrats would like to present this as a covid bill. it's not. yes, there are a handful of true covid priorities in this legislation like more money for vaccines and coronavirus treatment come something i think

mr. president. now, i understand that there is a joint resolution at the desk that is due for a second reading. the presiding officer: the leader is correct. the clerk will read the title of the joint resolution for the second time. the clerk: house joint resolution 17 is removing the deadline for the ratification of the equal rights amendment. mr. schumer: in order to place the joint resolution on the calendar, under the provisions of rule 14 is i would object to further proceeding. the presiding officer: objection is heard. the joint resolution will be placed on the calendar. mr. schumer: thank you, mr. president. now, this morning the nation grieves with the people of boulder, colorado, the site of another mass shooting. a depraved gunman opened fire in a grocery market killing ten people, including a police officer. many more are injured. our hearts go out to the people of boulder and the families of those americans who have lost their lives so unexpectedly. our thanks again go out to the brave f

mr. president. typically about 70% of all cancer patients receive radiation at some point during their treatment. and typically these treatment courses can last up to six to eight weeks per patient. a long course of treatment. and patients go through a lot during the course of treatment. so the tradition here in our department is the very last treatment -- in the patients will ring the bell and it's symbolic of several things, mr. president. it's symbolic of bravery, it's symbolic of the resiliency of the patient, they're overcoming long odds here. long, long odds and finally it is symbolic of hope. hope for the future. so this bell right here means a lot not only to us but our patient population. so really thanks for letting me share that with you. >> unfortunately i'm pretty familiar with the bell. not here but -- my son when he came home he decorated war hero from iraq, was diagnosed with stage four and you know then it is only a matter of months, not if going live in most cases, and i had a chan

mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from california. mr. padilla: mr. president, reserving the right to object. colleagues, what is happening at the border right now is not just another policy matter to me. it is personal. when i see the young latino children alone in an unfamiliar setting, being spoken to by law enforcement and other authorities in a language that they don't understand, you can't help but think of my three boys. my boys are the same ages as many of the kids presenting themselves at the border seeking asylum. they look just like those kids. i see the fear and desperation in the eyes of the children at the border, and i don't have to imagine how my boys would look and feel under such circumstances. i've tasted that already. in 2018, we were on a family trip in arizona, june of 2018. it was the height of trump's cruel family separation. we took a detour to texas to demand humane treatment of the children who were being intentionally separated from their parents by the previous administration. on the way there, i tried to prepare my boys me

mr. president. presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. schumer: are we in a quorum? the presiding officer: no. mr. schumer: okay. mr. president, first i understand that there is a bill at the desk that is due for a second reading. the presiding officer: the clerk will read the title of the bill for the second time. the clerk: h.r. 1799, an act to amend the small business act and the cares act to extend the covered period for the paycheck protection program and for other purposes. mr. schumer: in order to place the bill on the calendar under the provisions of rule 14, i would object to further proceedings. the presiding officer: objection having been heard, the bill will be placed on the calendar. mr. schumer: thank you, mr. president. now, mr. president, the asian american community is still reeling from the senseless murder of eight people near atlanta, six of whom were women of asian descent. it will be sometime before we understand what drove the madman who perpetrated this crime, but there is

mr. president. mr. president. >> no. the young lady. >> mr. esident, i know you said earlier that you were not thinking of revenge toward iran. but does that preclude any punishment whatsoever for what they've done? >> well, again, i have to ask your forbearance and wait until we've finished our study of this whole situation, as to what we are going to do. i -- i don't think any of us have a friendly feeling toward the people that have done what they have done. but i think it's too complex for me to answer, until we've had time to really study this. >> just one followup. are you -- would you go so far as to encourage american businesses to resume commercial trade with iran? >> at this point, no. >> mr. president. >> no, i'll go back there, in a second. >> mr. president, do you intend to follow through with your campaign pledges to abolish the departments of energy and education? >> i have not retreated from that at all. yes. the process, however, that i have asked for is for both the secretary bell of education and secretary jim edwards of ener

mr. president. mr. sanders: mr. president. mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from vermont. mr. sanders: i would ask unanimous consent to add a letter about tip wages signed by hundreds of organizations to my remarks. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from south carolina is recognized. mr. graham: thank you. i will try to be relatively brief here. i understand the bill is being printed now and we'll have a vote fairly shortly. i want to set the stage for my point of view. i think i speak for most people in my conference, what we're trying to do here. up until now, we've been able, as a body, to work together on covid relief and the question is, why can't we do it again? i think i know the answer, but i want to remind people what we've done in a bipartisan fashion. a march -- on march 5, 2020, when we had president trump, a republican senate and democratic house, we approved $8 billion, 96-1. we were just beginning to be understand the virus. march

mr. president. [applause] >> thank you, madam speaker. and mr. majority leader. and america. the president promised help is on the way. today, help has arrived. help has arrived to the workers who lost their jobs, help has arrived for the students who have been stuck at home, help is arrived for the families that have struggled to put food on their tables. and for the small businesses that have struggled to keep their doors open, help is arrived, america. this landmark legislation will get relief to families, give support to communities, and make sure more shots get in our arms. i want to thank the speaker, nancy pelosi, and majority leader, chuck schumer, and all the members of congress who voted for this legislation and helped lead to its success. and of course, we would not be here today were it not for the leadership of our president, joe biden. [applause] and i just want to say something. about the president. from the beginning of this, joe said we have to tell the story. we have to tell the story. we have to show we understand what the people are experiencing and what th

mr. president, when the jamaican prime minister was here yesterday, mr. seaga, he suggested publicly that now might be a good time for you, as the new president, to have a foreign policy initiative for latin america and for the caribbean. do you intend to follow that suggestion, and if so, how would your policies differ from those of former president carter? >> well, i think we have seen a great reverse in the caribbean situation and it came about through prime minister seaga's election. it was the turnover or turnaround of a nation that had gone what is certainly in the direction of the communist movement, kind of a -- was a protÉgÉ of castro. and his election was great -- greeted by me with great enthusiasm because it represented the people by their vote having experienced that kind of government turned another direction. and i think this opens the door for us to have a policy in the mediterranean of bringing them back in those countries that might have started in that direction or keeping them in the western world and the free world, and so we are looki

mr. president. my second call as a foreign leader and third with you and now you are my second virtual meeting with a foreign leader. our relationship with mexico is paramount to all the elements. >> translator: [speaking spanish] >> and i was honored to meet you on one of those visits, mr. president. >> translator: [speaking spanish] >> during my business i got to know mexico a little bit and its people and i paid my respects to guadalupe. as a matter of fact, i still have my beads that my son was wearing when he passed. i walked through the beautiful stones of mexico city and spoke with mexicans of all walks of life. i treasure those memories and hope to be able to build on them in the next four years. >> translator: [speaking spanish] >> mr. president, this is what i know, the united states and mexico are stronger when we stand together. it is a long and complicated history between the nations. haven't always been perfect neighbors among one another, but we have seen over and over the power and t

mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from new jersey. mr. menendez: i take no pleasure in coming to the floor today -- the presiding officer: there will be order in the chamber. the senator from new jersey is recognized. mr. menendez: we in the senate take pride in our decorum. yet there comes to a time when these verbal gymnastics simply won't do. you're either going to speak the truth or fail to do justice to the values you hold dear. what one of our colleagues said last week about the events of january 6 was felt by many to be racist and hurtful, a stain on the office he is so fortunate to hold. look, i get no one likes to be called racist, but sometimes there's just no other way to describe the use of bigoted tropes that for generations are threatened black lives by stoking fear of black men in particular. make no mistake, under different circumstances, he would have been afraid. he said, and i quote, had the tables been turned -- now, joe, this will get me in trouble -- had the tabl

mr. president, mr. becerra's extremist views on abortion would be enough of a red flag but to that we have to add mr. becerra's religious liberty and freedom of conference. his most famous effort to force religious people, including nuns to offer health benefits that go against their religious beliefs. he claimed i never sued an order of nuns. i sued the federal government. that's an answer only a lawyer could love, mr. president. yes, he didn't sue nuns. he sued the federal government to force nuns and other religious people to offer health insurance benefits that violate their consciences. that was the aim of his lawsuit, mr. president. to force nuns and other religious americans to act contrary to their consciences. and when an order of nuns, the little sisters of the poor, joined the case in an effort to ensure their right to live according to their faith was protected, mr. becerra apparently had no hesitation in continuing his suit. mr. president, mr. becerra's extremist views on abortion an his re

mr. president. the presiding officer: the republican whip. mr. thune: mr. president, less than two months ago president biden emphasized a theme of unity at his inauguration. i quote, today on this january day my whole soul is in this, he said. bring america together, uniting our people, uniting our nation, end quote. admirable words, mr. president, but so far they haven't been met with much action. on the first big legislative test of his presidency, coronavirus legislation, president biden and democrats in congress have pursued a resolutely partisan force. they not only failed to invite republican input in any meaningful way, they deliberately excluded it by passing their coronavirus package using budget reconciliation. this allows them to pass the bill in the senate by a simple majority vote instead of requiring the concurrence of 60 senators to move to a vote on the bill, which is typically how legislation is passed here in the senate, including the five coronavirus bills that we passed last year when the republicans had the majority here in the senate.

mr. president, thank you so much for being with me tonight. >> thank you, maria. k you. >> maria: we have so much to get to with you. president biden's first order of business on january 20th and 21st was to overturn your policy at the border. immediately stop construction of the wall triggering an onslaught of new illegal immigration. your reaction, do you believe this would not have happened had he not overturned the policies? >> well, my policies were working better than they have ever seen on the southern border. the wall is almost complete. we just had to fix little sections, complete little sections that had to be together. we needed them in order to get the trucks back and forth from side to side, but they have chosen to stop right in the middle. they could have it finished in a month and it would be just magnificent. it already is magnificent when it is done in the areas where it is totally conflated. but just small sections are remaining and they should finish it. they are destroying our country. people are coming in by the hundreds of thousands. young chi

mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from colorado. mr. bennet: it is hard to believe that i'm on this floor again, after losing ten more people, this time in boulder, colorado, to another horrible mass shooting in our state. i'm sure the presiding officer doesn't remember that last week, after the events in atlanta, i came over to your desk and i said that we were so sorry in colorado for what had happened in atlanta and then just three or four days later, it happened again in colorado. and i've spent the past day learning about the victims of this terrible crime and i want america to know what extraordinary human beings we've lost in my state. here they are, mr. president. denny stong, age 20. denny was a graduate of fair view high school, an interventilatored smart -- interverted smart kid. he was covering at the super and he once posted on facebook. i can't stay home, i'm a grocery store worker. nevin stanistic, his dad he was a really good, a hardworking boy. his parents are refugees from bosnia who left in the 1990's to escape the war

mr. president? i said to the president at that time, no. i said no repeatedly. because becoming a u.s. senator comes with higher duties than steamrolling any obstacle to short-term power. i meant it. republicans meant it. less than two months ago, two of our democratic colleagues said they mean it, too. if they keep their word, we have a bipartisan majority that can put principle first and keep the senate safe. >> mr. president, it's flattering when the republican senate leader comes to the floor and mentioned your name and senator mcconnell did just that this morning. the issue was the filibuster, and senator mcconnell found a quote of several years ago where i spoke in favor of the filibuster to protect annuity rights in the senate.'s it's true. i didi say that, and it was basd on life experience having already served in the senate for a number of years. i came to understand how i

mr. president. mr. murphy: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from connecticut. mr. murphy: thank you, mr. president. i thank my friend, senator cortez masto, for that powerful testimony for sharing some of these stories, talking about the impact on families in las vegas and throughout her state and to talk about what this means from a parents' perspective to think that her own family had to wonder whether their loved one was going to come back from that shooting that dominated the news to think about how many lives were changed. senator blumenthal made a really important observation earlier and that was the numbers we're using here, 39,000 people dying a year, the names that we're reading into the record, these are the names of the individuals who have died but what we know is there are hundreds of thousands of others who have survived gunshot wounds. the trauma is different, but it is still serious and acute when a loved one is shot, obviously that comes with a moral disruption to th

mr. president. mr. president, i waspresiding on tuesday. sometimes staff will give you a folder of things to review while i'm presiding and often they'll be upset when i come back having not reviewed they have given me. the reason for that is simple. when there are members speaking before the body, i'm, frankly, very interested to listen and to hear what our colleagues have to say. we don't do enough of that in this place. we're so busy during the day, we don't spend a lot of time on the senate floor. we might have the floor on our tv in our office, but we're not always paying attention to what our colleagues have to say. one of the benefits of getting to preside is you get to listen to the arguments being made on the senate floor. the hours i was presiding on tuesday, i got to hear about four or five of my republican colleagues come down in sequence to make their case as to why they'd be voting against the american rescue plan. and so i got to hear a number of themes be developed. i don't think coincidentally a number of arguments were made

mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from texas. mr. cornyn: mr. president, i'd ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cornyn: thank you, mr. president. it appears that our friends across the aisle are experiencing an existential crisis when it comes to deciding how to manage their newfound powers in the majority. we're just two and a half months in this new congress, and already we're hearing the majority leader and many on the other side of the aisle threatening to blow up the rules of the senate. after decades as a senate -- as a senator, president biden even yesterday relented and threw his support behind the plan. the filibuster has been called into question a number of times over the past few years. that's to be expected. but it's just that our democratic friends used to be on the other side of the argument. they took one position when they were in the minority, where the filibuster protected their rights, and now they're in the majority, many of them are looking to eliminate

mr. president, i ask that my first black senator to represent the state of georgia. >>> mr. president, before i begin my formal remarks, i want to pause to condemn the hatred and violence that took eight precious lives last night in metropolitan atlanta. i agree with georgians and americans with people of love all across the world this unspeakable violence largely upon the asian community is one that causes all of us to recommit ourselves to the way of peace that prevents these kind of tragedies from happening in the first place. we pray for these families. mr. president, i rise here today as a proud american and as one of the newest members of the senate inat all of the journey that has brought me to these hallowed halls and with an abiding sense of reverence and gratitude for the safe sacrifices of ancestors who paved the way i am a proud son of the great state of georgia born and raised in savannah, a coastal city known for its cobblestone streets and town squares, towering oak trees, centuries-old covered in spanish moss stretched from one side of the street to the other

mrs. blackburn: are we in a quorum call? the presiding officer: we are. mrs. blackburn: i ask to dispense with the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. blackburn: last saturday democrats signed off on the most partisan and largest wealth in the history of the united states congress. in the weeks leading up to that vote they insisted that their $1.9 trillion giveaway would bring the relief the american people were seeking. they quoted suspect polling and ant antidotes to claim that the bill was bipartisan even though they didn't even try to secure bipartisan support. in fact, i would argue that the democrats threw away the idea of bipartisanship the moment they chose to use the reconciliation process to force their hand. after almost 30 hours of debate, they did just that on a party-line vote and then the cracks in their claim of bipartisanship and necessity began to show. almost immediately after the final vote, the majority leader called it, and i'm quoting, one of the most progressive pieces of legislation, if not the most progressive,

mr president can your presidency be if he said if you can't make progress on of the challenges of climate change immigration reform got control voting rights well i plan on making progress on all of them but that's going to be for the american people decide i think you know i doubt whether maybe you did maybe others did i i thought many of you thought there was no possibility of my getting the the plan i got passed passed without republican votes pretty big deal got passed growing the economy people's lives are changing so let's see what happens all i know i've been hired to solve problems to solve problems not create division. ok. thanks so much mr president he said over and over again that immigrants shouldn't come to this country right now this isn't the time that that message is not being received instead the perception and they got you elected as a moral decent man is the reason why a lot of immigrants are coming to the country and trusting you with unaccompanied minors how do you resolve that tension and how are you choosing which family can stay which can and can go given the fact

mr. president and the truth is the president the vice president have no public plan to visit the border into you suspect you will get there before they do? judge jeanine: i'm not looking to have a race i'm looking to get a problem solved this is going to destroy our country yet potentially millions of people coming up over a short period of time and these are people in a large way are not people that we want in our country you have criminals coming up, murderers, rapists, drug dealers because these countries that i get along with very well with the heads of every country whether guatemala, honduras or el salvador oro mexico but they're not looking to have their finest people leave their country but they don't mind if ms 13 leave their country. judge jeanine:13 mr. president e have no way to vet or identify who these people are what should the administration be doing and by the way president criticized the biden administration and said that youhe were engaged and had a process together where you held themm in mexico from anothr biden a administration has ended all of that. why would they do t

mr. president. >> mr. trump: absolutely. what you said is exactly right. i hope that is what i said, too. they should -- look, everybody has to be treated equally. they go after people on the right, in spades, and they don't go after people at all on the left. you look at some of the things that happened. look at minneapolis. look at who was arrested. look what happened. they let them out immediately, and by the way, and a lot of the politicians that you have right now in office were providing bail money for them, getting them out of jail, but they didn't have to worry about it. for the most part, they weren't even put in jail. they took over seattle, and practically nothing happened -- they literally took over a big chunk of a major u.s. city and practically nothing happened to those people, and yet, i'm constantly seeing where they are searching out people on the right. it's very unfair to this country, and there is tremendous anger because of what they are doing. there is tremendous anger. >> laura: i want to move on to what the democrats are doing with

mr. president. among the amendment house it was common sense proposals school funding which is the reopening of schools and freezing food for the food assistance program for farmers and ranchers and the overlooked rural communities and an amendment to protect healthcare providers from from one - - frivolous lawsuits. one thing that can be said is at least it gave members in the house a chance to review the bill in committee. here in the senate democrats are told the package will come to the floor without any committee consideration so were just supposed to accept whatever the house and over minus the items from the reconciliation package from senate budget rules. the partisan course is disappointing because up until now covid relief has been a bipartisan process today congress has passed five covid relief bills and every single one of those bills was overwhelmingly bipartisan through public and led senate took up past reliefs with resolution 96 / 196 / 092 / 61 and even went by voice vote here in th

mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority whip. mr. durbin: mr. president, some of our republican colleagues say that -- that america doesn't need president biden's covid rescue plan because, quote, the pandemic is nearly over. funny. i've never heard them say we shouldn't help tornado victims in their states after the tornadoes were gone. let me say it clearly. we're not out of the woods yet. i wish we were. 510,000 americans, maybe more now, have died. the united states has 5% of the world's population. we have 20% of the covid infections and deaths. why? because of poor leadership during the first year of this pandemic. we had a president then who is now gone who would announce it was a hoax and it was going to disappear by easter, downplaying the seriousness of the situation with his fanciful flights about certain chemicals that were going to save us or whether or not we should be gargling lysol every morning. it made no sense and the american people came out of that experience confused and infected with deaths in their family. that was the rea

mr. president. [indiscernible]

mr. president. >> president: i can't hear the supervisor. >> clerk: mr. resident, i will have john check on supervisor peskin's connection. >> chair: thank you so much. supervisors, if you bear with us, i just want to make a statement before we get started, just a friendly reminder for all supervisors to mute your microphones when you are not speaking to avoid audio feedback. colleagues, we are going to approve the meeting minutes from the january 20, 2021, special board meeting at the public safety and neighborhood services committee which constituted a quorum of the board and a february 22, 2021, regular board meeting. are there any changes to the meeting minutes from colleagues? okay. i don't see any changes. supervisor peskin, has your audio ability come back? >> clerk: i don't believe so, mr. president. we received notice from supervisor peskin's staff that there might be a problem with his system and his microphone is not muted on his end. >> chair: we are going to go into a recess and will we are i recess. >> we are now going to resume our tuesday,

mr. president. [applause] vice president harris: thank you . the president promised help is on the way and today help has arrived. help has arrived for the workers who lost their jobs. help has arrived for the students who have been stuck at home. help has arrived for the families who have struggled to put food on their table and for the small businesses that have struggled to keep their doors open. help has arrived, america. this landmark legislation get relief to families, support to communities, and make sure more shots get in arms. i want to thank the speaker, nancy pelosi and chuck schumer and all of the members of congress who voted for this legislation and helped lead to a success. of course we would not be here today were it not for the leadership of our president, joe biden. [applause] i just want to say something about the president. from the beginning of this, joe said we have to tell the stories. we gotta tell the stories and show that we understand what the people are experiencing and what they need. i have been in rooms with joe w

mr. president -- >> mr. president -- and -- >>> president biden completing his first formal news conference of his presidency, ending on the topic that dominated a rather wide-wraithing news conference. crisis at the border. immigration crisis. the president indicating a surge, a seen that's happened before and also talking about rebuilding the capacity to house unaccompanied migrant children who he notes he would not turn back and not send them back across the desert, he answered questions about whether that was sending a misinterpreted signal to families on the other side of the border. he also talk and covid. he's doubling down on the expectation of how many americans, or how many shots can be administered now to 200 million in his first 100 days in office. this is day 65. go to chief without correspondent peter alexander. peter, what else stood out to you in that news conference? >> reporter: lester, the headline for the white house, him saying hired to solve problems, not to create division, but certainl

mr. president, it's wonderful to catch up with you. please come back soon. very much, maria. >> maria: thank you very much. president donald j. trump. coming up, the biden administration and its first big talk with the chinese communist party this thursday. senator cotton is here with a preview. we will talk about it next. ♪ ♪ ♪♪ comfort in the extreme. the lincoln family of luxury suvs. ♪ and a little bit ofe. chicken fried ♪ ♪ cold beer on a friday night ♪ ♪ a pair of jeans that fit just right ♪ ♪ and the radio up ♪ get 5 boneless wings for $1 with any handcrafted burger. only at applebee's. so you're a small business, or a big one. you were thriving, but then... oh. ah. okay. plan, pivot. how do you bounce back? you don't, you bounce forward, with serious and reliable internet. powered by the largest gig speed network in america. but is it secure? sure it's secure. and even if the power goes down, your connection doesn't. so how do i do this? you don't do this. we do this, together. bounce forward, with comcast business. this is the destroyer of ransomware

mr. president. >> president: i can't hear the supervisor. >> clerk: mr. president, i will have john check on supervisor peskin's connection. >> chair: thank you so much. supervisors, if you bear with us, i just want to make a statement before we get started, just a friendly reminder for all supervisors to mute your microphones when you are not speaking to avoid audio feedback. colleagues, we are going to approve the meeting minutes from the january 20, 2021, special board meeting at the public safety and neighborhood services committee which constituted a quorum of the board and a february 22, 2021, regular board meeting. are there any changes to the meeting minutes from colleagues? okay. i don't see any changes. supervisor peskin, has your audio ability come back? >> clerk: i don't believe so, mr. president. we received notice from supervisor peskin's staff that there might be a problem with his system and his microphone is not muted on his end. >> chair: we are going to go into a recess and will return at 2:21 p.m. >> clerk: sfgov tv, we are in recess. >

mr. president, i yield the floor. >>[applause] >> you're waving c-span2 your unfiltered view of government. c-span2 was created by america cable television companies and tad we're brought to you by these television company who is provide c-span2 to viewers as a public service. ♪ ♪ coming up live today, at 10 a.m. a house judiciary sub committee holding hearing on discrimination and violence against asian americans return at noon eastern whether to debate a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants who come to the u.s. as minors. they'll also take up legislation on the legal status of undocumented farm workers on c-span2 at 10 a.m., the senate resumes work on the nomination of javier becerra to be health and human secretary members vote at noon and then take up boston mayor marty nomination to be labor secretary. on c-span 3, at 10 a.m., the senate health committee hears from dr. anthony fauci and cdc director rochelle on the federal pandemic response at 2 p.m. irs commissioner charles had a hear on 2021 tax fili

thank you mr president.nsion and how are you choosing which families can stay and reach tempo given the fact that even though with title 42 there are some families staying at is there a timeline for when we won�*t be seeing these overcrowded facilities run by cpb when it comes to unaccompanied minors? i cpb when it comes to unaccompanied minors? , , , ., , minors? i guess i should be flattered — minors? i guess i should be flattered people _ minors? i guess i should be flattered people are - minors? i guess i should be flattered people are coming minors? i guess i should be - flattered people are coming because i�*m the nice guy, that�*s the reason why it�*s happening. i a decent man or however it�*s phrased, that�*s why they�*re coming because they knowjoe biden is a good guy. the truth of the matter is nothing has changed. as many people came, 28% increase in children over the border in my administration. 31% in the last year in 2019 before the pandemic. in the trump administration. it happens every single