ms. collins: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from maine is recognized. ms. ollins: thank you, madam president. madam president, the united states is facing a crisis unlike any other in our recent history. madam president, this is no time for partisanship or for political differences to prevent us from coming together and working in the best interests of the american people. the coronavirus pandemic has arrived on our shores and is growing exponentially, sickening our people and devastating our economy. as of today, more than 26,700 americans have tested positive for the virus, and 340 people have died, while 176 have recovered. in my home state of maine, there are now 89 cases in eight different counties. hospitals, doctors, and nurses are struggling to triage the influx of patients. nursing homes are locking down their facilities in an attempt to safeguard their vulnerable residents. students and teachers have had to transition abruptly to online learning as schools have closed across the nation. parents have been left with no child care. workers have been l

ms. collins: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator for maine. ms. collins: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the vote that is scheduled to begin at 1:45 p.m. begin immediately. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. ms. collins: mr. president, i ask for the yeas and nays. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the yeas and nays are ordered. the clerk will read the title of the bill for the third time. the clerk: h.r. 6074, an act making emergency supplementals for fiscal year ending 2020, and for other purposes. the presiding officer: the question is on passage of the bill. the yeas and nays are ordered. the clerk will call the roll. vote: vote:

ms. collins: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from maine. ms. collins: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that proceedings under the call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. collins: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, i rise today in support of the american energy innovation act, a compilation of the energy-related measures reported by the senate energy and natural resources committee with bipartisan support. let me start by recognizing the tremendous efforts of the very committed and dedicated chairman of that committee, lisa murkowski and the ranking member, joe manchin, for their work in bringing this comprehensive energy package to the senate floor. under that leadership, the committee has worked very hard to craft a bipartisan package that seeks to lower energy costs for consumers, diversify our energy portfolio, and facilitate and encourage the use of cleaner energy sources. mr. president, the american energy innovation act includes several bills that i authored or cosponsored, including the better energy storage

ms. collins: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from maine. ms. collins: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that proceedings under the call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. collins: mr. president, i see that the senator from maryland is on the floor, and i think he arrived a minute or two before me, so if he'd like to go first, i would want to give him that opportunity. mr. van hollen: i'm grateful. thank you, senator from maine. but i'm happy to have you go first. ms. collins: thank you. mr. president, all across the country americans are stepping up in response to the coronavirus pandemic sweeping our nation. doctors and nurses are working endless hours and putting themselves at risk to care for the surge in patients. manufacturers, including many companies in my state, are working overtime and retooling their product lines to produce medical testing swabs, ventilators, and personal protective equipment. all of which are vitally needed. truckers are

ms. collins: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that proceedings under the quorum be dispensed with. the presiding officer: is there objection? mr. schumer: i object. i object. the presiding officer: the democratic leader's objection is heard. ms. collins: this is unbelievable. mr. mcconnell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent that the senator from maine be allowed to speak for a few minutes. the presiding officer: the senate is in a quorum call. mr. mcconnell: i ask consent the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: is there objection? the democratic leader's objection is heard. is there objection? the democratic leader's objection is heard. the senator from louisiana. a senator: i ask the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. schumer: mr. president? the presiding officer: the democratic leader's objection is heard. mr. schumer: i would simply like to know for t

ms. collins: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from maine. ms. collins: thank you, mr. president. first i want to express my appreciation to the chairman of the finance committee, senator grassley, not only for his leadership but for his persistence on an issue that affects so many earns, and that is the soaring price of prescription drugs. mr. president, three committees, the finance committee, the help committee, and the judiciary committee have all advanced bipartisan legislation to reform our broken drug-pricing system. the aging committee, which i chair, has held eight drug pricing hearings highlighting the burden of soaring prices and the manipulation of the market by individuals like the infamous martin shakrelli. it is now past time for us to move forward to the senate floor to debate these bills that have bipartisan support and that have garnered the approval of three major committees. the finance bill, which senator grassley has crafted with senator wyden and others, which i am proud to be a cosponsor of, makes crucial improvement to medicare part d, such as p

ms. collins: thank you, mr. chairman. secretary ross, thank you for taking the time to discuss with me some issues that are so important to my state. maine's lobster men and women have always been great stewards of the resource and leaders in protecting our oceans. in addition to implementing measures to ensure a strong lobster stock for decades to come, the maine lobster industry has also taken multiple actions to prevent gear interactions with marine mammals. this includes the replacement f 27,000 miles of alito in floating ground line -- of floating ground line with sinking line in 2009 and vertical line rules that removed 2700 miles of buoy line in 2014. so it's not as if the industry hasn't revised its gears, spent a lot of money and done its part. and notably, and since it's important, there have been no entanglements directly attributed to maine lobster gear in more than 15 years when it comes to the wright whale. despite these effective previous measures and data indicating that ship strikes and canadian fishing a