this is a 50-50 senate. there was no mandate to completely transform america by the american people on november 3. that may be what a few liberal activists want, but does anyone believe that millions of americans thought that's what they were electing? of course not. there's an ironic element to this whole conversation. some democratic senators seem to imagine this would be a tidy trade-off if they could just break the rules on a razor-thin majority, sure, it might damage the institution, but then nothing would stand between them and their entire agenda, a new era of fast-track policy making. but, mr. president, anyone who really knows the senate knows that's not what would happen. so let me say this very clearly for all 99 of my colleagues. nobody serving in this chamber can even begin, can even begin to imagine what a completely scorched earth senate would look like. none of us have served one minute in a senate that was completely drained of comity and consent. this is an institution that requires unanimo

but the senate's job, the senate's purpose is different. the house is actually allowed to act with a hot head, precise lis because the senate exists to cool those passions, the senate exists to act with a cool head. our job is not to cater to sudden and instant majorities and to changes in the wind. the senate's job is it to enlarge and refine the house's judgments and to try to build consensus that can last so that the majority's will can be advanced while the minority's rights are also protected. the bullies who want to permanently upend the way our legislature works don't understand that their short-term gain, this or that bill, will come at a long-term cost of the entire structure of the rights and interests of our constitutional balance. it doesn't take a lot of courage to go with the current of a mob, but a lot of senators who quietly want to resist this change, and there are many on that side of the aisle who want to resist this change, you're worried that going against the tide means watching dollars and votes float away, it means g

, senator durbin in 2018.few years ago. now the argument is the opposite. i understand our colleagues rotated through several different explanations for his reversal in the last few days. first, our colleagues in illinois indicated he changed his mind because republicans specifically used the filibuster years but republicans were in the majority the whole time. the majority the whole time. it was the democrats using the filibuster and minority in 2018, 2019 and 2020. republicans, sorry but that makes no sense whatsoever. a few days later, it was a new rationale. just that the senate hasn't been getting anything done so the institution needs the overhaul. we just had a uniquely terrible year to make that argument. last year was not a good year to make the argument. the past five bipartisan covid bills with jake bipartisan majorities spent the most money in american history that helped save the country. i don't see instruction in the. historic bipartisan bill for public land, using the filibuster on that. there'

senator aiken, senator morris, senator hoye, senator amani, the opposition whip refuse futures.e debate on the farm bill is under way, there is also activity on the house side. joe martin has learned the majority party is making a desperate effort to pass its bill through the senate. congressman martin favors legislation to aid the farmers, but he is very much opposed to the method it is proposed in the administration's bill. he is determined to block this bill in the house, plan a countermove or force a compromise. he has his secretary summon the republican whip for the house. a party whip like a quarterbacks directs the actual maneuvers on the floor. they decide they need the -- and he is then decided to join the conference. they must think this out carefully. they must bring to bear all the strategy they have learned through many years of legislative experience to stop the majority bill in the house. this constant struggle between the majority and the minority, the two parties in congress, the republicans and the democrats, is the very's sense of democratic law making. it ens

senator johnson: there are100 senators. we offered hundreds of amendments and only considered a fraction of those. at this point in time we considered all amendments that senators want voted on. reporter: it's been reported that the democrats have taken out the bridge in new york and the train in california as well. what's your reaction to them? there is dialing back of some of those things. senator johnson: that's what providing public information can result in. when you put public -- when you expos this to the -- expose this to the light of day, even something that's benefitting senator schumer or speaker pelosi gets pulled from the bill. they could have stuck it in there, had this thing voted on, nobody reading the bill, that might have survived. $1.9 trillion, there's other roads and tunnels and bridges of nowhere, i'm sure, that need to be highlighted. and that's the deliberative process, that's what the amendment process will highlight. hopefully we can dramatically reduce the size of this bill. again, i don't think w

senate. hi there. >> it's good to be there. >> let's start with historical context the filibuster itself is not in the constitution, how did it come about? >> you are right the filibuster is not provided for the constitution and we get the filibuster as it's used today starting with a little bit of a quirk of history in 1806 the senate was trying to clean up the rulebook and make sure in the modern legislature how to rulebook that was up-to-date with the times and noted they had all the books emotion that they weren't using called the motion with the previous question so they took it out, it was a housekeeping matter. this made possible the ability later in the senate history for senators to pursue extended debate. this is being used to force extended at the time and there was not a tradition of obstruction that we see in the senate but over the course of the nextof half-century we see a combination of the senate procedural rulebook and political interest by senators unite to get us obstructi

senator akin. senator morris. senator -- senator omani drawings of the debate.ray, the opposition would refuse. while the senate debate on the farm bill is underway, there also is activity on the south side. minority leader congressman joe martin has learned that the majority party is making a desperate effort to pass its bill through the senate. congresswoman marks his favor to aid to farmers, but he's very much opposed to the methods proposed in the administration's bill. he is determined to have this bill in the house. counter contra mover felipe force a compromise. he has a secretary some in the republican book for the house congressman errands. a party like our quarterback acts -- they decide they need the advice of congressman. formally house leader for the republican party and he is invited to join the conch chris they must think this out carefully. they must drink -- majority bill in the house. that constant struggle between the majority and the minority, the two parties in congress, the republicans and the democrats, it is a very essence democratic lawm

senator klobuchar, senator peters, senator warner -- there's one more -- all of whom have some jurisdiction over this are looking into this in a serious way and are koording -- coordinating with each other. that's how we're proceeding at this point. >> you said you were talking to senator murphy and others about the gun legislation. how do you tell skeptical democrats that this time really will be different when the senate seems to go on these cycles on the gun bill every time there is a mass shooting? >> here's what i say to you. mitch mcconnell, after the terrible shootings in las vegas and el paso said, we're going to have a debate and a vote. we never did. he was afraid to put those bills on the floor. this is a different senate. we are going to debate, and everyone is going to have to vote. and 80% on a background check bill, 90% of the public, 80% of gun owners are for it. it's different. and we'll see if we can make progress. we're going to figure out, as i mentioned, the best way to make progress and move forward on that. my job is to find the most forward progress that we can get d

a number of senate democrats are trying to pressure the senior senator from west virginia and arizona to abandonei their own very recent commitment to honor the central role of the senate. mr. president the framers designed the senate to ensure thatt federal laws in our divere country are broad enough to receive the consent of the governing. james madison said the senate should be a complicated check against improper acts of legislation. thomas jefferson said great innovation should not be forced on slender majorities. senate democrats. aldi's arguments when they were the ones benefiting from minority protection. when present from pressed republicans to kill the filibuster by democratic colleagues -- and when a republican majority stood on principle and refuse to -- there was her democratic colleagues used the filibuster themselves. in some cases they flat out lock legislation like senator tim scott's police reform bill. in many other cases democrats did with the minority parties always do and leverage the existence of the filibuster to influence must pass legislation long before it g

senate. all measures designed to make it harder for american citizens to exercise their right to vote. mr. president, we needed the for the people act before january 6, but we need it more than ever now to establish some minimum national standards to ensure that every american's right to vote is secure. in addition to the barriers being erected around the country to voting, our democracy faces another real and president danger, the flood of cash and big money from special interests invading the airwaves, invading the internet that seek to drown out the voices of everyday americans. in 2010, in another notorious 5- 4 supreme court decisions, citizens united, the court opened the floodgates to unlimited amounts of special interest corporate money flooding into our elections. over $14 billion were spent in the 2020 election cycle, much of it secret. in fact, one of the consequences of that decision, coupled with already existing laws, was that more money flowed secretly into our elections, the d

senator margaret smith of main, senator tomas of oklahoma, senator green of rhode island, senator taft of ohio. here is the senator himself. his daily work typifies of all senators. reading and answers letters from his constituents. this is as it should be are his neighbors and those that support made him a senator. this pile of 10,000 letters was received in two weeks. many constituent come to call in person to seek jobs, ask favors to make proposals. letters or people must get personal attention and those that call in person must receive, their problems discussed and answered. national lawmakers must be sensitive to the constantly shifting opinions and criticisms of the public. as expressed over the radio -- >> spending is the favorite occupation of the administration, a million here and a billion there. >> the newspapers or editorial columns. and in television bringing praise or criticism to the senator of massachusetts and his colleagues. magazines are another check. this freedom of the press is the cornerstone of democracy. but the most direct contact of all is talking to neighbor

this is a 50-50 senate. there was no mandate to completely transform america by the american people on november 3. that may be what a few liberal activists want, but does anyone believe that millions of americans thought that's what they were electing? of course not. there's an ironic element to this whole conversation. some democratic senators seem to imagine this would be a tidy trade-off if they could just break the rules on a razor-thin majority, sure, it might damage the institution, but then nothing would stand between them and their entire agenda, a new era of fast-track policy making. but, mr. president, anyone who really knows the senate knows that's not what would happen. so let me say this very clearly for all 99 of my colleagues. nobody serving in this chamber can even begin, can even begin to imagine what a completely scorched earth senate would look like. none of us have served one minute in a senate that was completely drained of comity and consent. this is an institution that requires unanimo

minority rights in the senate. it's true. i did say that. it was based on life experience having already served in the senate for a number of years, i came to understand how it evolved as one of the procedures of the senate. but i will have to say to you that my impression of the filibuster changed, and the reason it changed was none other than the republican senate majority leader -- now minority leader, senator mcconnell. you see, the filibuster really was created in the senate through its own rules as i explained yesterday, and it came to define the senate in this respect. the founding fathers looked to the senate to provide two representatives and literally senators from each state, regardless of population. so smaller states back in the original colony, smaller states like delaware would have the same number of senators as a large state like virginia, and that was their intention. so the protection of minority rights was kind of built into the definition of the united states senate, and the filibuster became i

senator ron johnson is one of the senators calling for full reading of that bill. and he talked about that this morning in a briefing with reporters. reporter: let me ask you about what, specifically, your plan is to slow down or amend the covid relief bill? senator johnson: that's not how i would describe what i'm attempting to do. i'm trying to actually return the senate to more deliberative body when it relates to a $1.9 trillion spending package. let me put that a different way. $1,900,000,000,000. just as a relative example, back in 1993, the senate debated a $19.5 billion supplemental appropriation process for 12 days on the floor of the senate. this bill, starting out, 100 times larger than that. in the end, because of that deliberative process- again, this was a totally partisan bill introduced by the clinton administration. because of that 12-day deliberative process, all of the republican senators were involved, eventually that spending package was whittled down to $4 billion. if we could have a similar type of deliberative process, maybe we can improve t

senator blumenthal, senator murphy, chairman nadler, sheila, thank you. you have championed this legislation long before i got here. and all of the times that i sat in committee hearings waiting for this legislation to pass and watching you time and time and time again put forth amendments that were shot down, for this moment to be able to be here with you, thank you for that. and as a mother, as a survivor, we thank you. there are so many of us survivors and family members that have lost loved ones that have been waiting and waiting and waiting, and today, we have the real possibility to make a difference and save lives. so i thank you on behalf of all the organizations, all the leaders, all of the frontline volunteers that have been championing for this moment, thank you. mr. thompson: thank you, all, very much. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2021] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] >> president biden will give his first primetime ad

brown: i thank the senator, the senior senator from oregon, and i thank the senator from pennsylvania mr. president, we passed the american rescue plan, as senator wyden said, to get shots in people's arms, money in people's pockets, kids back in school, and people back in jobs. stimulus checks are already going out the door. more than 100 million checks are already in americans' bank accounts. we promised in campaigns, we promised in january we would do this, we would do this quickly. five million ohioans are going to get a check. we know predatory debt collectors are already lining up to take a cut of those checks. we know it costs more to be poor in this country. so often the debt collectors come after you just to cash your check, there is a fee. we passed a rescue plan to put money in people's pockets. they can buy a washer perhaps made by workers in ohio or new tires made for their car by goodyear in akron, ohio. maybe they're looking to throwing a small high school party in their backyards with a cake from a local restaurant. that's why we passed these checks, to support familie

senator. maiden speeches are always a big deal, but this particular new senator is also the senior pastor at the ebenezer baptist church in atlanta, the church where the reverend dr. martin luther king jr. preached from 1960 until he was assassinated in 1968. ebenezer baptist is the congregation of the great civil rights icon john lewis, who left us last year, and for whom the 2021 redrafting of the voting rights act is named this year. reverend raphael warnock, senator warnock, was john lewis' pastor at ebenezer baptist. and so, no, this was not like any other maiden speech you've ever heard before in the senate. it is something, it is really something to have a pastor with that kind of experience and that kind of talent take the floor of the senate, as if it is a pulpit. my dear friend steve benin, who works on this show, who i've worked with now for more than a decade, steve is somebody who watches the congress more closely and with more intense focus on the details than any other living pe

chairman. >> thank you, senator warner. senator kaine? well, thank you to the committee members, mr. chair and ranking member grassley. i'm thrilled to be here to offer boards on behalf of my constituent vanita gupta. she's a passionate advocate for justice, a concensus builder and because she's a history maker. i was a civil rights lawyer for 17 years before i got into statewide politics. my first job was a summer intern at the naacp legal defense fund and i'm thrilled to have someone who spent her career as an attorney number three at department of justice. i've faced things in my career civil rights people complaining about causes i championed and cases where i represented people, but virginia voters looked at the fact that lawyers often were elected to office who had been prosecutors. lawyers been elected to office who represented corporations or those with significant advantages. why couldn't somebody with a civil rights background also be entrusted to take an oath and follow the law and fight for justice? the chairman talked about h

senate. so it's -- >> excellent. >> -- a night of serious reflection on a situation that really now needs our attention. >> absolutely. get to it, my friend. thank you, lawrence. >> thank you, rachel. >>> katherine tai was born to parents who were born in china, went to yale, and then to harvard law school, became an expert in trade and she served in the bush administration as the general counsel to the united states trade representative, a cabinet level position. general counsel is a very important job. she continued as counsel to the trade representative during the obama administration when the trade representative was an obama appointee. then she became the trade counsel to the house ways and means committee, which has jurisdiction over international trade. today, katherine tai made history when she became the first member of the biden cabinet to be confirmed unanimously by the united states senate. the senate has never confirmed a more qualified u.s. trade representative. as united states

this is a different senate. we are going to debate and everyone is going to have to vote. 80% on a background check bill different going to figure out the best way to make progress and move forward on that. my job is to find the most forward progress that we can get done. that's my job. thank you everybody. equity during a racist? going back to new york state as my counties again i 52 counties. >> i just saw the senate. [inaudible] >> is there an election next year at. [laughter] everyone the 50 everyone the 22 counties. [inaudible] [background noises] [background noises] [laughter] primary challenge? there's more counties in iowa. [inaudible] [background noises] ♪ ♪ c-span's washington journal every day we take your calls live on the air on the news of the day and we discussed policy issues that impact you. coming up friday morning we are taking your calls and getting your reaction to present biden's first press conference. and then bloomberg rebecca kern big tech leaders testimony on combating online disinform

and jewish senator to the united states senate.nd a couple of weeks ago we passed covid relief for americans. checks in peoples' pockets and shots in the arm. why were we able to do it? because of the will of the people could be successfully made manifest in the outcome of the vote. well, what happens if there is a disconnect between who and what the people want and what happens in washington. that is what has been going on. the american people are being crowded and squeezed out of their own democracy and i am going to do everything in my power as a united states senator to give the people their voice back. >> senator raphael warnock of the great state of georgia. thank you for making time. i know it is a big day at the start of your senate career. it is an honor to have you here. >> thank you. >> all right. we have much more ahead tonight. stay with us. we have much more ahead tonight. stay with us renae is not an influencer, she's more of a groundbreaker. renae runs with us on a john deere 1 series tractor. because out here, you

>> yes, senator. when i was at the justice department before, heading up the civil rights division, the civil rights division enforces statutes to protect the voting rights that servicemembers, particularly better the point overseas where there's been a lot of problems and ensuring their ability to vote and have their vote counted. but also to ensure that predatory lending practices that are taken away property in properly and servicemembers when they were deployed, that is a statute as well as employment. when members of military are deployed, when they face unlawful employment discrimination or termination. so these are some of the statutes that we enforce. i was honored to work with the didn't associate attorney general to launch a servicemembers initiative to protect and kind of get a more holistic all department approach to protecting the rights of servicemembers and ensuring that they are never penalized for the service that they give to our country. >> thank you. thank you, mr. chairman. >> tha

senator brown senator cassidy is next. and then senator sasse will close for the day. senatorlo crapo perhaps you know about the whereabouts of senators cassidy and sasse? you are on mute. >> oh -- my understanding is that senator sasse won't be able to make it back and sense senator cassidy is not here now, i'm assuming same is true for him -- assembly can wrap up. >> i'll wrap up just with a quick statement because i want you all to know what i'm taking away from this because i think it has been a very productive session. a lot of constructive thoughts offered by senators of a variety of different philosophies and to me the take away is that it is urgent business for elected officials to create the conditions for a home grown semiconductor industry that implies high skill, high wage workers for a decade not just for a year. and that's my take away -- and i will jus tell you as a chair of this committee, i have seen too many short term tax policy mistakes. one year i voted against the tax extender package because i said i'm not going to support any tax extenders with

chair: thank you, senator. senator senator lankford, you are recognized for your questions. mr.ankford: mr. chairman, thank you. mr. carper: happy birthday, senator lankford. mr. lankford: thank you. thanks to both of you for going through the process on this. it's not a fun process to be able to go through, but thanks for doing it. you have a great reputation among the staff that's here on the appropriations staff. so thanks for the dedication and the work. i've got about 50 questions that i want to try to run through on this, but we will run out of time, i'm sure. yesterday sitting in that same seat was jean from g.a.o. one of the things we talked about was a bill we worked on for years called the taxpayers' right to know. his statement on that bill that i have worked on for a decade literally to get passed, it brings a lot of information out so the public can see how we manage things, what's in each agency, what's a program. gene has been a big advocate for that saying we need that. ,last year, he said this is the top priority for g.a.o. to be able to help them in their work.

senators. i want to thank senator leahy for parting with ann and lending her considerable talents to the full senate. he told me he regretted her going, but he was so glad that the senate had seen her talents. and thank you, ann. thank you for accepting this incredible responsibility. congratulations on beginning your historic tenure. and we all wish you the best as you work to bring this great institution to life. as we all welcome ann to her new role, the senate bids a fond farewell to julie adams and mary jones. over the last six years julie adams and mary jones have served as secretary and assistant secretary of the united states senate with impeccable skill and unflappable professionalism. both are long-term veterans of washington. julie worked for many years under leader mcconnell and first lady laura bush while mary served in the white house under president george h.w. bush. and as i remember, because i was, i guess chairman or ranking member -- i can't recall which, maybe both -- as sta

senate. by any measure that's advocating defunding the police and yet today you are telling this aat committee you don't support that. >> senator respectfully i disagree with how you are characterizing it or they don't support to funding the police but i've been very clear about that. >> were the quotes i read inaccurate? >> if i may can i tell you -- those statements reflect conversations that i've had with sheriffs around the country police officers police chief civil rightsff activist who have been talking to me for years long before as i said the events of the summer about the fact that we have placed so many of ourd social problems at the feet of the police and we have defunded health services and the funded services and expected law enforcement to be the only go to solution and given one response available for when we have family members in crisis or was dug evictions and this is an issue where it is one that i think really unifies law enforcement and civil rights advocates and communit

chairman. >> thank you, senator warner. senator kaine?, thank you to the committee members, mr. chair and ranking member grassley. i'm thrilled to be here to offer boards on behalf of my constituent vanita gupta. she's a passionate advocate for justice, a concensus builder and because she's a history maker. i was a civil rights lawyer for 17 years before i got into statewide politics. my first job was a summer intern at the naacp legal defense fund and i'm thrilled to have someone who spent her career as an attorney number three at department of justice. i've faced things in my career civil rights people complaining about causes i championed and cases where i represented people, but virginia voters looked at the fact that lawyers often were elected to office who had been prosecutors. lawyers been elected to office who represented corporations or those with significant advantages. why couldn't somebody with a civil rights background also be entrusted to take an oath and follow the law and fight for justice? the chairman talked about her fi

thank you, senator toomey. senator warnock of georgia.nized for five minutes. >> thank you so very much, chairman brown. it's great to be here with you. and let me say how excited i am to be named chairman of this committee subcommittee on financial institutions and consumer protection. >> as we are, too. thank you. >> thank you. i look forward to working with you and ranking member toomey and the subcommittee ranking member senator tillis to ensure stability in our financial markets and to protect consumers. commissioner chopra, thank you so much for appearing before this committee today. as i travel across georgia, i'm hearing a lot and i heard a lot during my campaign from student loan borrowers. and that's a story i know personally, the first college graduate in my family. and i wouldn't be here were it not for pell grants and low interest student loans. but students who are borrowing money now are just getting crushed under the debt. and the student loan burden has real implications not only for the borrowers but for our economy. peo

senator blumenthal, senator murphy, chairman nadler, sheila, thank you. you have been championing this legislation long before i got here and all the times that i sat in committee hearings waiting for this legislation to pass and watching you time and time and time again put forth amendments that were shot down, for this moment to be able to be here with you, thank you for that. and as a mother, as a survivor, we thank you. there's so many of us survivors and family members that have lost our loved ones that have been waiting and waiting and waiting and today we have the real possibility to make a difference to save lives. so i thank you on behalf of the organizations, all the leaders, all of the front line volunteers have been championing for this moment. thank you. >> thank you all very much. >> thank you. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] >> the u.s. senate is in session today and more work on nominees. they'll start with javier, for the health and human secretary. a vote to advance. and later president biden's choice to lead the inte

>> senator, no. i think that particularly material, materiality is a pointer but know they should not be able to hide their speed is good. let me go to private equity. mr. gensler, is any reason why a company that makes them millions in terms of dollars on buying of small businesses and closing them down shouldn't have to disclose their general practices to their investors? >> i think it's at the heart of the investment advisers act that they would share their fees and any conflicts with their investors. >> well, their fees at the prison the overall business model, the approach they're using, is that right? >> yes, , a description of their business model to their investors, their limited partners usually in that case. >> and then finally let me ask about the tilted roulette tables on wall street. someone has been cheated by a broker-dealer, hypothetically, for example, if robin hood cheated individual investors hypothetically, should the company be able to use force arbitration clauses to avoid getti

senator: thank you, senator blunt. in the 2020 election in nebraska, we saw an excellent job done in administrating the vote. and we had record turnout. we saw over 960,000 people vote out of 1.2 6 million registered voters. i am so proud of the job nebraska has done. as i sit here today and i listen my colleagues on the others of the aisle and the witnesses that they brought forward, as well as my colleagues on my side of the island the witnesses that we have brought word, it sounds like states are doing a great job. we hear that there is very little or no voter fraud. we hear that the voter turnout was tremendous in this last election, which all of us want to see. we want people to exercise their right to vote, we want that to happen. so i would just ask for us to think about, why in the world would we give up state control of our elections to the federal government? most everybody in here is saying, in their own fashion, that our elections are working. yet we are saying, heavens, we have to have the federal governme

, senator chuck schumer, with appreciation for the great work that he did in the senate to bring all of that beautiful exuberance together to send back to us so that we can have this success today. mr. leader, welcome back to the house. [applause] mr. schumer: thank you. let me thank you for your beautiful exuberance as well. and the thanks goes to the senators who are standing here, our great committee chairs, and all of our senators who pulled together as one unit, beating back killer amendments, making sure the bill was as strong as possible. and i want to salute them. all of those who are here and some who couldn't be here. [applause] and i want to salute the house as well. we were a seamless web and we work together. democrats on the house side, democrats on the senate side. all together. because we knew how important this was to america. so what do we say to america? we say to america, help is on the way. help is on the way. you will receive $1400 checks by the end of march. help is on the way. vaccines will be available far more quickly to far more people in a shorter time. he

senator weaken, senator moore's, senator -- senator -- , the operation whip refuses.e debate on the foreign bill is underway there's activity on the house side. minority leader -- has learned that the majority party is making a deft spirit effort to pass its bill in the senate. the congressman eat legislation for the farmers but he is very much opposed to the methods identified in the bill. he is determined to fight a counter move or make a compromise. -- congressman errands. a party whip like a quarterback twice the actual maneuvers on the floor. they decide that they need the advice of the congressman, former house leader for the republican party, he's invited to join the conference. they must think this out carefully. they must bring to bear all of the strategy that they've learned through many years of experience to stop the bill in the house. the constant struggle between the minority and the majority, the two parties in congress, the republicans and democrats as the very essence of democratic law making. it ensures that every bill that is made into a law shall b

order following the remarks of senator sullivan and senator sasse. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. sullivan: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from alaska. mr. sullivan: mr. president, i want to come down to the senate floor for a couple of reasons, but first i want to talk a little bit about what happened in alaska last weekend, an important meeting between the united states and china. our senior diplomats, their senior diplomats took place in alaska appeared let's just say -- alaska, and let's say it was as frosties a the alaska -- frosty alaska area. chinese were -- there was a bit of a tongue-lashing of tony lincoln, i think our team pushed back appropriately, our national security provider, jake campbell. this was the first face-to-face meeting between the united states and chinese diplomats with the biden administration. and what we saw, mr. president, was a very confident china, a very aggressive china that showed up in alaska. for example, they were talking about, quote, chinese-style democracy. we also know that

senate resolutions, which were submitted earlier today -- senate res. 110, senate res. 111, senate res. 1123, senate res. 113. the presiding officer: is there objection to proceeding? en bloc. without objection, the senate will proceed en bloc. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent that the resolutions be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, where applicable, be agreed to, and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, all en bloc. the presiding officer: no objection. mr. schumer: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 10:00 a.m. tuesday, march 16. that following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and morning business be closed. that upon consideration of morning business, the senate proceed to executive session, resume consideration of the nomination of isabella casillas guzman to be administrator of the small business administration. further, that

right now you're seeing the senate chaplain reading a prayer to the senate. that happens at the beginning of the calendar day and then they're saying the pledge of allegiance. and after that they'll move on to the final series of votes, one technical amendment offered by chuck schumer, followed by the senate democrats relief package and then after that vote will be the final package so probably three votes remaining here. but they, as i mentioned, these members have not slept at all. this has been a marathon session as they're trying r. and if they do get this through, assuming they do. then it will be back to thl pas goal of democrats all along is to get this bill done before a key march 14th deadline. that's when millions of jobless benefits are set to expire. under this bill, a deal that was reached that held up the senate for 12 hours where they did virtually nothing but negotiate behind closed doors and horse traded with senator joe manchin of west virginia, that deal would extend jobless benefits for $300 a week for individuals through august, up until

i know to two senator -- senator ossoff. senator ossoff: thank you, minute chair, and ms. criswell, i enjoyed the conversation we had discussing concerns in georgia when it comes to emergency management. in the interest of time, i have one question. ms. criswell, will you commit that in your first year in this position, should you be confirmed, that you will join me in georgia to meet with farmers who are impacted by hurricane michael, and to engage in planning with local leaders and officials to ensure we have plans in place to get swifter a to georgia's agricultural sector if and when another devastating tropical storm or hurricane strikes our state? thank you. ms. criswell: thank you. i appreciated the conversation we had about the variety of challenges georgia faces. if confirmed, i would welcome the opportunity to meet with you and better understand challenges you are facing across a variety of communities you represent. senator: thank you, ms. criswell. i look forward to welcoming you to georgia. senator hassan: thank you. we have a couple many members who are trying

, senator chuck schumer, with appreciation for the great work that he did in the senate. brought all of that beautiful exuberance together so that we could have success today. mr. leader, welcome back to the house. >> thank you. nancy let me thank you for your beautiful exuberance as well. and the thinks goes to the senators who are standing here. our greek committee chairs. and all of our senators who pulled together as one unit. beating back killer amendments. making sure the bill was as strong as possible. i want to salute them. those who are here and those who could not be here. i want to salute the house as well. we were seamless, we worked together. democrats on the house side. democrats on the senate side. altogether because we knew how important this was to america. so what do we say to america? we say to america help is on the way. help is on the way. you will receive 1400 dollar checks by the end of march. help is on the way. vaccines will be available for more quickly far more quickly, help is on the way, our schools will open more safely and quickly than we th

because of the merging and direction of the senator from kentucky , senator mcconnell. he has institutionalize the filibuster to the point where it is now the normal course of business, not an extraordinary procedure. i recount the fact i introduced the dream act 20 years ago. 20 years ago, what kind of a senator argue that in 20 years you can't pass the dream act? i brought it to the senate floor in five different occasions and on five different occasions it was stopped by the filibuster. other members can tell the story of their legislative experience on the floor to. the point i'm getting to is this. it wasn't until senator lomcconnell and the republicans who follow him decided to make a filibuster just daily business in the senate that it was of use to the point where the senate stopped doing regular legislative business area i like to enter mcconnell to come to the floor the next opportunity he has and explain this to me. in the last calendar year 2020, the senate considered 29 amendments on the floor of the senate in the entire year. that doesn't count photo, whic