thune: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from south dakota. mr. thune: mr. president, i want to associate myself with the comments of my colleague, the senator from delaware, with regard to senator enzi. senator enzi who will be laid to rest tomorrow in wyoming was a wonderful public servant and someone who there weren't any pretensions about him. he was a what you see is what you get type of individual, somebody who worked hard every day, was solutions oriented, results oriented, and brought with him a humble spirit and demeanor that we all benefited from here and something i think all of us could aspire to here as well. i was reminded, as my colleague from delaware was speaking first in the old testament book of micah where it says he has told you old man what is good and what does the lord require of you but to do justice and have kindness and walk humbly with your god. i think that certainly describes senator mike enzi. as we think about him and his family and keep him -- them in our prayers as they prepare for that ceremony tomorrow. mr. president, as a

thune: mr. president, in the time that i've been in the congress, which includes six years in the house of representatives and now in my 17th year in the senate, i have been a part of or witness to or voted on numerous spending proposals and appropriation bills and tax bills and deficit reduction bills and debit limit increasing bills. and i don't believe i have seen in my time in the congress a spending bill where democrats didn't want to spend more and republicans wanted to spend less. and maybe that's consistent with our overall governing philosophies. republicans historically believe in limited but effective government in personal freedom, coupled with individual responsibility, in economic freedom. in peace through strength, and those are sort of guiding principles. and so when you get into a debate about spending and budgets and appropriations and taxes and all those sorts of things, mr. president, in all the time i've been here and i say this with respect to the bill that we're going to b

senator thune just caught up with members of our team and said the reason he is not voting for it ishune is somebody that is up for re-election and has not announced if he is running again yet, and he's been on the wrong side of the former president recently and he decided to be a "no" vote on this legislation. his colleague also from the same state, senator rounds, who is not here and able to vote was his wife is sick, and he put out a statement, he too, would be opposed if he were here. the number we are watching is exactly how many republicans will come down for it, and if the senate minority leader, mitch mcconnell, will vote for it, and we will seal if that stands on final passage. >> thank you. >>> no rest for firefighters in northern california. the dixie fire still going strong. officials believe conditions could get worst there. we are live on the ground with the desperate effort to contain those flames. y layers of residue trapped inside? things like hard water metals, odors, and oils. try 9 elements laundry detergent and purifying softener. its vinegar powered clean is lik

the number two senate republican john thune told me moments ago he plans to vote against this. but watch what mitch mcconnell does. he's expecting to vote for the bill. and he voted to advance this. and how the republicans are approaching this, some sides with the democrats and tried to noegts to their liking, and it does not raise taxes as democrats ranted to raise taxes on high income earners but it is paid for by a range of mechanisms including redirecting already enacted covid relief money to help pay for the hundreds of billion dollars that are proposed to be spent. this is a significant bipartisan achievement after months of intense discussions. but as you mentioned, kate, an uncertain future in the house. the house democrat, the speak of the house, nancy pelosi, will not move on the bill until the democrats in the senate pass a larger sweeping $3.5 trillion package that would expand a whole host of issues. major democratic priorities, expanding the social safety net. they need to have all 50 senate democrats in line to pass that. that won't come together until the fall.

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even though a number of members of his leadership team like jon thune, john kcornyn, all voted against this bill. but it came after months of negotiations between the white house, senate republicans and democrats, to put together this proposal to spend about $550 billion in new money over the next five years. now the same time the question remains, how quickly this can get moved through the house. the speaker nancy pelosi has indicated she will not move on this bill until the senate democrats pass a larger $3.5 trillion bill filled with a host of their priorities. wants the that bill done. then the house will take up that bipartisan infrastructure plan. that's already causing a point of tension within her caucus among moderates who want that bipartisan bill on the floor immediately. but these are the pressures that she's going to have to navigate in the months ahead as they try to get both the bill on to joe underneath's desk and dha larger than as well. but they need total unity in the senate for the larger plan and almost complete unity in the house as well. so very little margin for

these are republicans, were talking conservatives, good conservatives like ted cruz, john cornyn, ted thune, there's already far far too much green new deal on this bill, we will talk to kim's jostle from the wall street journal and steve moore of freedom works with all those problems, most particularly the unprecedented centralized control over the economy that the democrats are seeking to the green new deal, it's not free enterprise is corporate cronyism, status capitalism, car companies pledging to sell half their cars by 2030 as long as the federal government pays for. some people would call that socialism. and as i mentioned last evening president biden has choked off all the mining in the production of rare minerals and he's aiming to stop oil, natural gas and coal as well so we couldn't go to a battery driven economy even if we wanted to and frankly i don't want to anyway. now back to senator hagerty, at least the gop by partisans can do is pay for their bill, transparently out in the open. but now it's clear he hasn't even done that. i think i'm losing my patience of the whole story

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thune: thank you, mr. president. it is good to see the senate taking up a genuinely bipartisan bill this week. a group of members from both parties have spent weeks developing this legislation, and we saw the result of their work in the bipartisan support for proceeding to this bill. nowers -- now we need to let that bipartisan process continue. we need to let those not part of the bipartisan group a chance to weigh in. that means making sure we have a robust amendment process. i know the majority leader is eager to get on to the next piece of this is, the $3.5 trillion spending spree. but that's not a good reason for rushing this infrastructure bill through the senate. this is an enormous bill. it's more than 2,700 pages long, and the legislative text was just released last night. to start with, members need time to digest this legislation and then members need the opportunity to offer amendments. the bill before us today is a genuinely bipartisan bill, appeared i am very grateful for the -- and i am very grateful f

what about the direction of your party, here's senator john thune talking about that. >> i think thathe bernie sanders' wing of the party is the tail wagging the dog. i think the progressive wing is where the energy is, it's where the political money is on their side, and so when they pretty much when they play the music, democrats up here dance. brett: your reaction to that? >> all i would say is that the vision that the president has put forward is embraced by the majority of americans. certainly the majority of democrats but independents and an all lot of republicans you agree on the things we need to do, not just the infrastructure bill but the idea with all the loopholes, you've got corporations not paying their fair share, the idea that americans deserve to have paid family leave, like people in just about every other country, that healthcare ought to be more you affordable, that 4-year-olds ought to be able to get pre-k and community college out to be free, there's nothing radical about these ideas. they are mainstream ideas, pretty much everywhere except certain circles in was

republicans running for re-election in 2022 come down in favor of this legislation including senator john thune who is the senate's number two, a member of mcconnell's leadership team. we know mcconnell voted for the procedural motion and we expect him to vote for final passage today. but the senate will complete its work today on the piece of legislation and then immediately after they will move to the beginning process of this $3.5 trillion human infrastructure bill and then everything moves over to the house of representatives where things get even more complicated. >> pushing the human infrastructure bill but not necessarily linking it. john, once this passes in the senate i'm guessing the white house will put maximum pressure on progressive house democrats to get them on board. how hard are they going to fight the white house on this? >> i think progressives are concerned about it, but the thing is, what you have to remember is that this bill, nancy pelosi is going to hold this bill. she is going to hold this for what could be a month or two because the way the procedure works, she is goin

todd young of indiana indicated he will support this, john thune is not there yet, but also said thatld potentially get behind this. but that is different on the primaries, throughout primaries, throughout the country, senate republicans who are running for open seats or challenging democrats, they are lining up with donald trump, attacking this bill. you're seeing this play out over and over again, often conflating this $1.2 trillion bipartisan bill with the larger democratic effort and saying all of this spending in their view needs to stop. i asked one republican senator, thom tillis, about what is happening here and what is the difference between the primary and senate republicans. tillis you supports this bill and told me they're in the middle of a primary. when you're in a campaign you don't have to go into a group and spend ten minutes, 15 minutes, as i have, explaining why this makes sense and could lessen the damage of the bill that democrats will follow up with, $3.5 trillion bill. then i asked about trump influence, is he influenced by the views of candidates. he responded

here is senator john thune talking about that. >> i think the bernie sanders wing of the party is thegging the dog. i think that the progressive wing is where the energy is, it's where the political money is on their side and so when they -- pretty much when they play the music, democrats appear dance. >> bret: your reaction to tha that? >> secretary buttigieg: what i would say is the vision that the president has put forward is embraced by the majority of americans. certainly the majority of democrats but independents on an awful lot of republicans agree on the things that we need to do, not just the simple structure bill but the idea that with all these loopholes you've got corporations not paying their fair share, the idea that americans deserve to have paid family leave like people in just about every other country. that health care ought to be more affordable and 4-year-olds ought to be able to get pre-k and the community college ought to be free. there's nothing radical about these ideas. they are mainstream ideas are to much everywhere except, you know, certain circles in washi

shut down debate and you're hearing from top republican leaders, mitch mcconnell, and senator john thunejust told me they want a robust amendment process, so this could play out for days and it will be a bit of a chess match between the two sides. schumer will have to decide when it's time to shut down debate, republicans will decide whether to cooperate, and at the end of the day, they have to see if they have the support to get it passed, victor. >> we've been through a lot of infrastructure weeks to get to this point. who got what they wanted, thus far, and who lost out? >> reporter: well, you're hearing some complaints from folks on the left that it simply did not go far enough. people like the chairman of the house and transportation and infrastructure committee saying it falls short on dealing with climate change. he contends that this bill is a bill that was meant for the 20th century, not the 21st century in dealing with the ways of the future. but he believes that they could make some changes or at least provide some additional provisions in the democrats' larger $3.5 trillion r

an amendment offered by democratic senator jon tester and republican senator john thune to address the the telecommunications industry. and an amendment offered by democratic senator alex padilla and republican senator jerry moran, amending the indian healthcare improvement act to expand the funding authority for renovating, constructing, and expanding certain facilities. a republican amendment, offered by senator borasso, with no democratic co-sponsor, was defeated. "the washington post" has new reporting on how the bipartisan bill came to be. quote, as an earlier set of talks between biden and senator shelley moore capito was grabbing headlines in may. the white house was in touch with a separate group of ten senators that had begun its own infrastructure discussions. once the biden talks with capito collapsed, the white house turned its attention, fully, to the group of ten senators which, until then, had kept an intentionally-low profile in the final days before announcing last week's final breakthrough, senators and the white house delegated the last stretch of talks to two season

including senator john thune, the number two in the senate who has not said if he's running for re-election on the wrong side of the former president for quite some time. so moving forward, though, this is something republicans are very happy to tout but also they're now starting this second can start to slam democrats as reckless tax and spenders because they are going to hammer home that $3.5 trillion bill that they're going to take up, that they think that republicans think is bad for the economy and is going to be bad at the polls next year. chuck. >> leigh ann, i'm curious. i have to say, i'm sure last week you didn't think they'd get done what the vote-a-rama as it's called in beltway speak if you will. they moved that reconciliation bill quickly. i guess these senators want to go home. >> yeah, they do. there was 50 hours of debate if they took that up that we would just be in the first hour. and yesterday it's funny, chuck, republicans were telling me yesterday morning that they expected republicans to use all of their time to force this process out. well, that shifted extremely qui

we are told that at least six other senators were in attendance including senator john thune, senators, as well as mark kelly, but so far graham is the only one that has tested positive, george. >> meantime, rachel, former president obama is taking heat from members of congress and the white house is taking questions about this big 60th birthday party he's holding in martha's vineyard. >> reporter: george, hundreds of people are expected to attend that birthday party for former president barack obama. it will be outdoors as you said at martha's vineyard. we are told that there will be a covid coordinator to make sure that they are in line with all of the cdc guidelines and every single guest will be required to show they have tested negative for the virus. the white house says president biden will not be attending, george. >> rachel scott, thanks very much. robin? >>> with covid cases rising we are once again seeing scenes like this one right here. long lines to get tested. this is a live look at one in florida where the state is reporting hospitalizations are at a record high. this as

you heard senator john thune say but in fiscal year 2031, the debt will be $45.1 trillion. the president of the committee for responsible federal budgets, maya maginnis says this could mortgage our children's future. >> that could increase the interest payments we owe on the very large national debt, $3 trillion over a decade or $300 billion a year. that is as large as a major government program. so we are throwing this money at interest payments. reporter: now in addition to the public debt there, you see the reconciliation bill has $107 billion for the judiciary committee for a community violence intervention initiative. the money to invest in border security, work on a lawful permanent status for qualify immigrants. the texas department of public safety lieutenant christopher oliveras works at the border, if you tell people they will become citizens by being in the u.s. you can imagine what will happen. >> now with this proposal, when the communication is communicated now that you come over to the u.s., now you will be a lawful citizen, those numbers will continue to inc

. >> thune was manning the grill or whatever they were serving. maybe it was beyond meat who knows. one of the bipartisan parties that manchin tries to set up to bring together about the bipartisan infrastructure deal >> the question that comes in, if this is a situation where other people get it on the boat, all of the senators. >> they tested negative so far. >> they are hoping to push the passage of the bill. the senate, unlike the house, you are not allowed to vote in be ab stensia they are looking to do that by friday there is a situation where many are leaving for the former republican senator who passed away they are going to his funeral after this week. just a lot of questions about whether this can get passed in this timeline. >> once again, we're struck with it is not the vaccine. it is the immune system of the person lindsey, i have no idea about his underlying health conditions he is over 70. you cannot guarantee when you get a vaccine that -- my point is it is not the vaccine's problem. you need an immune system response to prevent you from attracting covid it is not a

also on the boat senator john thune, chris coons, mark kelly, jackie rosin, kathy cortez masto and marie chief strategist for rhode island's democratic party she is facing criticism she tweeted out yesterday it's wrong to hope he dies from covid, right? it she tweeted that out. pete: that was an actual thing she typed in? ainsley: yeah. asking the question is it wrong to hope he dies? steve: #asking for a friend. pete: didn't find many online or elsewhere. i will say she is also not privy to the science of that. because, steve, you mentioned break through. break through means you have covid thankfully because of the vaccine symptoms are more mild. the death rate of break through is, are we have it in our notes somewhere. it's .0001. steve: really tiny. lindsey graham says he i'm very glad i was vaccinated without the vaccination i'm certain i would not feel as well as i do. ainsley: some of the statistics the cdc says 9 .999% of fully vaccinated americans have not had a deadly covid-19 pleak break through case. the good news is you do get it and you are vaccinated your chances of having

barrasso 30 55, carper 3330, thune 3106, cortez masto 3317. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. graham: i yield the remaining republican time on the resolution. the presiding officer: the senator has that right. mr. sanders: i yield the majority's remaining time on the resolution. the presiding officer: the senator has that right. all time on the resolution has been yielded back. mr. barrasso: madam president, i call up my amendment number 3055 and ask that it be reported by number. the presiding officer: the clerk will record the amendment by number. the clerk: the senator from wyoming, mr. barrasso, proposes an amendment numbered 3055. the presiding officer: there will now be two minutes of debate equally divided. mr. barrasso: madam president, i'm offering this amendment to spare the country from the so-called green new deal. the green new deal is not about protecting the environment. it's about making big government even bigger. this socialist scheme would destroy jobs, it will reduce the quality of life for t

tester: i want to associate myself with the words of john thune. listen to thune. vote yes. the presiding officer: the question is on the amendment. is there a second? there is. the clerk will call the roll. vote: vote: the presiding officer: on this vote the yeas are 95. the nays are 1. under the previous order, requiring 60 votes for the adoption of of this amendment, the amendment is agreed to. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from virginia cane canee senator from virginia? mr. kaine: i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: quorum call: quorum call: quorum call: a senator: m.b.t.? the presiding officer: the senator from delaware. mr. carper: madam president, i ask unanimous consent that the following amendment be called up -- the presiding officer: the senate is in a quorum call. mr. carper: i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. carper: thank you. i ask unanimous consent that the following amendment

thune: mr. president. the presiding officer: the republican whip. mr. thune: mr. president, i would associate myself with the remarks of my colleagues who have just been here acknowledging the heroic work done by the capitol police on january 6. clearly, they were very deserving of all the recognition that they have received and what they went through on that very harrowing day i think is a reminder to all of us, mr. president, of the importance of the work that they do day in and day out, and just the challenge that they face defending this capitol and the people who work in it, and i, like my colleagues, am enormously grateful and just want to join in recognizing that with the award that they just received. and also, mr. president, to point out that we are in the midst of a debate here on a bill that has been negotiated in a bipartisan way. it's great to see republicans and democrats working together, talking together, coming up with solutions, whether you agree with them or not. but the fact that there are people sitting down across the table from each other an

thune: i would ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be lifted. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. thune: mr. president, around here it's members of congress who typically get the spotlight. when we talk about a bill getting passed, for example, you usually hear about the members who introduced and pushed for the bill. you don't usually hear about the staffers, but, mr. president, none of us in congress works alone. we are supported by dedicated staffers who spend long days and oftentimes nights and weekends working to serve our constituents and our country. today i want to talk about one of those staffers, my whip office chief of staff who is leaving the hill after 26 years of government service. nick rossi has been with me since 2013 when i became the ranking member of the commerce committee. he came on as deputy staff director and took over as staff director two years later. there isn't one thing that we did in my years as commerce ranking member and chair that wasn't at least partially owing to nick rossi. the 2018 f.a.a. reauthoriz

thune, proposes amendment numbered 3115. ms. ernst: madam president, i grew up on a farm in southwest iowa where we took extraordinary pride in the work we did and the livestock and crops we raised. our hardworking livestock producers should not have to worry about being subject to onerous regulations and increased production costs due to the federal permits or regulation. my amendment would prohibit or limit any new federal methane requirements on livestock that would increase the cost of beef or other critical products. this, quote, cow tax -- this, quote, cow tax, end quote, will just result in higher food costs for americans at the grocery store at a time when inflation has already caused prices to skyrocket. this cow tax could put our local farms out of business. they could devastate our rural communities who are continuing to feed and fuel the world. i won't stand by while the democrats force iowa farmers and ranchers and american consumers to pay for their over the top regulations. i urge my colleagues to support my amend