have another coronavirus related nomination to consider,hi something that ia role unique to united states senate under the constitution to make comes to judicial nominations nominations to the executive branch, the senate has the responsibility to ensure that we conduct confirmation hearings and vote to put people into key positions in the administration and on the courts. the question about why we are here madam president is a fairly easy one to answer and that is there lots of important positions that are key not only tonsha the health care crisis tt we are facing in this country but to our ongoing national security priorities as well as to the economic challenges that we are facing through this crisis. this week the senate 19th committee will be holding a hearing on the nomination of the special inspector general for pandemic recovery at the treasury department, a key role created by the legislation we passed in the congress, critically important to the implementation making sure it's done in the right way. inspectors general play a key oversight role helping to root out waste, fraud and othe

dollars in the pipeline, after the resources that have been expended, madam president, by the united states senate, united states house, and signed into law by the president. and so it seems logical, i would think, for us as stewards of the tax dollars, as representatives of the people of this country, as policymakers, to make sure that the policies that we're putting into place are having the desired effect or actually working. so what has the senate been doing for the past three weeks? well, exactly that. taking a look on a committee-by-committee basis at whether or not some of the things that we've already done are being effective. the health, education, labor, and pensions committee had in the head of the c.d.c., the head of the n.i.h., two critical agencies when it comes to fighting the health emergency of this country, to determine and to ask them questions about what's working, what's not working, what have we done, what should we be doing differently, what can we do. that is a hearing that the health, education, labor, and pensions committee had last week widely participated in by members

leader it was a lot of politics it was a lot of taking care of and working with 99 other united states senators and since i left i've been able to help start companies that address things like hospice and end of life and palliative health care companies built around telemedicine and tele health and some of that still state in the united states senate would have loved it i'm sure but it would be the opportunity to contribute in ways that regular citizens and business people and philanthropist. as an aside and you serve with joe biden did you not at dead of have we were on the foreign relations committee as majority leader during the time that he chaired that committee. what do you think of him and what do you think of his chance. joe had given an a plus to do you know him very well i know his wife very well for. travel with his wife to africa and she wanted to learn more about africa when when he was vice president. respects for his intellect i owned by great respect from the opposite party as you well know but joe would do well as a president it will be interesting to see the election and as we

in the meantime, we've got work to do here and the united states senate. there are people across this country who are hurting or struggling, and very many priorities that need to be addressed. and so i'm pleased that the senate is open for business. we are going to be working the next month as i mentioned at the national defense authorization bill, a piece of legislation that we had to do on an annual basis that just with all our critical national security priorities and making sure that the many women who defend this country, the american people and our interests around the world have the training, equipment, the resources to do their jobs to keep americans safe. we've got a critical water infrastructure bill that will be marked up by the environmental publictt works committee. also piece of legislation that is important to the economy in this country, madam president. so if you look at the long list of things and priorities that we need to deal with her in the united states senate, it's important b that we be about the people's business. i know i can spe

united states undoubtedly has more tough days ahead that we are going to get through them and come out tougher on the other side. in the meantime in the united states senate across the country are struggling in many priorities the need to be addressed so i am pleased with that national defense authorization bill. and then the men and women that defend this country and the american people around the world have the training and equipment and resources to do their jobs to keep americans safe. and then to be worked up by the public works committee and a piece of legislation with the economy in this country. if you look at the long list of things and priorities we need to deal with in the united states senate it is important with people's business.th and over the past several weeks like my colleagues and work hard to stay in touch with the people of south dakota using technology and never really had much experience to zoom to skype to google hang out all kinds of interesting and conducting meetings to stay connected with constituents for what is important to them to find out and get the feedback of what we could be doing to respond to the crisis that is out th

a lot of resources that have been expended madame president by the united states senate . in the united states house and signed into law by the president. and so it seems logical that i would think, for us as stewards of the taxs dollars as representatives of the people of this country. and as policymakers to make sure that the policies that were putting into place are having a desired effect and actually working. so what if's the senate been doing for the last three weeks pretty exactly that. taking a look at the committee by committee basis whether or not some ofgs the things we've already done are being effective. health education labor and pensions committee, they had the cdc, the nih to critical agencies when it comes to fighting the health emergency of this country, to determine and ask them questions about what is working, what is not working, what have we done and why should we be doing differently, what can we do. that was the hearing that they held last week. why participated in by members of both sides of the aisle. i said in the august committee and we've had se

heroes act that passed the house of representatives, three weeks that ended on the floor of the united states senate. with legislative activity you wonder if the leaders in the united states senate even realize we are facing a pandemic. we spent time on nomination after nomination, spend our time in hearings on friends and those who pass political muster who want lifetime appointment in federal court but somehow managed to miss the biggest story in america, the pandemic. i say to senator mcconnell and republican leadership we waste an opportunity, 3-week opportunity to move forward and particularly wasted this week when we could have taken up the measure the past the house of representatives, are we prepared to negotiate a compromise? of course, we've done that every time we brought a measure related to the pandemic. it should be bipartisan in the end but to say it is, quote, dead on arrival and there is no sense of urgency among the republicans in the senate to take of this measure is to ignore the obvious whether it is $1,200 payments, struggling to get by whether it is an increased period of time

we passed it, barely passed it by one vote in the united states senate with senator harry reid as the majority leader at the time. without any help, without any votes from the other side of the aisle. and what happened? in my state the number of uninsured was cut in half by this so-called obamacare. proudly i call it obamacare, the affordable care act. since then the other side of the aisle has been resolute in its determination to repeal it. not it replace it with anything that's better. they don't even have a relaysment. -- replacement. but to repeal it and to give up on our quest to make sure that every american has the peace of mind of the protection of health insurance, affordable, quality health insurance. so at the end of this health crisis, are we still going to hear the other side of the aisle argue that we shouldn't dedicate ourselves to reducing the number of uninsured? i hope they'll take the time as i have to talk to administrators and hospitals about what's happening in their emergency rooms and in their surgical suites, other places where they've had to address this cri

in companies built around telemedicine and tele health and some of that still state in the united states senate would have loved it i'm sure but it would have the opportunity to contribute in ways that regular citizens and business people in philanthropy. as an aside and you share with joe biden did you not. at dead of have we were on the foreign relations committee as majority leader during the time that he chaired that committee. what do you think of him and what do you think of his chance. joe had given an a plus to. do you know him very well i know his wife very well. traveled with his wife to africa and she wanted to learn more about africa when he was vice president. respects for his intellect i and a great respect i'm from the opposite party as you well know but joe would do well as president it will be interesting to see the election and as we all know elections in large part are determined by the economy and if you look over the last 110 years 10 times better we have not had a recession the president who is up for reelection would be reelected and of the times in the last 110 years if

he was the ranking member, but now since he's running for the united states senate, but he is joining us this morning, and we're thrilled to have him here. and, congressman, i want to tell you, the government is asking postal workers to go to work, and they're managinged to do it. but nancy pelosi doesn't seem to want congress to go back to work. what's up with that? >> oh, jason, you know this, she likes being in control. as long as she can keep us out of there, it's just leadership that makes decisions. when she can centralize leadership, then she centralizes the focus on her instead of the american people, instead of the agenda. speaker pelosi has made this more about her and her agenda than she has what the president -- the president's been leading. the president's leading from out front, him and the vice president, they're been doing what needs to be done. we need to come back in, but speaker pelosi likes to hold the control. that's what it seems like to us because there's no reason the house should not be beginning to

universities stealing our research they want to come up with a vaccine for covid-19 before the united states. >> -- senator can you hear me now rob portan. >> i can hear you now yes. >> hi senator trying to get you i have been [laughter] i think talking to myself here senator i want you to talk to us about how significant this issue is i had tom cotton on

simple fact of the matter is united states senate has not considered one piece of legislation on this floor relative to covid-19. not want it has reached the point where the press told me this morning that two republican senators are now complaining publicly that we have done nothing on covid-19 that we should not leave until we do. i think they should tell that because he decides what comes to the floor and he has decided last three weeks that nothing will come to the floor with the biggest issue in the modern history of h america the public health crisis over covid-19 listening to my friend from south dakota with the amount of money spent it is an amazing amount i'll be the first to concede almost $3 trillion so far. is the largest effort i can rememberut when it comes to a rescue or relief package but of course it comes at a time when we are facing the worst economic crisis in america for almost 100 years going back to the great depression. 38million uninsured americans one.5 million so far the united states lead the world when it comes to these infections calling the that we could

this beautiful little girl, javier's little girl, her fate is up to the united states senate and i want to wish her a happy birthday and my granddaughter's happy birthday. and javier's wife is a nurse and they worry, every, every, every day not to infect their baby daughter as they go to work to save other people. they still get up and go to work and care for their patients. i want to thank javier for his service, he is indeed a health care hero. he is an immigrant, health care hero. he puts himself and his family at risk in order to save american lives. he shouldn't have to worry about a decision across the street that the supreme court, which would deport him to a country he cannot even remember. we must do better. we are better than that as a country. to say that someone like javier, thank you for working so darn hard. thank you for getting through nursing school with highest grades. thank you for your professionalism, thank you for risking your life for america, but i'm sorry, buddy, you're undocumented, get out of this country. the bill that passed the house would protect him to th

because looking at the floor of the united states senate, you would never guess that we are in the middle of a national economic crisis. for three weeks, leader mcconnell has not scheduled any legislative business related to the coronavirus. senate republican leadership is not even discussing their response to covid 4 in the house. instead, this week, the republican leader has scheduled five right-wing judges for the floor of the senate. the republican chairman of the homeland security committee will hold a hearing tomorrow designed to slander the family of the president's political opponent, delving into a kremlin-concocted conspiracy theory that has no truth and fell over like a dud in the impeachment hearing, and last night, the chairman of the judiciary committee announced that his committee will soon consider subpoenas related to another conspiracy theory pushed by president trump, this time to try to rewrite the history of russian interference in the 2016 election to match the fantasy in president trump's head. and what does leader mcconnell devote most of his floor remarks to today

the house of representatives passed last week, and we did not even consider this week in the united states senate, this heroes act includes a provision to automatically extend work authorizations for daca recipients. when critics of that house action come to the floor and talk about all the benefits for undocumented people living in this country, this is what they're talking about. the extension of daca protection for thousands of essential workers in this country who are protected by daca. oh, it sounds like they're opening the doors for illegal people to come in here and get royal treatment in america. the opposite is true. these are people who are risking their lives, providing health care and essential services across america. the heroes act that passed in the house of representatives simply said we're not going to deport them for the rest of the calendar year. what a radical suggestion, that we could use their help, we need their help to the rest of the year. we certainly do. and those who come and mock this provision by saying it's just a giveaway to illegal immigrants are doing a disservic

we passedse it, barely passed it by one vote in the united states senate with senator harry reid as the majority leader at the time, without any help, without any votes from the other side of the aisle. and what happened? in my state the number of uninsured was cut in half by this so-called obamacare. probably, i called obamacare, the affordable care act. since then the other side of the aisle has been resolute in its determination to repeal it. not to replace it with anything that's better. they don't even have a replacement, but to repeal it and to give up on our quest to make sure that of the american has the peace of mine of the protection of health insurance, affordable, quality health insurance. so at the end of this health crisis are we still going to the other side of the aisle argue that we shouldn't dedicate ourselves to reducing the number of uninsured? i hope they will take the time as i have to talk to administrators and hospitals about what's happening in their emergency rooms, in their surgical suites and other places where they've had to address this crisis firsthand. on

protection so they would not be deported from the united states and work in the united states these are important people and i work with start senator graham on a bipartisan amendment six weeks ago to say the legal status in america would be respected at least through the end of this calendar year so they can be here without fear of deportation and that wasng stoppedco because the comment was there they go working dream act. yes i am.t. i'm still working on thes dream act. because out of 780,000 daca protect these 140,000 are in the healthcare field those in temporary protective status of the united states at least 11000 are we ready towh say publicly what some members say privately? let him leave. we don't need them. i will a say that. we know better thank goodness for theses, healthcare heroes those born in the united thstates for coming here to help us through this public health icare crisis immigration is an issue for the senate judiciary committee and with the rights of the covid-19 challenge what about profiteering is that an interesting issue for us to have a hearing on the senate judiciary committee violations of current law

schiff and i nadler and they house bill has the support of the united states senate. i talked to leaders -- i won't name them -- in the united states senate who were surprised the senate did not pass the house bill. but sent an extension because the house vote on bill. they sent it after we had left pass that and the intelligence community made do. fact, took up in the bill and what did they do? two people who spoke, mr. woodall, who . voted with the majority, with 2/3 of republicans who said is a s a good bill, this good bill for our country, for america's security and america's safety. mccarthy, as did mr. mr. thornberry, the ranking member on the armed did mr. committee, as rogers, the ranking member on security committee, as did ms. cheney, your onference chair, as did mr. ole, the chairman of the rules committee. ranking member. amen. now there were differences. as the speaker said, it's a controversial bill. my friend and mr. mcgovern are going to vote differently on this bill. i'm going to vote for it. he believes there are not enough protections in here. there

att enough that his nomination has become a priority from the united states senate. and it's interesting despite the career on the federal district court of less than six - eight months. despite the fact that no trial experience to take a job, majority leader senator mcconnell, once his man to be elevated to the second highest court in the land. the dc court of appeals. i don't understand it. certainly hard to argue that this is part of a response to a national health emergency in america. it has nothing to do with it. it is a political decision, clearly to levy this man of all of thedi members of the membersp across the nation, to be met next in line to be considered for the supreme court. i hopis seen a federal trial. that time he served in kentucky. i guess we'll find out on the hearing is been called for t wednesday of this week. so when the majority leader comes was sent have an important nominations the deals with national security. i'm o sorry, but judge walker is not one of them. but wehe have this affirmation hearing is a political decision for political adva

but enough that his nomination has become a priority for the united states senate. it's interesting, besides a, quote, career -- despite the fact that he had no trial experience to take that job, the majority leader, senator mcconnell, wants this man to be elevated to the second-highest court in the land, the d.c. court of appeals. i don't understand it. it's certainly hard to argue that this is part of a response to a national health emergency in america. it has nothing to do with it. it is a political decision to clearly elevate this man of all the members of the federal district court bench across the nation, to be next in line to be considered for the supreme court. i hope he's seen a federal trial in the time that he served on the district court in kentucky. i guess we'll find out on the hearing that's been called for wednesday of this week. so when the majority leader comes to us and says we have important nominations that deal with national security, i'm sorry but judge walker is not one of them. what we have in his confirmation hearing is a political decision

charade that is beneath this committee and the united states senate. >> senator harris?hairman, this committee has the responsibility, dare i say the duty, to investigate threats against the homeland and watch over how the federal government is preparing to respond to them. this clearly includes how government agencies are addressing covid-19. for which we have oversight jurisdiction and a duty of oversight include fema, which is tasked to coordinate and lead the entire government response including procuring testing material, distributing ppe, and ensuring the public is accurate information about the virus. ice which isdes responsible for protecting the health and safety of those in its custody. oversight and duty of oversight includes the office of personnel management, which is responsible for federal workers and their benefit, many of whom are on the frontlines and do not have the option to telework. our responsibilities include the united states postal service, which has become an even more vital resource during this time by ensuring that people have access to essen

dollars in the pipeline, after the resources that have been expended, madam president, by the united states senate, united states house, and signed into law by the president. and so it seems logical, i would think, for us as stewards of the tax dollars, as representatives of the people of this country, as policymakers, to make sure that the policies that we're putting into place are having the desired effect or actually working. so what has the senate been doing for the past three weeks? well, exactly that. taking a look on a committee-by-committee basis at whether or not some of the things that we've already done are being effective. the health, education, labor, and pensions committee had in the head of the c.d.c., the head of the n.i.h., two critical agencies when it comes to fighting the health emergency of this country, to determine and to ask them questions about what's working, what's not working, what have we done, what should we be doing differently, what can we do. that is a hearing that the health, education, labor, and pensions committee had last week widely participated in by members

joinings now for the interview tonight is the top democrat in the united states senate new york senior senator chuck schumer. thank you for taking the time to be here tonight. >> good evening, rachel. >> let me ask you first about what i just mentioned there. this white house notification today that members of the administration's coronavirus task force won't be allowed to testify at any time this entire month unless the white house chief of staff gives a permission slip. it's to me, it strikes me as a strange sort of proclamation, i wonder if this is something you expected, or if this is a surprise to you. >> well, it's not surprising, because donald trump and his administration, by and large, have just shied away from the truth. they don't want to admit the reality. president trump said a month ago, every american who wants a test can get a test. well, obviously, that is not even close to true. and you know, rachel, the longer they don't admit the truth, they don't, and the longer they don't admit to, listen to the scientists, the longer this crisis is going to last. and even worse,

schiff and i nadler and they house bill has the support of the united states senate. i talked to leaders -- i won't name them -- in the united states senate who were surprised the senate did not pass the house bill. but sent an extension because the house vote on bill. they sent it after we had left pass that and the intelligence community made do. fact, took up in the bill and what did they do? two people who spoke, mr. woodall, who . voted with the majority, with 2/3 of republicans who said is a s a good bill, this good bill for our country, for america's security and america's safety. mccarthy, as did mr. mr. thornberry, the ranking member on the armed did mr. committee, as rogers, the ranking member on security committee, as did ms. cheney, your onference chair, as did mr. ole, the chairman of the rules committee. ranking member. amen. now there were differences. as the speaker said, it's a controversial bill. my friend and mr. mcgovern are going to vote differently on this bill. i'm going to vote for it. he believes there are not enough protections in here. there

that the senate agreed to relative to the death of the honorable thomas allen coburn, former united states senatoror the state of oklahoma, senate resolution 583, signed, sincerely, robert f. reeves, deputy clerk. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant clause 4 of rule 1, the following enrolled bills were signed by the speaker on tuesday, may, may 19, 2020. the clerk: h.r. 943 and house joint resolution 76. the speaker pro tempore: the chair lays before the house the following communication. the clerk: the honorable the speaker, house of representatives, madam, pursuant to section 1-a of house resolution 965, following consultation with the office of attending physician, i write to notify you of an ongoing public health emergency due to a novel coronavirus. the public health emergency in effect is caused by the novel coronavirus, sars, could he develop cov-2. signed, sincerely, paul d. irving, sergeant at arms. the speaker pro tempore: the chair announces the speaker's designation on may 20, 2020 of a covered period pursuant to section 1-a of house resolution 965. without objection, the veto message on

here we are in the united states senate. we're voting on all of these judges. we should be focused on the issue of the coronavirus the house passed, hero's act. there's a lot more to be done. if we're going to effectively implement the c.a.r.e.s. act and all of this legislation, we're going to need oversight. we're going to need to make sure there's transparency and accountability. so it would help to have the cooperation of the administration in that. if they don't cooperate, it's up to the united states senate to do its job and hold them accountable. but unfortunately, we haven't seen much of that out of the republican majority here. >> secretary pompeo has a weekly news briefing but only took four questions today. thank you very much. thank you, chris van hollen, senator van hollen. >> thank you. >>> coming up -- more children are being examinationed with the mysterious illness linked to covid-19. how doctors are working together to try to find treatment. >>> and several universities announcing they plan to have in-person classes this fall. what will life on

this deadly coronavirus does not take days off and so the united states senate has not either. for more than a month we were among the many americans who have found creativity ways to telework and continue doing our jobs remotely, but now the time has come for us to continue conducting our nation's business in ways that are only possible with senators here in the capital. and so, for this work period, the senate will shift out of the ranks of those americans who are working remotely, and into the ranks of americans working in essential sectors, who are listening to expert guidance and modifying their routines and ultimately continue to man their posts to keep their country running. if it's essential, they're brave health care workers, grocery store workers, truck drivers and many other americans carefully show up to work, then it's essential that their u.s. senators carefully show up ourselves and support them. i want to thing thank the dedicated men and women working for solutions so the senate can take these careful steps back toward in-person operations. dr. brian monahan an

history was being debated and then passed right here on the floor of the united states senate. alaska was a wide, open space that wanted the energy of my generation, sharon said, and she got to it. she got to work. she worked at the department of natural resources, an agency that i had the honor of being the former commissioner of. she worked for the joint federal-state land use planning commission for alaska, inventorring the -- inventorying the abundant natural resources we have in our state. and she sand a girlfriend traveled the world for a year and landed at the end of her tour in d.c. she was young, broke, on a friend's couch, and she came here and asked for and got a job with former alaska u.s. senator mike gravel. some might remember him here in the senate. she worked on natural resources for him. eventually she made her way back home to alaska, met her husband, an air force anecessary they'llologist, james frazer, who made his way into private practice. sharon helped run the office, and they had two wonderful children, grant and victoria. so who is grant frazer, her so

hearing we saw in the united states senate was the united states senate was the first chance for severalals in the administration to talk to congress about the response over the last two months and as we've heard, dr fauci in particular was not sugarcoating the realities of what would happen if america rushes to reopen and it was worth open —— noting there was a fundamental irony with this hearing is that many senators were testifying remotely, for trump administration officials had to do so by videoconference because they'd recently been exposed to someone who tested positive for covid—19, the same for the chairman who oversees healthcare issues. they held a hearing about whether the country more broadly can be up and running and there was some conversations which were diverted as you would expect members of different political parties in terms of testing capacity, what benchmarks the country in various states need to all we can refer ——go back to all we can refer ——go back to what life was like for. as i understand it, the economy is very important, innocence, the economy may have to t

united states. it is a very moving piece. those are all very prominent senators. i knew several of them and work with them. they look much younger, but they are really earnest about what they are saying. there were very convincing to the television audiences. they had to fight to get that television program in the first place. they made the most of it. >> article one, section eight of the constitution reads as follows. " congress shall have power to raise and support armies but no appropriation of money to that use shall be for a longer term than two years." >> our amendment to end the war fulfilled the obligations that we have under the constitution. >> the mcgovern-hatfield amendment, it was sometimes referred to. who were they and what would this really have done if it passed? >> to back up just a little bit, the president of the united states, richard nixon, had announced in november, 1969 the program to remove american troops from vietnam. the thought at that point was that maybe this was the end of the war, this was cooling down. it was good for me. i was a

we have aggressive's and a dented states -- the united states senate. what you need to bring into the cabinet is not only people who want the progressive ideology but people who have the experience of interacting with working-class people who understand that now is the time to tell the billionaire class, to tell the 1% that this economy is going to change. that it cannot be based on greed and selfishness. that we need to create a cooperative economy were all of our people do well. not just the people on top shade >> have you given him the same kind of advice on a running mate? sen. sanders: i really have not. that is an issue i have stayed away from. >> why? sen. sanders: that is an issue he is going to have to make. somebody he trusts. when you are picking a running make, that is a personal decision. it is not just an ideological decision. he is who he is. he will have to make a decision picking somebody who he is comparable with. what i have been talking to him about very strongly is the need not to thevigorously moment we are in. we are hearing the p

senate is focused on. we will work on this with the president of the united states. tos such a stark contrast between what we see on the house, what we see from washington democrats on one hand, and a serious conversation that are occurring between this republican-controlled senate and the president of the united states. i hope we can come to terms as quickly as possible and on behalf of the american people at a time when they are unified, we need to unify in the senate and to deliver to the american people. >> on friday night the president fired several of them in the last month. do you have any concern about the president getting rid of these? mcconnell: he is certainly within his authority. in the executive branch to get stuff higher or fire. as i said, he has the full authority to hire and fire anybody in the executive branch. >> does that come up with the firings? , didt come up in the lunch he talk about the firings? sen. mcconnell: we talked about a whole variety of different things. all of which are important, in terms of moving forward. mainly we focused on t

correa: of the united states -- welcome to the full-sized replica of the united states senate. historian of a early america who practices scholarly history, public history, and digital humanities. she is the digital projects editor at the institute of early american history and culture at the university of william and mary in williamsburg, virginia. she is the creator and host of the popular history podcast. --rly 300 episodes i believe ben franklin's world. stephen fried is a best-selling -- and ap of columbia professor at the university of pennsylvania and columbia. his book is an autobiography of one of the signers of the declaration, benjamin rush. it was published september 2018 and was a finalist for the 2019 george washington book prize. a two-time winner of the national magazine award, he has written for vanity fair, gq, the washington post magazine, rolling stone, glamour, ladies home journal, and philadelphia magazine. [laughter] is the series editor for the papers of john adams, part of the adams papers editorial project in the building not too far away at the massac

life can and will take many turns. 14 years ago, i was in my 12th year in the united states senate. i loved it. i thought i was pretty good at it. 2006, i lost my race for reelection. the day after that election, i called miami's president and asked him if i might come here and teach. amazingly, he said yes. i loved it. the best part was the interaction that i had with my students. learnedhe same time, we that my father's pancreatic cancer had returned and he was going to die. ohio, iwe were back in was able to spend time with both my parents in their final months. time that i never would have had with them had i still been working in washington. later, in an age when most people would have happily retired and many people thought that i should have, some still do, iran for office again. i won. more from your losses, from your mistakes, from your failures than from all your successes. as i make some of the toughest decisions of my life in dealing with this terrible virus each and every day, as we work to get our economy moving and protect our citizens, i try to remember what i've lea

president, there can be node doubt this will be one of the strangest sessions of the united states senate in modern history. our offices will be empty, and staff workingot from home senate democrats will not hold regular caucus meetings in person the teleconference anyone who comes to the well to speak will wipe down the microphone with disinfectant and on the cab of on the way home it will not do what comes so naturally to every public official to shaken hands. the american people are expecting us to do our jobs. it address the issues that really matter. we cannot and must not merely go back to business as usual in the senate. it is not business as usual in the country. leader mcconnell must hear this. right now leader mcconnell and the majority should show with the partisan and divisive headlines let's focus on working together, to heal the sick, heal the unemployed and stabilize the economy to make sure the administration properly executes the laws we pass so we can prepare our country for the day when we finally, god willing return to normal. i yield the floor and noticed the absence

you say to them and what is the possibility of striking a compromise with this bill with the united states senate and the white house. >> yeah. well, of course. that's what we put down what we think this country needs. it isn't about politics. it's about humanity. whether they have to pause the out of work anger and pain that people are feeling. this is a time for us to really have a strategic plan to test trace, treat, and isolate. a strategic plan and doing so, to do so that will open our economy scientifically and instead of helter skelter. we're long overdue. our first bill in the house, bipartisan, march 4th, testing, testing, testing. they really didn't do it. our most recent bill, $26 billion for testing, we still don't see the strategic plan that is called for there. this isn't -- again, this isn't partisanship, this is science, this is humanity, this is about the family of america caring for each other. sensitive to everyone's concerns but also determined to get rid of this very resourceful virus is taking, as you have shown this morning, some ugly, even uglier terms. it's a big ticket.

but clearly he has an intimidating and in fact not only on his butt on the entire united states senate the republican leadership there what we need now is a call for morality and a call for science and how do you open up the economy in a way that is safe that is the question that we have to be debating. >> what should the role of billionaires be in this crisis? >> i think as a nation we have got to ask ourselves whether we are satisfied with an economy in which we have seen in recent years the billionaire class become much, much richer while we have a half a million people today, robert, who are homeless who are sleeping in shelters. when we have a dysfunctional child care system that we have in many parts of the country public education that is failing the children so the issue is not just the billionaires but the issue is the nature of the economy in which three people own wealth than the bottom half of society and it goes to the top 1% so i would hope that in the midst of this unprecedented crisis of whether we are havingable with so few so much and so many having so little that whe