/coronavirus. c-span.org/coronavirus. >> the u.s. senate is back in session today to work on the nomination of texas congressman john ratcliffe to be the next director of intelligence and and votes throughout the day. live coverage of the u.s. senate now here on c-span2. the president pro tempore: the senate will come to order. the chaplain, dr. black, will open the senate in prayer. the chaplain: let us pray. lord of our lives, make these moments of prayer more than mere words, but may this reverent pause fill our hearts with gratitude and love for you. may our lawmakers appreciate the fact that through prayer, they have the privilege of talking to you, the superintendent of the universe. lord, inspire them to use this intercessory opportunity to seek your wisdom and guidance, knowing that you are eager to help them. give us all the wisdom to remember that you continue to be our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble. and lord, as we approach memoriamemorial day, thank you e men and women who gave their lives for this nation while serving in the united sta

senate will first continue to fill critical vacancies in the executive branch. this week we confront a new director of national intelligence in just a moment we will confirm a new secretary of the navy. but her democratic colleagues would not let the senate bill seller more post over at the pentagon. so, has sadly become the norm over the last three years, the senate will be spending floor time and multiple rollcall votes on each of the following. an assistant secretary of defense the under secretary of defense, if you can believe this, alf file a closure of the incoming inspector general for the pandemic recovery. mr. president if we had aad nickel, a nickel for every democratic colleagues have claimed congressional oversight of the recovery programs was important, the cares act would have paid for itself. and yet, democrats blocked the confirmation of this inspector general to look over the programs this week. so the senate will prepare to confirm these qualified people the hard way. three years and counting of democratic heel dragging continues. have course that will be plenty of

brief explanation of how it will work will benefit senators and the public. the hearing room has been configured to maintain the recommended 6 foot social distancing between senators. nominees, and other individuals in the room necessary to operate the hearing, which would have kept to a minimum. a number of senators have chosen to use secure video teleconference technology which will allow them to remotely participate. for those joining by videoconference, once you start speaking they will be a slight delay before you are displayed on the main screen. to minimize that ground noise, we ask senators who are using the videoconference option to please click the mute button until it is your turn to ask questions. if there is a technology issue, we will move to the next senator until that issue is resolved. i remind all senators and the nominees that the five-minute clock still applies. for senators using the video option, you'll notice a screen labeled clock that will show how much time is remaining. at about 30 seconds remaining i will gently tap the gavel to remind senators that th

. every one of my senate colleagues should be proud of how we have helped our nation isth this battle predicted they are concerned right views -- rescue packages sent out money and aid but everyday we are working ways to smooth the road toward reopening that lies before us. the american people have been heroes with senators to stand with him. said madam madam president one unfortunate side effect of the covid-19 pandemic is that we have become accustomed to the grim statistics. the united states now leads the world in the number of confirmed cases of the coronavirus with more than 1.5 million. another 2.4 million workers filed jobless claims this week, joining more than 38 elliott americans who have applied for unemployment since the crisis began. very soon our country will reach another grim milestone. we are fast approaching the day when elves -- 1 million american lives have been lost to covid-19 comes the size of a small city erased from the map for pelosi and i sent a letter to president trump this morning requesting that the american flag be flown at half mast on all publ

after extending the spring recess because of the coronavirus pandemic. next, remarks by senate leaders on the impact the virus is having on their states and the rest of the country. >> let us pray, oh god of our salvation, deliver us from fear, your might and majesty continue to bring us peace in spite of the challenges we face. lord, we can meet these challenges with your power that transcends human understanding. when you whisper dangers flee into the darkness, the sound of your footsteps causes tribulations to hide. almighty god, permit our lawmakers to be aware of your providential guidance. may they depend on you to lead them according to your will. give them the wisdom to trust you when they can't see the road before them. believing that you will be their light in the darkness. would he -- we pray in your great name, amen. >> would you please join me in the pledge of allegiance to the flag. >> i pledge of allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. >> mr

chaired by senator rob portman. >> i hope everyone is staying safe and healthy during these unprecedented times. it's certainly an unusual time. overnight is coronavirus seems to have change our way of life is anyways. is this is our shuttered and millions of americans are teleworking for the first time. churches and schools are closed. healthcare workers are working around the clock and just in the last five weeks race on the numbers i sawks this might look like nearly 30 million americans filed for unemployment. most believe we're already approaching the highest percentage of unemployed since the greatye depression. now more than ever americans need to know that their leaders are working for them, and that they have voices as work to navigate in this pandemic. in a world where it's no longer safe to be within six feet of each other, congress has to learn to adapt. now the first time we've need to ensure the continuity of congress. for example, with the nuclear threat during the cold war, u.s. government constructed a large bunkerrn for congress so we woud be required to me

decades of senators have gotten information we need because of you. some people spend their whole careers wondering if they have ee difference. you have not needed to ask that for almost 40 years. and you will never need to ask is again. so mike, we will miss you. but old habits die hard and we simply aren't willing to sever all ties so this morning, the senate will officially designate mike senate securities director. the office first ever director will become his first ever director americans. don't worry mike, your new job description will just be a little bit lighter. if i have the biggest mystery they have to tackle for a while is whether to play nine holes on saturday rfid and 18.ne holes on the senate and your country thank you for everything you have done. >> the senate banking committee this morning will give testimony from secretary and the federal reserve chairman help about the economic distress caused by the covid-19 pandemic. this testimony on the secretary and the chairman of the fed is one of the requirements the senate democrats have secured an estate care is acti

secured on autopilot because another crisis has our attention. the senate can, will, and must continue to pay attention to both. >> mr. president, americans want their privacy protected. for far too long the patriot act and the foreign intelligence surveillance act, referred to as fisa, have been used to trample the civil liberties of american citizens. for montanans, the right to privacy is so fundamental it is enshrined in our own constitution. in fact, very few states have such protections, but the drafters of the montana constitution recognized that privacy was essential to exercise all of the of the freedoms that we hold so dear. the bill the u.s. house does have some good reforms. it has some provisions in it, including a provision from my bipartisan bill with my colleague from oregon, senator wyden, called the safeguarding americans private records act, which would revoke the now terminated call detail program which secretly collected data on our cell phones, our land lines, as well as private conversations. but the house bill fails to enact real reforms to fisa that wi

under god, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. >> permission to address the senate for one minute. >> without objection. >> americans from coast to coast hunkered down to stop the spread of the virus. office workers including my staff here adapted to work from home but not all americans can do their job from home. many must work away from home to provide essential services for the communities. i am talking about workers that harvest, process and deliver our food. those that provide sanitation services and keep communicatio communications, transportation and energy grades running around-the-clock. america's postal workers and truck drivers that deliver mail and transfer goods across the country. the grocery store clerks and factory workers who make toilet paper, diapers and consumer products we cannot live without. i think the frontline workers who are on the job working away from home in the line of duty, thank you all for your service and sacrifice. i yield the floor. >> the senate is back in session. in this unusual pure code for the nation it's been more than five weeks

to the introduction. i will defer to senator feinstein if she was to seining first. senator feinstein: thank you very much. today we will hear from cory wilson, nominated to a mississippi seat on the fifth circuit court of appeals. as i stated during the nomination hearing for the district court in january, i am interested in judge wilson's views on a number of issues including health care, voting rights, women's reproductive rights, gun safety and the rights of lgbt americans. his record of opposition to the affordable care act is troubling, particularly because we are concerned with covid-19. i hope people straighten us out on that. it has been reported judge wilson has a commitment to undermining the affordable care act. he has called the aca's passage illegitimate. i would like him to flush that out for us as well. and encouraging the supreme court to overturn the aca he said this, "for the sake of the constitution, i hope the court strikes down the law." i think that too we need to better understand. he has a troubling record on voting rights. according to a letter from the "oppo

the disease. it's not cookie-cutter followed. >> senator, i must have been misunderstood. when i was talking about differences, i was thinking of the difference between an elementary school, a high school, a college, in terms of -- a trade school. there may be differences in how you integrate a testing strategy. i do think having a testing strategy with different options for people to evaluate based on different principles will be important in terms of guidance. >> dr. fauci, you persuasively argue that the risk of reopening prematurely is great. but i think the frustration, of children in particular, the risk and ratio of a child being at home, potentially away from enhanced nutrition, without the parent able to work because school-provided day care, without the monitoring that sometimes occurs for instances such as child abuse, but perhaps most importantly, for all children, the opportunity cost of a brain which is forming not having access to the information that would help that brain form optimally. has there been any sort of risk-benefit ratio for the child? yes, they are at ris

at 7:00 eastern sunday morning. join the discussion. the senate banking committee held a confirmation hearing for brian miller to be the special inspector general for the treasury department pandemic recovery funds and dana waits to be the federal housing commissioner and hud assistant secretary for housing. question mr.nators miller about his role as associate counsel to president trump and his ability to be independent of the white house if confirmed. the committee followed social distancing guidelines and many senators took part remotely by videoconference. >> this hearing will come to order. since this is our first hybrid hearing, a brief explanation of how it will work will benefit senators in the public. the hearing room has been configured to maintain the recommended six-foot social distancing between senators. nominees, and other individuals in the room necessary to operate the hearing, which we have kept to a minimum. a number of senators have chosen to use secure video teleconference technology, which will allow them to remotely participate. for those joining by

coronavirus pandemic continues to challenge our nation in the senate is here working for the american people. our committee; leaders like powell to discuss the cares act and a path towards reopening. we are tracking the effects of the largest rescue package ever. and are considering the next steps like strong legal protections of the doctors and small businesses, schoolteachers and universities do not face a second epidemic of frivolous lawsuits . in the senate is also on top of other threats, predated covid-19. the meddling of russia. the brutal communist party. rogue states like iran and north korea. foreign terrorists such as isis. two weeks ago we overwhelmingly confirmed and impressivelyel different national counterintelligence and security center. and acting as renounced will play a central role in briefing candidates and campaigns on foreign threats against our elections. today our callings on the intelligence committee now led by acting chairman rubio, will report out the nominee to be the next director of national intelligence. and last week have essential tools that we need

matter. we cannot, cannot and must not merely go back to business as usual here in the senate. it is not business as usual out in our country. leader mcconnell must hear this. right now, leader mcconnell and the republican majority should shelve the divisive judicial fights and the partisan red lines. let's focus on working together to heal the sick, employ the economy, and making sure the administration properly executes the laws we pass so that we can prepare our country for the day when we will finally, god the presiding officer: the assistant democratic leader. mr. durbin: i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: i learned the et quit of the -- etiquette of the mask. mr. president, i listened carefully to the remarks of the republican majority leader. he spoke about the reconvening of the senate this day and he talked about the work we achieved a few weeks ago passing the cares act. $2.2 trillion in rescue funds for america 96-0, and by a voice vote we passed $$48 million more. almost $$2.7 trillion. that is a

ground. every one of my senate colleagues should be proud of how we've helped our nation win this battle. every day our historic rescue package has continued to push out money and aid. every day we're working on ways to smooth the road toward reopening that lies before us. the american people have already been heroes. it's our honor as senators lead. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: now you madam president, one side effect of the covid-19 pandemic is that we've become accustomed to grim statistics. the united states now leads the world in the number of confirmed cases of cases with more nan 1.5 million. another 2.5 million workers filed jobless claims in week joining the more than 38 million americans who have applied for unemployment assistance since the crisis began. very soon our country will reach another grim milestone. we are fast approaching the day when more than 100,000 american lives who have been lost to covid-19, the size of a small city erased from the map p senator pelosi a

committee to approve his nomination. i look forward to confirm him soon here on the senate floor.he dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: now, mr. president, the senate is here, open for business. the janitors and food service workers, the police officers, and all the staff that operate the floor are here. they're all here. capitol police are doing their usual excellent job. the republican leader called us back despite the obvious health risks, but we are ready to do the business our country demands. so there's a question that loom? why isn't the senate focused on responding to the covid-19 pandemic? there hasn't been a single vote here on the senate floor related to coronavirus, not even a nominee related to coronavirus. rather than focusing on covid-19 with laser-like intensity, the senate judiciary committee today will waste precious time on the nomination of leader mcconnell's protege, justin walker, to serve on the d.c. court of appeals, the second most powerful court in the country. mr. walker is a 37-year-old federalist society disciple who ha

capabilities amid the coronavirus pandemic. the senate commerce committee heard from officials of telecommunications and broadband companies on additional funding needed for rural and tribal communities and better tools for students and teachers. a halfaring is two and hours. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2020] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] >> this hearing will come to water. welcome, welcome. today the committee convenes to broadband during the covid-19 pandemic. i extend my appreciation for my colleagues attentions -- attendance and participation. i welcome our distinguished panel of witnesses. mr.y we will hear from stephen barry, president and chief executive officer of the competitive cares organization and the chief executive officer of the rural broadband association. mr. gene kimmelman, senior advisor on public knowledge, who will be appearing, testifying remotely. jonathan spalter, of u.s.t and ceo broad,. covid-19 crisis has changed life dramati

7:00 eastern on monday morning. join the discussion. >> now, the senate judiciary committee holds a confirmation hearing on the nomination of judge justin walker to serve on the u.s. court of appeals for the district of columbia circuit. he was questioned on his judicial experience as well as past criticisms of the supreme court's 2012 health care law decision. this is two and a half hours. the hearing will come to order. - - order. this is a meeting room set up differently to deal with the reality we all face as a nation trying to practice social distancing and good hygiene. thank you for coming everybody has disinfected they can use. we have spaced out the room to be as safe as possible for my staff and minority staff , thank you for working together to set up the room. it has been 40 something days since the senate has been able to meet the committee has a lot to do related to the coronavirus but we also have things that are necessary like filling judicial vacancies we are getting comments throughout the country about the vacancies and how they are impacting the ability to delive

bottom of it so we can assure that it never ever happens again. madam a senator: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from maryland. mr. cardin: thank you, madam president. each person in this body recognizes the importance of small business to our economy, to our way of life. small businesses are called the job creator in our economy. they create more jobs than larger companies. they provide innovative ways in order to move forward on our economy. they can figure out better ways to do things more efficiently and more -- meeting the needs of the people of our community. but they're also more vulnerable. they don't have access to the type of capital that larger companies have. they don't have the resiliency. so when covid-19 struck, we recognized, those of us in the senate and the house, recognized that we had to take special effort to protect the economic viability of the small businesses in our country. they did not have the reserve capital. they did not have the resiliency in order to deal with this prolonged downturn in our economy. eight weeks ago we came toget

business as usual in d.c. he was one of the greatest senators, most effective problem solvers, and most importantly, a conservative voice of our time, the great outsider. i yield the floor. >> with the federal government at work in d.c. and throughout the country, use the congressional directory for contact information for members of congress, governors and federal agencies. order your copy on-line today at c-span store.org. >> and live now to the u.s. senate where lawmakers shortly will be working on the nomination of scott rasch to be u.s. district court judge for the district of arizona and also the nomination of james trainer to be a commissioner on the federal election commission. live coverage. u.s. senate here on c-span2. the president pro tempore: the senate will come to order. the chaplain, dr. black, will lead the senate in prayer. the chaplain: let us pray. god of our destiny, you have watched over us from generation to generation. may our lawmakers trust your faithfulness during this challenging season of our nation's history. lord, inspire them to recall how you have s

authorities are currently sitting expired and unusable. in sum, while the senate continues overseeing the national response to the coronavirus crisis, we're also making sure the pandemic does not inflict even greater harm by distracting us from other threats and challenges that preceded it. off the floor, our committees are working through a number of pressing national security nominations from the director of national intelligence to the secretary of the navy to other high openings at the pentagon. when the time comes, i hope we will be able to fill these crucial openings promptly through a bipartisan cooperation here on the floor. i hope our democratic colleagues think carefully before applying reflexive partisan delays, even to the vital security positions during a global emergency. we cannot put homeland security on auto pilot because another crisis has our attention. the senate can, will, and must continue to pay attention to both.the presiding officer: the senator from montana. mr. daines: mr. president, americans want their privacy protected. for far too long the pat

up the room. it has been 40 something days since the senate has been able to meet the committee has a lot to do related to the coronavirus but we also have things that are necessary like filling judicial vacancies we are getting comments throughout the country about the vacancies and how they are impacting the ability to deliver justice in various states that we will be as part to that as we can. my democratic colleagues are requesting hearings state and federal and detention centers and for immigration purposes we will try to work together to have those hearings i am curious myself about our nation's prisons and immigration detention centers so we are working as quickly as we can hopefully we will have a hearing about liability issues related to the virus and what we can do as the congress to safely open the country to minimize legal exposure for those who are trying to reopen the american economy. that's an important topic for me and many others here. today we will deal with a vacancy at the dc circuit court. judge walker from kentucky has been nominated by the president to fill thi

law set to expire this coming friday, when the senate returns at 3:00 p.m. eastern, live coverage right here on c-span2. >> democratic senators amy klobuchar of minnesota and oregon ron wyden discussed voting amid the rotavirus pandemic over the next hour they talk about voting by mail and what congress needs to do to make it nationwide. >> great, thank you all and welcome, those of you who are joining us by zoom and those on facebook live. for nearly 50 years we have been holding power accountable through lobbying, litigation, organizing and whether state chapters and one point to million members have helped past hundreds of reforms at the national state and local level. thank you to everyone for joining this evening's webinar, tonight we have two special guest senator ron wyden from oregon and senator amy klobuchar of minnesota, two of the biggest voting champions in the senate to talk about the challenges we face during the pandemic around voting. after a discussion with the senators we will be talking with alayna who is the director of state operations and ballot measure under

combat, later as a councilman in a small town in pennsylvania, as a senate staffer to arlen specter, and most recently, as u.s. ambassador, i dedicated my life to the motto of our navy, honor, courage, commitment. those are not merely words to me or a slogan, those are the guide stars by which i have lived my life. june 6, 1994. 14 years later, the 50th anniversary of the landings at the day, i stood on the beach at normandy with my aging father. he had been a young private in the first wave. the third landing craft touched the sand that morning in 1944. my father, like most of his generation, did not talk much about that day, but as we stood there, he recounted how he had come ashore off the boat that don, watching his friends drop to his left and right. i asked him, among all the chaos and death that morning, how he was able to go on. he replied, it was my duty. he would be himself severely wounded, shot in the head in his service to our nation. served tobnegation is reinforce, in my heart, my head, and my soul, honor, courage, and commitment. on the 75th anniversary of the same l

-- not cookie cutter but certainly a pattern which could be followed. >> senator, i must have been misunderstood. when i was talking about differences, i was thinking about the difference between an elementary school, high school, college in terms of how at trade school there may be differences in how you integrate a testing strategy but i do think having a testing strategy with different options for people to evaluate on different principles will be important for guidance. >> dr. fauci, you persuasively argue that the risk of reopening prematurely is great. but i think the frustration -- if i think of children in particular, the benefit/risk ratio for a child because of school and die care and without monitor that sometimes occurs from perhaps child abuse but most importantly for all children the opportunity cost of a brain which is forming and not having access to the information that will help that brain form optimally. now, has there been any kind of risk/benefit ratio for the child? yes, they're at risk for kawasaki's but particular risk for missing out of a year of education,

country lost a great statesman and my fellow squealer, former senator tom coburn of oklahoma. a family physician who delivered more than 4,000 babies, he was known as dr. tom in oklahoma. but in washington, he was called dr. no because of his fierce opposition to adding more red ink to the national debt. having served just 10 years in the senate before retiring in 2014, the year i was elected, i never had the honor to serve alongside dr. coburn. nonetheless, his leadership and his efforts to eliminate government waste and overreach continues to be an inspiration to me and to many others. if you cannot find waste in any part of the federal budget, he once commented, it can only be for one reason, you haven't looked. many of the outlandish examples he exposed are now what i like to call legendary. take, for example, the shrimp on a treadmill, and of course, there was the bridge to nowhere. every federal agency in washington feared the notoriety of being called out in dr. coburn's annual report of government excess known as waste book. he led the fight that ended congressional earmarks be

this morning the senate will officially designate mike as senate securities director emeritus. the officers first ever director will become its first ever director emeritus. but don't worry, mike, your new job description will just be a little. bit lighter. i hope the biggest mystery you have to tackle for while is whether to play nine holes on saturday, or fit in 18. the senate and your country thanks you for everything you've done. >> okay. committee this morning will hear testimony from secretary mnuchin and federal reserve chairman powell about the economic9 distress caused by the covid-19 pandemic. this testimony from the the fed is one of the requirements that senate democrats secured in the cares act, and we've been pushing for it to happen for several weeks. the fact that it's taken so long is once again one more indication that our republican senate colleagues are not focused on the covid crisis, but on other diversionary issues,ec witness leader mcconnell speech which i will have some to say but a few minutes. it could be more urgent thate they are testifying here covid-1

proposal? >> yes, we will look at that, senator. i will say that what we are trying to do is address liquidity. notwithstanding that, we are taking a look. >> i appreciate that. in a speech last week, you said "additional fiscal support could be costly, worth it if it helps avoid long-term economic damage and leaves us with a stronger recovery." the trade-off is elected representatives. and i agree. he hit to our states and counties is tremendous and not just in my state of new jersey. projections released reveal that every state in the nation is already or will soon face historic budget shortfalls. a few examples, they found that ohio and arizona are each facing a fiscal shock totaling 20% of their entire state budget. for some states, the numbers are worse like west virginia which is facing a 40% fiscal shock. the fed cannot be expected to solve all of our problems. yesterday i introduced smart act, a bipartisan, three republicans and three democrats who provide money in direct support to state and local governments. it is the first bipartisan bill of its kind. i think when we have

surprise some people that we're in the area on foreign policy on the senate agenda this week because in this dangerous world that we live in, we all know the first thing you look for is the danger at the doorstep and our danger is, of course, a national emergency, as president trump as characterized it, a public health crisis, the covid-19 coronavirus threat to the united states and all of our families. many of us who came back to washington this week were weary because we had been warned to stay in our homes as long as possible, stay out of circulation, not to gather in workplaces unless absolutely necessary, and all of us thought if we were going to return, we hoped the priority would be this looming crisis in america, this public health crisis, but, sadly, as we bring this week's legislative activity to a close, little, if anything, has been said or done on the senate floor or in committee to address the judiciary of the moment. what are we going to do to protect americans and their families? senator mcconnell brought us back for a hearing for one of his favorite judges, a federal ju

moving through the senate has a number of institutional hurdles to hear, subcommittee, committee, leadership and coburn. it is that last one you won't find in a textbook. the staff are devoted to the cause not necessarily because of him but because of the mission. what if his former staffers wrote this after doctor coburn past, he said we all her a lot of amendments, we lost a lot of votes. we highlight a lot of wasteful spending and helped a lot of people and over time we started changing how business was done. bills that added new spending couldn't pass, duplication became part of the mexican. the practice of earmarking went away, paying attention to waste. this was one of the high profile reports out of washington each year. over the years doctor coburn and his team highlighted trillions in questionable spending, any spending that proved to be classic federal wastefulness, duplicate of, fraudulent or purely ineffective likely made the list, the wasteful became an annual rallying cry for taxpayers frustrated by washington spending habits, phrases that are common in political co

. that's why i'm reserved in making broad predictions. >> thank you, senator paul. >> thank you. i want to cover a lot of territory in my five minutes. i would certainly be appreciative of concise answers. i want to start with dr. redfield. dr. redfield, the current testitest ing protocols at the white house presents a model for other essential work places. >> i'm sorry, senator, you broke up at the beginning of your question. if you could just say it again. i'm sorry. >> yes, dr. redfield, do you think that the testing protocols currently in place in the white house present a model for other essential work places. >> well, thank you for the question. i think one of the important things you bring up is the essential worker guidance the cdc put out and i think it was originally modeled on health care workers where there was significant shortages. >> i'm asking if you think the white house protocol testing are a model for other essential work places. >> i would say i think each work place has to define their own approach how to operationalize. >> had some considerable comment on the

. you.ank carper. senator carper: mr. chairman, delaware is right in he middle of a lot of busy corridor in the northeast. a lot of people live in the northeast. here's a lot of traffic in the northeast. i-95, 295. through myomes right state. 80% of the pollution, particularly northern delaware, comes from sources outside of state. generated by sources outside of our state. fortunate of being downwind from a lot of the comes to that delaware. it keeps us out of compliance some of the area pollution, clean air requirements, that others are able to meet because places like wyoming and oklahoma where they don't have all those millions of cars coming ks and advance through there every month. of e happens to be a couple coal fired plants. three in pennsylvania. one in west virginia. the airw pollution into that, guess where it blows? state.s in my helps keeps us out of compliance with clean air requirements. court. gone to we've asked the courts to say asically these four polluting plants, you can't turn off -- ou cannot turn off your pollution prevention, your pollution controls. and the courts

c-span2. >> the senate judiciary committee held a confirmation hearing on the nomination of judge justin walker to serve on the court of appeals for the district of columbia circuit. democrat members questioned judge walker about his judicial experience as well as past comments criticizing the supreme court's affordable care act decision. judge walker currently serves on the us district court for the western district of kentucky. >> hearing will come to order. this is a new room set up differently to deal with the reality we all face as a nation, trying to practice social distancing and good hygiene. thank you for coming. i hope everybody has disinfectant that they can use. we spaced out the room to be as safe as possible to my staff and minority staff, thank you for working together. we are back, we spent 40 something days since the senate has been able to meet. the committee has a lot to do related to the coronavirus but we have other things for the good of the nation-like filling judicial vacancies or getting comments throughout the country about the vacancies and how they are

senate will be a smart and safe as i possibly can. and we are going to show up for work but the essential workers that we are. our buses on the market people there counting on us to keep on serving. it is good to see the chair, colleagues again. i am grateful that all 100 of us have come through the several weeks safely . and in good health. now it' work together across the aisle and get some more work done. and this will be for the american people. >> mr. president, the senate convenes the session during a trying time the nation. as we speak, millions of our citizens are respecting san home orders and doing the part to stop the spread of this pernicious disease. millions are newly unemployed. there depending on the actions we take care and congress. to stave off financial disaster. more f than 1 million americans have been tested positive for covid-19. more than 67000 lives have been lost. my home state of new york, has been hit the hardest. the loss of so many precious lives, the suffering of so many families unable to comfort even say goodbye to a loved one have been extremel

the senate on c-span two and legislative debate in the house on wednesday, starting at noon .astern on c-span recommends experts that facilities test patients in nursing homes for the senate aging committee so heard about other challenges in caring for the elderly in the current environment. onwelcome to today's hearing caring for seniors during the covid-19 crisis. it has brought tremendous hardship and tragedy, placing a heavy on front-line workers, straining our health care and distribution system and imposing a deadly toll on seniors in particular. it has hit close to home for sure thatny and i'm all of our members want to join condolencessing our to senator elizabeth warren, who lost her 86-year-old brother to the coronavirus. elizabeth, we are very sorry for your loss. visitor nursing homes has affected even those relatives who do not have virus. i know two brothers whose father is in a nursing home and has dementia. they have not able to see him for some time now and his health is failing. they are worried that he may not still be alive by the time that they are allowed to vi

distracted nation. they deserve and the country needs the certainty of a permanent senate-confirmed director of national intelligence. i'd like to formally recognize john ratcliffe, the president's nominee for the president's national intelligence. i wish i could welcome your wife and children, but given the number of people in the hearing room, i send my appreciation via c-span. i thank them for their willingness to go on this journey with you and for their support. today we will concern congressman ratcliffe's qualifications and engage in thoughtful deliberation. congressman has provided s substenant answers to questions and today's hearing allows for personal discussions. congressman ratcliffe was elected in 2014 to the house of representatives from the fourth district of texas. he serves on the house select committee of intelligence, the house judiciary committee and the house ethics committee. prior to his service in congress, mr. ratcliffe was a partner in a law firm. during his tenure at the department of justice he served as the first assistant u.s. attorney as the chief ant

for cell phones. then in the afternoon, the senate commerce committee holds a hearing on how coronavirus is affecting aviation industry. c-span2, the house appropriations subcommittee examines the federal response to the coronavirus pandemic with former cdc director tom frieden among witnesses, live at 10:00 a.m. eastern. at 11:00, the senate returns to debate and vote on the nomination for head of the national counterintelligence and security center. >> the senate intelligence committee considered the of texas congressman john radcliffe to be the next director of national intelligence. since august, the position has been occupied by officials in the absence of a senate-confirmed director. representative radcliffe was asked about whistleblowers, his view on russian interference and the origins of the coronavirus as well as his ability to be nonpartisan as the nation's top intel chief. >> this hearing will be a little different. it is perhaps the first congressional hearing held during the extenuating circumstances of a pandemic. we have a sparse crowd and an expanded dais ref

the day, and morning business be closed. further, upon the closing of morning business, the senate proceed to executive session to resume the tipton nomination. further, at 5:30, the senate resume consideration of the badalamenti nomination under the previous order. i finally notwithstanding the provisions of rule 22, monday, june 1 count as the intervening day with respect to cloture motions filed during today's session of the senate. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: so if there's no further business to come before the senate, i ask it stand adjourned under the mr. sullivan: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from alaska. mr. sullivan: mr. president, it is thursday, one of my favorite times in the week, because it is the time i get to come down on the senate floor and recognize an extraordinary alaskan who we refer to as the alaskan of the week. now, memorial day is fast approaching, certainly one of the most sacred days in our nation throughout the year. and this week's alaskan of the week, sharon long, it's a day that is a particularly prof

and must not merely go back to business as usual here in the senate. it is not business as usual out in our country. leader mcconnell must hear this. right now leaderit mcconnell and the republican majority should show the divisive judicial in the partisan divisive redlines. let's focus on working together and to heal the sick and employ the unemployed, stabilize the economy and make sure that the administration properly execute the laws we pass so that we can prepare our country for the day when we will finally, god willing, returned to normal. i feel the floor and notice the absence of a quorum. >> the assistant democratic leaders. mr. president, first -- i ask unanimous consent of the quorum call be suspended. >> without objection. >> without the etiquette of a mask we are trying to make sure we set an example for the country t that is attentive to public health care crisis that we face. mr. president, i listened carefully to the remarks of the republican majority leader and he spoke about the reconvening of the senate this day and talked about the work we achieved a few weeks ago

senator and earlier i talked about the fact that i very much love representing people here in congress but i held an apolitical job before as us attorney, one where i represented the united states neither party. and both parties out of everything that i did area and so i have done that and done it successfully and then highly regarded in the way that i'veapproached that . and i enjoyed that and it's one of the reasons i'm going from a safe district and asking you all to consider me as the nominee. i have every not just every intention but every confidence that i will do exactly as i'm telling you . i will be entirely apolitical as thedirector of national intelligence . >> thanksvery much . >> thank you mister chairman. congressman us intelligence community have an important role in warning our leaders about pandemics like covid-19. because outbreaks of course are not just the publichealth matter but also a matter of national security based on public statements and reporting alone , do you believe that president from as accurately conveyed the severity of the threat of covid-19 to the ameri

statements, senator murray. yes, as i stated, we continue to have a work in progress as we build the testing capacity. we have established the targets with the states of over 12 million tests over the next four weeks. we think those targets are going to be good in may and june, but as dr. fauci said, we really have to be evidence based. we expect those targets to go up as we progressively open, as communities go through phase 1 and then into phase 2, and certainly those numbers will need to go up significantly again in the fall when we potentially have influenza circulating with covid. so, yes, there will be targets. the targets will need to change based on the evidence that we see, but we are highly committed to securing the supply chain. we work daily with every manufacturer, and i'm just pleased we're, in may and june, able to get ahead of the states so that we can supply them what they need so they have those assurances so there's not going to be any doubts about that. >> my question to you is when you put out that specific plan that you are required to do, we will see numbers th

senate panel on the challenges of remote voting. including new technologies, the constitutionality of moving procedures online, and security concerns. churches and schools are closed. health-care workers are working around-the-clock. in the last five weeks, based on the numbers i saw this morning, nearly 30 million americans filed for unemployment. we are already approaching the highest percentage of unemployed since the great depression. now more than ever, americans need to know that their leaders are working for them, and they have voices as we work to navigate in this pandemic. in a world where it is no longer safe to be within six feet of each other, congress has to learn how to adapt. it is not the first time we have made do to ensure the continuity of congress. with the nuclear threat during the cold war, the u.s. government constructed a large bunker for congress. we would be required to meet outside of washington. this may either first time in the modern area where there is not a physical meeting location at risk, but rather elected officials themselves and others we would

typical bill moving through the senate has a number of hurdles to clear. some committees, leadership and coburn. it's that last one you won't find in the textbook. the stafferof devoted to th stae cause not necessarily because of him but because of the mission. one of the staffers wrote this after he passed, the basically blocked a lot of bills incurred a lot of amendments and lost a lot of votes. we highlighted wasteful spending and over time we started changing how business was done. those that have expended could pass without offsets in the duplication became part of the lexicon, the promise of earmarking went away and people started paying attention to government waste. his annual waste became one of the high-profile reports coming out of washington each year. over the years, he and his team highlighted petroleum to questionable spending on low priority items that taxpayers were unwittingly paying for. proves to be waste duplicated, fraudulent or purely an effective likely made the list each year. the waste by picking an rallying rscry with washington's spending habits. phrases that

industry. as a public service, brought to you today by your television provider. democratic senators amy klobuchar of minnesota and oregon's ron wyden suggest voting amid the coronavirus pandemic. over the next hour, they talk about voting by mail and what congress needs to do to make it nationwide. all and welcome those of you who are joining us on zoom and those on facebook life. i am president of common cause. we havely 50 years, been holding power accountable through lobbying, litigation, grassroots organizing and 1.2 million members have helped with hundreds of reforms at the national, state and local levels. thank you for joining this evening's webinar. we have two special guests -- senator ron wyden for morgan and senator amy klobuchar from minnesota. oregontor ron wyden from and senator amy klobuchar from minnesota. after a discussion, i will be talking with our director of state operations and ballot measure strategies. we will be talking about the gold standard of voting reforms that she helped pass and we will talk about what reform looks like across the country. we know t

leader has called the senate back into session during a time there are significant risks and the health of the members of this chamber and the staff who make this place function. this is a time of national emergency. we should be working to provide our country with the relief and support it so it direly needs but this is only the second day of this is since leader mcconnell called the senate back into session and there will be no votes here on the floor, not one vote. and so far there is no plan, no plan at all to consider cope with related legislation on the floor in the near future. if we are going to be here in session with an elevated health risk why isn't leader mcconnell o work on issues that are directly related to covid-19? last nightst we confirmed in noncontroversial nominees to the nuclear regulatory commission. the next nominee on the floor is for the intelligence post. no doubt important but unrelated h cope it. his nomination has been delayed by a republican senator so when the republican leader reasons we must process nominees because of their previous democratic o

the conclusions. >> sunday night at eight eastern on c-span's q&a. >> the senate is back this week to vote on a house panel bill reauthorizing certain foreign intelligence programs that expired in march. on the fourth senators continue to talk about the coronavirus pandemic in the possibility of passing additional relief legislation. >> addressed the senate for one minute in morning business. >> without objection. >> covid-19, as we all know, has thrown a wrench into america's quarters of commerce and manufacturing in addition to threatening lives in the loss of lives. the unprecedented effort to stop the spread has shut down life as we know it, closing schools, movie theaters, gyms, salons, and restaurants. in a hysterical approach to it, i always say we've had pandemics before, but never have we shut down the government shutdown commerce the way we have. our moods have disrupted our food supply chain and pulled the rug out from underneath our economy. and yet across my home state, i was businesses and industries stepped up to the plate. as an -- ethanol plants, local distillers, oth