Mitch McConnell

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I move to proceed to legislative session.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I move to proceed to executive session to consider Calendar No. 708.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I send a cloture motion to the desk.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I move to proceed to legislative session.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I move to proceed to executive session to consider Calendar No. 603.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I move to proceed to executive session to consider Calendar No. 815.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I send a cloture motion to the desk.

Mr. McCONNELL. I ask unanimous consent that the mandatory quorum calls for the cloture motions be waived.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to legislative session for a period of morning business, with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I move to proceed to legislative session.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, our Democratic colleagues have sought to spend this week discussing election security. Well, they really have sought to discuss absolutely anything besides pandemic relief since their leaders are still blocking bipartisan negotiations that could actually get a result. So our friends across the aisle have tried to change the subject to election security or immigration from Venezuela or anything besides the hundreds of billions of dollars in relief they have been filibustering. But the integrity of our democracy is a crucial issue. We are fewer than 50 days from November 3. Every voter deserves to know their State and local authorities are as well equipped as possible to oversee fair, safe, and secure elections. So let's discuss the progress made since back in 2016, the threats still before us, and how it is when this nonpartisan issue gets hijacked--literally hijacked--for partisan point-scoring. Here is how the Democratic vice chair of the Intelligence Committee described our vulnerability to foreign influence in 2016 during the Obama-Biden administration. This is the Democratic vice chairman of the Intelligence Committee about 2016. He said: ``We were caught flat- footed.'' ``We were caught flat-footed.'' That administration's relationships with State governments were dysfunctional; information sharing was weak; cross-sector partnerships hardly existed; and 8 years of weak foreign policy had emboldened Putin to push the envelope. Now, for the last 4 years, thanks to the actions of this Senate and the leadership of the current administration, a huge number of dedicated experts have worked hard to improve our defenses and regain America's trust. In 2016, the Department of Homeland Security was on an island, but under this administration, DHS officials have built partnerships with State and local officials who run our elections and stood up massive intelligence-sharing efforts that connect them with Federal authorities, the intelligence community, as well as the private sector. In 2016, the outgoing administration hid their limited grasp of the threat from Congress and the American people. The Trump administration and intelligence experts have been far, far more transparent. In 2016, only 14 State or local authorities had high-tech sensors to detect cyberattacks. Now all 50 States--all of them--have them. The Trump administration has imposed real pain on Russia: closing consulates, expelling spies, sanctioning oligarchs and agents of influence, and equipping neighbors that are threatened by Moscow to deter further aggression. Here in the Senate, multiple committees have become major players in this effort. Our colleagues on the Intelligence Committee spent, literally, years producing their 5-part, 1,300-plus-page report on what happened back in 2016. Some of their bipartisan recommendations are already taking effect. And then there is funding. The Senate has led the efforts to set aside more than $1 billion in extra election assistance, from foreign interference to COVID-19. Through the end of the primaries, more than 70 percent of the huge sum we provided in the CARES Act is still unspent. As recently as a few months ago, more than 60 percent of the first tranche we provided all the way back in fiscal 2018 was still unspent. So we have made sure money is not an obstacle. So these threats are still with us, and they have evolved. Not only Russia but also China, Iran, and other adversaries are looking constantly for ways to interfere in our politics, divide Americans, and erode confidence in our institutions. That is a fact. The work goes on, but we certainly aren't flat-footed any longer. This progress should be cause for bipartisan celebration, but one side of the aisle seems to prefer pretending--pretending--there hasn't been any progress at all. Frankly, while nonpartisan experts worked around the clock to fight our adversaries' destabilizing efforts, too many Democrats have been undermining America's confidence in our democracy to the degree that those adversaries could only dream of: baseless accusations that the last election was stolen; casual assertions that this one, too, must be illegitimate if they don't win. On a monthly basis, we have heard new, hysterical pronouncements that our democracy was on death's door. Even sensitive intelligence became grist for the partisan mill. This has not been universal. There has been good bipartisan work in some committees, but the Democratic leadership appeared to make a conscious choice: Instead of treating election security like the unifying, bipartisan issue it ought to be, they would use it as a partisan cudgel to hit the other side, playing right into our adversaries' hands. This week, the Democratic leader attacked Republicans and basically questioned our patriotism because we did not rush to meet his latest demands for empty theatrics. He proposes to crowd out 4 years of bipartisan work from actual committees by inventing a brandnew Senate committee and pull experts off the frontlines during the home stretch for theatrical hearings here on Capitol Hill. He says we must allocate more money. Never mind that the millions and millions of dollars we have already set aside remain unspent. He proposes that the administration pull experts off the frontlines to continue briefing him. Never mind that ODNI alone has supported 53 election security briefings to Congress since 2018--53 election security briefings to Congress since 2018. I am sure 54 will be the magic number that finally makes our colleague a reasonable voice on this issue. The truth is, briefings are ongoing; the Intelligence and Armed Services Committees will be briefed this week; and all Senators will have access to written intelligence analysis by career professionals if new developments arise since last month's all-Senate briefings. The Democratic leader's demands aren't solutions. These aren't what the experts say we need; they are just empty gestures concocted so the Democratic leader can complain that Republicans hate democracy and apple pie when we don't go along with them. So remember, fear and division, reduced confidence in our democracy, Americans divided against ourselves: that is exactly what Russia wants--exactly. That is what China wants too. That is just what our adversaries want to achieve, and it is exactly what the Democratic leader helps them achieve when he turns a bipartisan national issue that should unite us into one more pretext for partisan finger- pointing. Our colleague from New York said recently that ``Republicans are the enemy of the good.'' No, Republicans and Democrats are not enemies. No fellow Americans are enemies. Our people, our democracy, have real enemies in some corners of the world. I expect they are absolutely thrilled to hear our own politicians talking that way.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate now proceed to the en bloc consideration of the following Senate resolutions, which were submitted earlier today: S. Res. 702 through S. Res. 707.

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolutions be agreed to, the preambles, where applicable, be agreed to, and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, all en bloc.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions be discharged from further consideration of S. 1160 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.

Mr. McCONNELL. I further ask unanimous consent that the Smith substitute amendment at the desk be considered and agreed to; that the bill, as amended, be read a third time and passed; and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, Republican Senators, like working families all across the country had hoped--hoped--the Senate would be spending this week completing more bipartisan pandemic relief. We proposed another package with hundreds of billions of dollars to make schools safer for our kids, to help American workers keep or regain their jobs, and to invest more in testing treatments and finding and distributing a vaccine. But alas, Democrats filibustered it all, apparently intent that working families cannot receive any more relief until election day. Across the Capitol, Speaker Pelosi's excuses and Goldilocks games are even wearing thin on our fellow Democrats. A few weeks ago, more than 100 House Democrats publicly--publicly--asked Speaker Pelosi to stop blocking action on any coronavirus legislation besides her multitrillion-dollar, far-left wish list. She ignored them. She completely ignored them. Yesterday, a number of House Democrats tried again. They released a new proposal they had written to some Republicans and pleaded with the Speaker to allow a vote on it. Again, she shot down any notion whatsoever of compromise. Now, bear in mind, the Speaker had explained she will block any compromise for kids, jobs, and healthcare because-- because--passing anything short of multiple trillions of dollars would make her look like ``a cheap date''--a cheap date. The money that K-12 schools need, that unemployed workers need, and that we need for the race toward vaccines, Speaker Pelosi is blocking all of it because, apparently, to the San Francisco far left, anything short of multiple trillions of dollars would make her ``a cheap date.'' So, apparently, for the sake of the Speaker's personal ego, working families continue to suffer with no bipartisan help from Congress.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, now, since Democrats are stonewalling pandemic relief, the Senate is using our time to confirm more well- qualified judicial nominees to lifetime positions on the Federal bench. Renewing the Federal judiciary has been a major success over the last 4 years. Since January 2017, President Trump has nominated, and this Republican Senate has confirmed, 211 article III judges, including 53 circuit judges. That is the second most appellate confirmations of any President in American history at this point in their term. This isn't a partisan victory. The President has sent us impressive, qualified men and women who understand the radical notion that the job of judge is to actually follow the law--follow the law. It is a victory for our Constitution itself, but, believe me, this progress has not come easy. Throughout the last 4 years, our Senate Democratic colleagues have visited a historic degree of obstruction upon this President and his efforts to stand up the administration that the American people actually elected. Senate Democrats have forced us to break more filibusters on nominations since 2017--now listen to this--than had occurred cumulatively in all of Senate history--all of Senate history--before President Trump was sworn in. I am going to say that again. Senate Democrats have forced us to break more filibusters on nominations since 2017 than had occurred cumulatively in all of Senate history before President Trump was sworn in. They have attempted to filibuster more nominations in the last 3 years than the sum total of all prior Senates--from 1789 through 2016 added together. What was once a rare roadblock for the most controversial people has now become a daily norm. Before 2017, before this Senate Democratic minority got to work, only 5 percent of all nominations to district courts and circuit courts had been subjected to filibusters. I will say it again. Before 2017, before this Senate Democratic minority got to work, only 5 percent of all nominations to district courts and circuit courts had been subjected to filibusters. Under President Trump, the number has been 80 percent--80 percent. Our Democratic colleagues even obstruct nominees they don't even oppose. We have taken more than 100 cloture votes on district judges, even though district court nominees from any State with a Democratic Senator could not have even gotten out of committee without Democratic support. So, to summarize, here is what we are doing this week. We are breaking Democratic filibusters on nominations because Democrats are filibustering coronavirus relief. And let us not forget the cherry on top. Because self-awareness apparently no longer exists, our Democratic colleagues have chosen this very moment to argue that they shouldn't have to play by any of these rules if they ever get power themselves. President Obama calls the filibuster ``a relic of Jim Crow,'' even as Senate Democrats use it over and over and over again. Democrats filibustered police reform and filibustered pandemic relief for working families. Some years back, the Democratic leader told the newspaper: ``I am the leader of the filibuster movement [and] I am proud of it.'' That was the Democratic leader. But now--now--they are saying that if they ever get power, they intend to tear up the rule book to force radicalism on our country. They want to break the rules to pass the kinds of radical, far-left policies that former Vice President Biden has rushed--rushed--to embrace, from abortion to socialism, to cracking down on the Second Amendment. And that is not all. It is not just about bad policies. They want to go even deeper and hot-wire--hot-wire--our democracy itself. The far left is salivating over the prospect of killing the filibuster in order to pack the Supreme Court, pack the Senate with new States, and tilt the playing field permanently so they can never lose power again. This is not some rightwing conspiracy theory. These are the signals they are sending publicly right now. This is what the left is saying out there. Maybe this hard-left hypocrisy plays well in a few big coastal cities. Maybe the angry crowds that are pulling down statues of our Founding Fathers want Senators who will pull down government institutions as well. Most Americans see things differently.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, I understand there is a bill at the desk due for a second reading.

Mr. McCONNELL. In order to place the bill on the calendar under the provisions of rule XIV, I would object to further proceedings.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, now, on another matter entirely, a few days ago, the country got something that has been in too short supply in 2020: some really great news--specifically, great news on the subject of public health. According to the 2020 National Youth Tobacco Survey, administered by the FDA and the CDC, the number of American youth using e-cigarettes has dropped by 1.8 million since just last year--1.8 million in 1 year. That means, of course, that 1.8 million fewer young Americans are using e-cigarettes and vaping devices than 1 year ago. This victory for young Americans' health is no accident. The experts say a number of factors are at play, but one major contributing factor unfolded right here in the Senate a little under a year ago. Last December, the President signed the Tobacco-Free Youth Act into law. It was a bill I wrote and introduced to stem the tide of what was a rapidly growing health crisis among our Nation's young people. The bipartisan bill I wrote with my good friend Tim Kaine from Virginia and with the help of other colleagues, including Senator Todd Young, raised the minimum age to purchase tobacco products, including e-cigarettes and vaping devices, from 18 to 21. This is based on clear-cut science. Public health experts tell us the harmful effects of nicotine are most potent on bodies and brains that are still developing. Nearly 9 out of 10 adult smokers started by the age of 18. So we knew it was time to take action. I am proud to have led the legislation that took another leap forward in getting nicotine addiction away from our Nation's youth, and by the looks of these data, it has not taken long for our legislation to begin to pay major dividends. Nearly 2 million fewer teens in Kentucky, Virginia, Indiana, and across the country are having their future put in jeopardy by these products. That is a win, and it has happened largely because the Senate stepped up.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.