Mitch McConnell

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of S. Res. 678, submitted earlier today.

Mr. McCONNELL. I further ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be discharged from further consideration of S. 3703 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the bill be considered read a third time and passed and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to; that the amendment to the preamble at the desk be considered and agreed to; that the preamble, as amended, be agreed to; and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be discharged from further consideration and that the Senate now proceed to S. Res. 659.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 427, S. 2299.

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the committee-reported substitute amendment be withdrawn and that the Wicker substitute amendment at the desk be agreed to; that the bill, as amended, be considered read a third time and passed, and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources be discharged from further consideration and the Senate now proceed to S.J. Res. 74.

Mr. McCONNELL. I ask unanimous consent that the Thune amendment to the resolution at the desk be agreed to; that the joint resolution, as amended, be read a third time and passed; that the preamble be agreed to; and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 3 p.m., Monday, August 10; further, that following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, and the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day; finally, that following leader remarks, the Senate be in a period of morning business with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the Senate proceed to consideration of the following nomination: Executive Calendar No. 810.

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate vote on the nomination with no intervening action or debate; that if confirmed, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table; that the President be immediately notified of the Senate's actions.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the Senate proceed to the en bloc consideration of following nominations: Executive Calendar Nos. 549, 792, 793, 794, 795, 796, 797, 798, 802, 803, 804, 806, 807, and all nominations on the Secretary's Desk in the Foreign Service.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations of the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs recently conducted an investigation into the use of the art industry to evade financial sanctions imposed by the United States on foreign adversaries. The subcommittee has now received a request from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security seeking access to records that the subcommittee obtained during the investigation. In keeping with the Senate's practice under its rules, this resolution would authorize the chairman and ranking minority member of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, acting jointly, to provide records, obtained by the subcommittee in the course of its investigation, in response to this request and requests from other Federal or State government entities and officials with a legitimate need for the records.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 676, submitted earlier today.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Environment and Public Works be discharged from further consideration of S. 4075 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the bill be considered read a third time and passed and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be discharged from further consideration of S. Con. Res 37 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I further ask that the concurrent resolution be agreed to; the Coons amendment to the preamble at the desk be considered and agreed to; the preamble, as amended, be agreed to; and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask unanimous consent that it stand adjourned under the previous order.

Mr. McCONNELL

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

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, on an entirely different matter, stop me if the story I am about to tell sounds familiar. The Speaker of the House and the Democratic leader summon President Trump's representatives to the Capitol. They meet for a long while. The Democrats emerge, saying they have permitted a few millimeters of progress, but a deal is still far off, leaving millions of Americans in the lurch. Then they continue to push their $3 trillion wish list that even their own Democratic colleagues brush off as absurd. We have had variations on this theme daily for more than a week now. Yesterday, the Speaker of the House called their far-left proposal a ``well-developed strategic plan,'' but even Members of her own caucus know that is not true. Back when the Speaker's wish list was rammed through the House, one Democratic Member came right out and said that the so-called Heroes Act ``isn't a plan. It's a wish list.'' Another said that Members of her caucus had taken the bill as ``an opportunity to make political statements . . . that goes far beyond pandemic relief and has no chance at becoming law.'' Others said it was ``not focused'' and ``partisan gamesmanship.'' These are Democrats I am quoting. Even the Speaker's own rank and file know it is comical to say your ``strategic plan'' for COVID-19 involves sending taxpayer checks to people who are here illegally, paying people more not to work than essential workers earn by working, soil health programs--so-called ``environmental justice'' grants--and a massive tax cut aimed directly at wealthy people in New York and California. That last point needs special attention. Now, in ordinary negotiations, Members of Congress like to bring things home for their core supporters, but it is a little too on the nose for the Speaker from San Francisco and the Democratic leader from New York City to be holding up $1 trillion in emergency aid for the entire country unless they get big tax breaks for millionaires in their hometowns. Economists across the political spectrum say this demand of theirs is a bad idea because 94 percent of the benefit would flow to people who make north of $200,000. In the words of one progressive economist, who ought to be on their side: This is not a good idea. . . . It would not help the economy heal and would not benefit the people who need help. Yet my friends in the Democratic leadership are not deterred. More than a week into these talks, they are still threatening to block any and all relief for struggling people unless big city penthouses get these tax cuts. The Democratic leader said just yesterday that he is still holding out for this. Now, this isn't the only bad policy they are hung up on. The Speaker and the Democratic leader continue to insist that Federal unemployment assistance should pay people more not to work than the essential workers who have kept working. Let me say that again. The Democratic position has been that these millions of laid-off people should get nothing unless they get a higher salary than the people who are still working. This isn't just bad economics if you are trying to reopen a country; it is also just simply unfair in the simplest terms. The Republicans want to keep providing some supplemental Federal unemployment. We just don't think it is remotely fair for the Federal Government to tax essential workers who have kept working every day so Uncle Sam can pay their neighbors a higher salary to stay home. Let me say that again. We just don't think it is remotely fair for the Federal Government to tax essential workers who have kept working every day so Uncle Sam can pay their neighbors a higher salary to stay home. Outside of the Democratic leader and the Speaker of the House, even Democrats concede it is a bit upside down to pay people more not to work. Last week, the House Democratic majority leader said: ``It's not $600 or bust.'' Our colleague, the senior Senator from Maryland, has said: ``We certainly understand we don't want to have higher benefits than what someone can make working.'' Just yesterday, the senior Senator from West Virginia stated plainly that Speaker Pelosi's position was untenable. ``I don't think we're going to stay at the $600.'' Let's bear in mind, even $200 would be eight times what the Democrats put in place with unified control of the government during the last crisis in 2009. It is unthinkable they will hold every bit of relief hostage unless we land back at $600 and pay workers a bonus if they do not help to reopen our country. Maybe the Speaker and the Democratic leader will get the memo from their colleagues sometime soon. Then there is the Democrats' demand for $1 trillion more to hand out to State and local governments even though they have only spent a fourth of the money we sent them back in March. Yesterday, I received an urgent letter from the city of Malibu, CA-- and I promise I am not making this up--asking Congress for hundreds of billions of dollars for State and local governments because it has had to delay its ``conversion to an all-electric city fleet.'' I guess that is an emergency in Malibu when they can't keep buying brandnew electric cars as quickly as they would like. Well, this emergency is hitting most of America very differently. My constituents in Kentucky have bigger problems. They need actual relief to go straight to struggling families, and, frankly, they needed it yesterday, not a $1 trillion slush fund for bureaucrats who haven't spent what we sent them back in March. Those are just some of the fantasy items that are in the Democrats' demands. I haven't even gotten to all of the important things they left out. Their bill costs three times as much as the Senate Republicans' HEALS Act, but they skip over major, serious things that we took care of. The Democrats proposed fewer resources than the Republicans for the fund to help schools reopen safely. The Democrats completely shortchanged the successful Collins-Rubio Paycheck Protection Program, wherein our bill would fund a whole second round. The Democrats have no real equivalent to our proposals to strengthen domestic supply chains for PPE and critical resources, and they propose no legal protections at all for the doctors and nurses who have fought this unknown enemy or for the schools, universities, churches, and businesses that are trying to reopen. Apparently, those soil health experiments and diversity initiatives didn't leave enough room for the critical policies that would actually help the country. But, remember, our Democratic colleagues told us from the beginning their goal was never a targeted plan for COVID-19. In March, one of the Speaker's top lieutenants said the Democrats should view this deadly disease and mass unemployment as a ``tremendous opportunity to restructure things to fit our vision.'' Speaker Pelosi herself called this crisis a ``wonderful opportunity.'' It is clear they view it that way because, while Americans are struggling, the Democratic leaders have moved about 1 inch in 8 days. For the sake of the millions and millions who need more help, let's hope they decide to get serious soon.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, first, I extend the Senate's condolences to the people of Lebanon following yesterday's horrific explosion in Beirut. Reports indicate that at least 100 have died and that more than 4,000 others were injured. The Lebanese people have seen more than their share of tragedy--civil war, Syrian occupation, terrorism and assassination, sectarian violence, economic and political corruption, the burden of caring for more than a million refugees fleeing Syria. Now, unfortunately, once again, in the wake of great tragedy, the Lebanese Armed Forces will have to demonstrate they serve the state of Lebanon and its people, not a political party or sect. Since the end of Syrian occupation, the LAF has demonstrated it can be a unifying and national force, largely free from sectarianism that corrodes other Lebanese institutions. Now it must do so again The people of Beirut are beginning the hard work of rebuilding their city. Their nation continues its hard work to restore its democracy and sovereignty. On these fronts, the Senate and the American people stand with them in their journey.

Mr. McCONNELL

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