Rob Portman

Mr. PORTMAN

Mr. PORTMAN. I know of no further debate on the measure.

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

Mr. PORTMAN

Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. President, I have 5 requests for committees to meet during today's session of the Senate. They have the approval of the Majority and Minority leaders. Pursuant to rule XXVI, paragraph 5(a), of the Standing Rules of the Senate, the following committees are authorized to meet during today's session of the Senate. Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs The Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Tuesday, November 17, 2020, at 10 a.m., to conduct a hearing. Committee on the Judiciary The Committee on the Judiciary is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Tuesday, November 17, 2020, at 10 a.m., to conduct a hearing. Committee on Rules and Administration The Committee on Rules and Administration is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Tuesday, November 17, 2020, at 10 a.m., to conduct a hearing. Select Committee on Intelligence The Select Committee on Intelligence is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Tuesday, November 17, 2020, at 2:30 p.m., to conduct a closed briefing. Subcommittee on Manufacturing, Trade, and Consumer Protection The Subcommittee on Manufacturing, Trade, and Consumer Protection of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Tuesday, April 30, 2019, at 2:30 p.m., to conduct a hearing

Mr. PORTMAN

Mr. PORTMAN. Madam President, I am here on the floor of the Senate tonight to talk about the encouraging progress we have seen in finding a vaccine for the COVID-19 virus that has disrupted all of our lives and caused such great damage over the past year. From the early days of this coronavirus pandemic, a public-private partnership has employed scientists who have worked around-the-clock to prevent people from getting infected by developing effective vaccines. We saw the results of this effort in the last week with announcements from Pfizer and now Moderna that their interim success rates were above 90 percent during their trials. Other companies have vaccines at various stages of development, and there is hope that they will have similar results. Getting safe and effective vaccines across the finish line will be a monumental achievement. Not only are we witnessing unprecedented progress in creating an effective widespread vaccine, we are doing so at a speed unheard of in modern medical history. This result is going to be our best hope of getting out of this pandemic. With cases rising not only across the country but around the world, we are running out of other tools needed to stop the pandemic. I support the social distancing, wearing of masks, PPE, the testing, but I believe widespread inoculation is the most effective way to avoid the negative economic and social impacts the virus and the subsequent mitigation efforts have caused. If these vaccines receive the expected emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration over the coming weeks and months, this will be a testament to the unprecedented support that Congress has provided for vaccine development, the Trump administration's innovative approach to cut bureaucratic redtape with Operation Warp Speed, and the commitment and ingenuity of our researchers, our scientists, and our manufacturers. The bipartisan CARES Act we passed here in March with unanimous support provided $27 billion in funding for countermeasures against COVID, including funding this important vaccine development research. It was money well spent. Thanks to these funds and the innovative approach by the administration, we have been able to invest in building the infrastructure to begin manufacturing these vaccines now so that if the vaccine is approved, we can quickly ramp up distribution. This two- track approach also involves ramping up large-scale clinical trials, which are critical to furthering our scientific understanding of this pandemic and verifying the safety and effectiveness of these vaccines. By using these CARES Act funds to invest in both research and trials and in manufacturing at the same time, we are able to ensure that the trials are thorough and methodical while also ensuring that if and when approved there is vaccine ready to be distributed. At the same time, the Food and Drug Administration, which is the Federal agency responsible for approving the use of any new vaccine, has followed the science and moved cautiously. As an example, they have actually raised the standards needed for giving an emergency use authorization for a vaccine. Normally, a vaccine only needs to be effective about 50 percent of the time to be approved under the EUA, emergency use authorization, but with the coronavirus vaccine, the standard is much higher. By requiring companies to collect more rigorous information to show longer lasting results from their respective vaccine candidates, this will help ensure greater confidence in the system, and I am grateful that they took these additional careful steps. This progress on the vaccine is critical for our economic recovery as well. When a vaccine and therapeutics are authorized by the FDA and made widely available and people actually get vaccinated, all of us will feel safer returning to the workplace, retail establishments, restaurants, churches and other places of worship, and schools, as well as feeling more comfortable gathering with friends and family. We will finally be able to truly reopen and get millions of Americans back to work. In short, a widely available vaccine is our best bet for getting America back to normal--something we all are desperate for. Last month, I received a briefing from CTI Clinical Trial and Consulting Services, a research company that is based in my hometown of Cincinnati, OH. I met with them to receive a briefing to find out what is going on in Ohio and what they are doing around the country. CTI is a global leader in actually executing these clinical trials that we always talk about for these vaccines and therapeutics, and right now they are helping to conduct clinical trials on a potential COVID vaccine being developed by a number of companies, including Janssen, J & J. That is Janssen, Johnson & Johnson. I was impressed with the progress they had made in their phase 1 and phase 2 trials for the J & J vaccine, as well as the precautions they are taking with regard to safety and privacy of participants in the trial. In fact, the previous trial of this vaccine found 99 percent of participants developed antibodies to COVID-19, and 98 percent still had these antibodies in their system after 29 days. These are encouraging figures that suggest that this J & J vaccine could prove to be another useful tool in our toolkit to fight COVID-19, but there is still a lot of work to be done. CTI explained to me that they were focused on encouraging more people to join their trials. I asked if it would help if I signed up, and they said yes. Along with tens of thousands of other participants, I am now joining this trial for this promising new vaccine. Like other participants in the program, I don't know if I got the vaccine or if I got a placebo. I enrolled in this vaccine trial for really three reasons. One is because I think it is so important to get this vaccine moving, and these trials are really important to having that be successful. In my view, again, the vaccine is the most effective way for us to defeat this coronavirus. Second, I enrolled because I want to encourage others to join these trials around the country. If you are interested, go online. Look at the vaccine trials and join one in your community. And, third, I hope it will convince my fellow Ohioans and others that getting vaccinated makes sense. There is a concerning Gallup poll from last month that found that only half of Americans are comfortable getting a COVID-19 vaccine, and 50 percent of us are not comfortable at this point getting vaccinated. Actually, that is down from August, when two-thirds of Americans said they would be willing to be vaccinated. This concerns me a lot. I suspect in part this is happening because of the rhetoric we have heard from some public officials casting doubt on a vaccine solely because it may be approved by the Trump administration's FDA. We need to stop playing politics with people's health and let the science and the data determine which vaccines get approved. The FDA is being very cautious, and they are being driven by science. Casting doubt on the efficacy of a vaccine to try to score political points is dangerous and needs to stop. Public confidence in vaccines is declining at exactly the time that we need these vaccines the most, and we need to do what we can to reverse that trend. My hope is that being involved firsthand I can use my platform as a Senator to help give people confidence that these new vaccines being developed are safe and effective. The more folks participate in these trials, the sooner they will have the complete data to finalize this phase of the trial and move on to the FDA approval process. But just as important as participating in these vaccine trials is what we do here as legislators in Congress to ensure that these vaccines can continue to be developed and deployed safely and rapidly. As I mentioned earlier, the CARES Act provided $27 billion for the development of vaccines and other countermeasures--an unprecedented show of support from Congress in our fight to defeat the underlying healthcare challenges of this pandemic. Unfortunately, since that bill was passed--the CARES bill--way back in March, 8 months ago, we have been unable to focus on following up with more funding to help this effort. Twenty-seven billion dollars is a lot of money, but it only gets us so far in an effort like this. What is also missing from the uses for this $27 billion is the ability to fund a campaign to explain to Americans that there is a safe and effective vaccine out there that they can use, that the science has been followed. As I mentioned, there is a lot of vaccine hesitancy right now. It existed before this pandemic. Unfortunately, it has been made worse by some elected officials trying to politicize this science- driven effort. That is why I am working on bipartisan legislation to support a national awareness campaign that would empower HHS to cut through the politics and promote the scientific advancements we have made in order to increase public confidence. We don't have a vaccine yet, and we are still facing another round of shutdowns, with little help to support those who will be impacted by it. That is the reason we need to do more here in Washington right now to ensure that the healthcare response to this pandemic does not falter, because this crisis is getting worse, not better. In my home State of Ohio and around the country, we are seeing this, and we can make a difference here. In Ohio, the number of daily cases has risen every day for the past month. We are seeing double what we saw just a few weeks ago. In the United States, we are now averaging more than 100,000 new cases per day, double the rate from just a month ago. As was predicted, it got colder, people are inside more, and the third wave has arrived. Unfortunately, we have also seen an increase in Ohio in hospitalizations, in ICU patients, and, sadly, in fatalities along with these new cases. We need to do more to help the economy, too, and that is another reason we need a COVID-19 package--a stimulus package--because as the pandemic has worsened, the impressive economic growth we were seeing has slowed down at a time when the economy is still down 10 million jobs since February. What we really don't want is for those ten million people, in a slowdown of the economy, to become long-term unemployed and who may never reenter the workforce. And, of course, certain sectors--like hospitality, restaurants, hotels, travel, and entertainment--are still struggling badly, with no end in sight, as some States are beginning to re-implement stricter social distancing measurers and even to close down these facilities in order to counter the spread of the virus I am pleased that Leader McConnell has called on Congress to work together to pass another coronavirus response package before the end of the year. We can't afford to wait any longer. It is my hope that my Democratic colleagues recognize the urgency as well. And I have talked to a number of them who do. We have to refrain from making this political at this point. We have to figure out how to work together to find common ground. If we can come together and get a bipartisan coronavirus bill passed before the end of this year that takes a commonsense approach targeting the healthcare challenges of this pandemic, targeting the economic consequences, we will not only help the men and women working tirelessly in labs around the country to fight this disease, but we will send a clear message to the American people that we are with them in this fight. And as we continue this critical national effort, let's be sure we are doing our part here in Congress to pass legislation that provides additional funding for treatments and therapies for the coronavirus so that we can be sure we have the resources necessary to treat the virus as people get it. The time is now for us to put the partisanship aside and figure out how we can work together to give the American people a little hope, to address the healthcare crisis that is in all of our States, and to ensure that the economic consequences are not devastating for the people we represent. I urge my colleagues to come together and to do that before we recess for the holidays. I yield back my time.

Mr. PORTMAN

Mr. PORTMAN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of H.R. 1668, which was received from the House and is at the desk.

Mr. PORTMAN

Mr. PORTMAN. I further ask that the committee-reported substitute amendment be withdrawn; that the Peters substitute amendment, which is at the desk, be considered and agreed to; that the bill, as amended, be considered read a third time and passed; that the committee-reported title amendment be considered and agreed to; and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.

Mr. PORTMAN

Mr. PORTMAN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of H.R. 5901, which was received from the House and is at the desk.

Mr. PORTMAN

Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. President, I have come to the floor again today to talk about the need for us, as a Congress, to come together to address this coronavirus pandemic. We have an unprecedented healthcare and economic crisis right now, and it is important for us to figure out what we can do, what we can agree on, and then move forward. Since this pandemic began back in March, I am told I have come to the floor now 17 separate times to urge my colleagues to work together on a bipartisan basis to try to put together legislation that will enable us to respond effectively and in a focused way to the COVID-19 crisis. We had some early successes. Remember the CARES Act that was passed back in March. That was 8 months ago--8 months ago. Really, for the last 6 months, we haven't passed anything to address this crisis. Yet the crisis has ebbed and flowed, and, right now, unfortunately, it is at an all-time high in my State of Ohio. I have been frustrated that we can't have that same sense of urgency and willingness to work together as we had during those first couple of months of the coronavirus pandemic. It seemed to have disappeared as we entered election season; didn't it? So, as we got closer and closer to the election, there was more and more divide and inability to come together. Now we need to get back to that sense of bipartisanship--I would even say nonpartisanship in so much of this--and cooperation for the good of our country. It is getting worse, as I said, in my State of Ohio and around the country, and I believe we can make a difference, and that is important. There are things we can do at the Federal level that would help. Right now, we are averaging in this country over 100,000 new cases per day. That is double the rate from just 1 month ago--double the rate from 1 month ago. It was predicted as it got colder and people were inside more. The third wave has arrived. In Ohio, the number of daily new cases has risen every day for the past month. Just last night, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine reported nearly 6,000 new cases in the last 24-hour period, compared to 1,000 cases per day that the State experienced just at the beginning of October. Unfortunately, it is not just about new cases. We are seeing increases in hospitalizations. We are seeing increases in patients that are in the ICU units. We are seeing increases, sadly, in fatalities. We need to do more to help this economy, too, because the economy, as the pandemic has worsened, has begun to slow. Initially, we had impressive economic growth--no question about it-- but it has begun to slow at a time when the economy is still down 10 million jobs since February. Think about that. We are still 10 million jobs short from where we were in February. What we really don't want is for those 10 million people to become long-term unemployed, who may never reenter the workforce. That is why it is important to act and act now. Unemployment claims, which were going down, by the way, seem to have more or less flattened in most States, including Ohio. Ohio's unemployment rate, we are told, for the most recent month we have data for, which is September, was still above 8 percent. I think it is better now, but it is still way too high. And, of course, certain sectors of the economy, like hospitality, travel, and entertainment, are really struggling badly, with no end in sight, as some States begin to reimplement these stricter social distancing measures, and some States are even putting back in place closures. So, if you are in the hospitality business, entertainment business, or travel business, you are concerned right now. To counter the spread of the virus, these closures are also going to have a terrible economic impact on businesses and on families. These dangerous trends are putting people's lives and livelihoods at risk if we can't start to reverse them. And, again, it has been 6 months since we came together in any kind of a package and 8 months since the CARES package. I believe there are some in Congress, including, I believe, the Speaker of the House, who were not interested in seeing a comprehensive package passed before the election. They thought it would be good politics, I guess, for President Trump. I don't know. Looking at the results of the election, I think it might have been just the opposite. But the point is that the election is now behind us. So if that was the reason, let's forget that. Let's get something done here. Let's get this partisan gridlock off the docket on this issue, and let's focus on what is good for the American people. This is what is called the lameduck session of Congress. So that is a good time to do it. We are past the election, and the new Congress hasn't come on yet. Let's work together in good faith toward a Federal response that is focused and targeted, and we can find some common ground here. I believe the best path forward is very close to what has been embodied in some of these more targeted proposals, including ones that we have put on the floor repeatedly here since way back in August. These bills are inclusive of some of the most important bipartisan priorities, like providing needed funding for vaccine and therapy development and like replenishing the successful PPP program for small businesses. It was included in the CARES Act, by the way, but it expired back in August. So, on August 9, the Paycheck Protection Program, or PPP, actually expired. So for these struggling small businesses, they have nowhere to turn. How about providing funding to the schools? That is bipartisan. How about making sure that we have folks who are able to come together to help ensure that we have adequate funding for this exciting new vaccine development that we are hearing about? Anyway, when we have tried to bring these to the floor, the other side has blocked even entering into a debate about it. Instead, Democrats have insisted on the House-passed Heroes Act, which passed in May, with almost no Republican support, which makes a bunch of controversial changes to policy unrelated to coronavirus-- repealing State and local tax deductions to benefit mostly wealthy Americans and making unprecedented changes to immigration laws. What do these policies have to do with coronavirus? Nothing. At a time of unprecedented deficits and debt, it makes those changes with a pricetag of $3.5 trillion. And some say: Well, the Speaker is now down to $2.4 trillion. Folks, whatever that number is, it is going to be unprecedented. We never had anything that expensive pass the Congress. It is at a time, again, when we have the highest deficit we have ever had. And our debt, as a percent of our GDP, sadly, is now 100 percent of our GDP, which it hasn't been since World War II. We are past the contentious election season now. So let's put aside the politics and let's build a targeted, bipartisan coronavirus bill based on what we all agree works and what we agree really is needed in the face of a rapidly spreading virus. Here are a few examples of what we can do. First, our next coronavirus response package should have the Healthy Workplace Tax Credit, which basically says: We all want people to get back to work, back to school, and back to the hospitals. But let's do it safely. This would really help the bars, the restaurants, the salons, the gyms, the bowling alleys, and other businesses to reopen safely and stay open by basically compensating them for the purchase of hand sanitizers, PPE like face shields and gloves, and for the reconfiguration of their workplaces with plexiglass, as we are seeing, and for other measures to allow for social distancing. As businesses prepare to winterize their outdoor spaces in order to prevent the spread of COVID, this payroll tax credit that is in this legislation would help offset those costs and help businesses stay open. It is just what we need to help keep our economy afloat. This is, I think, the sweet spot. I think everyone agrees, I hope, that we should go back to work, go back to school, go back to the hospitals, and so on, but we need to do it safely. That is what this does. Shouldn't that be bipartisan? Even nonpartisan? Second, we should invest heavily in testing and contact tracing so that States are better equipped to respond to the surge of outbreaks. Republicans and Democrats alike know that fast and accurate tests are critical to stopping the spread of this disease and getting people more comfortable going back to shopping, going back to work, going back to school, and going back to a more normal life. The targeted bill, again, that we introduced last month that Democrats blocked had $16 billion set aside for testing and tracing. We could use those resources right now in Ohio. I spoke to Governor DeWine earlier this week. We want the money for testing. We need it. Let's pass it now. Third, we also need help to continue the development of these treatments and these vaccines as quickly as possible. The recent news of a potential vaccine by Pfizer with a 90-percent efficacy is really promising, but we can't take our foot off the gas on this. If we cannot address the underlying healthcare challenge with the coronavirus, we are going to be stuck playing defense against this disease for a long time. The targeted bill from last month included $37 billion for vaccine development and distribution and $20 billion for therapies, which I think are really good starting points for us to at least debate what the final number should be. But let's help right now to ensure we don't slow down the vaccines and the therapies and be sure the distribution works. In the face of a virus that seems like it is getting more and more out of hand every day, these three proposals are examples--the tax credit for safely reopening businesses, money for improved testing and tracing, and money for vaccine and therapy development. These all seem like commonsense ideas. I don't see any reason why a majority in this Chamber can't come together and build a bipartisan response based on these kind of simple policies. Whatever we do, we can't afford to delay any longer. American lives are at stake, and we are in danger of losing ground where we gained it on the coronavirus, as this third wave threatens my home State of Ohio and our country. Let's not wait any longer. Let's come together and once again get something done that helps the people whom we represent.

Mr. PORTMAN

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

Mr. PORTMAN

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

Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. President, we are in session here on a Sunday in Washington for a rare Sunday session in the U.S. Senate so that we can confirm a terrific woman to be the next Justice of the Supreme Court. There is an open seat right now that needs to be filled, and Judge Barrett, who is currently a judge on the circuit court, one level below the Supreme Court, has really impressed me and the American people with her performance. I had a chance to meet with her this past week, and I was already impressed but even more so, having had a chance to spend some time with her. I had been impressed with her performance at the hearing because I thought she showed great patience and calm in the face of some really tough questions. To me, that is judicial temperament, and I think that will serve her well in her new role as Justice of the Supreme Court. I have also been impressed with her qualifications. I don't think anybody can say she is not highly qualified. In fact, the American Bar Association, which does not always look favorably at Republican appointees, was, in her last confirmation, convinced that she was highly qualified, and again, in this one, they gave her their highest qualification. That is impressive. As has been talked about on the floor tonight, she actually has been through this process before--and pretty recently. I think less than 3 years ago she was confirmed by this same body, and it was a bipartisan vote, and it was an opportunity for people to get to know her. So this is not as though we have brought somebody forward who isn't already known, who isn't already deemed to be very well qualified. In fact, I don't know anybody in this Chamber who doesn't think that she is well qualified and that she has done a good job as a judge and a lawyer. She graduated first in her class at Notre Dame Law School, and then she went back there and taught. She won the Teacher of the Year Award three times when she was at Notre Dame, and, most importantly to me, she is just widely respected by her colleagues. These are professors. She is also widely respected by her former students. These professors and students, by the way, are representing the entire political spectrum from very liberal to very conservative. All of them say the same thing about her, which is that she is a legal scholar, that she is highly qualified, and that she is a good person. In our meeting I got to see some of that. I saw in our meeting that she is a great listener. People talk about active listening. She was really interested in what the topics were and had very thoughtful responses. She is also a legal scholar who understands very clearly what the role of the Supreme Court should be in our separation of branches in our governmental system here. I think that is really important. As I said to her in our meeting, I hope she will be an ambassador, and I think she will. In fact, I think she will be an extremely effective ambassador--as the youngest member of the Supreme Court and also as a former teacher--with regard to young people, to help them understand what it means to have a judicial branch and how it is different from the legislative branch or the executive branch for that matter. Judges are not supposed to be legislators. That is not what they are hired to do. Yet in some cases we have gotten the sense that judges ought to be deciding issues that are reserved for those who are elected by the people; that is, the legislators. Judges have an important role, and that is to look at the laws and to look at the Constitution and to determine whether something is consistent with those. That is what she will do, and I think she will do it very fairly, with compassion and with a great understanding of the legal issues and precedent. She explained before the committee that she was respectful of precedent. She also told me that in our meeting. I think she has the proper understanding of the role of the Court and her role as a Justice. I am looking for the opportunity to finally vote. I guess we will do that tomorrow night, sometime in the evening, and I hope it will be a strong vote. I hope it can be even a bipartisan vote, as it was last time she was confirmed by this same body

Mr. PORTMAN

Mr. PORTMAN. Madam President, I want to recognize and celebrate the life of a friend and a true champion of our Great Lakes, whom we sadly lost recently at age 74. Captain Dave Spangler was a true leader in the Great Lakes community. He was a captain for Dr. Bugs Charters and vice president of the Lake Erie Charter Boat Captain Association. Dave grew up fishing with his father on the Maumee River and started fishing in Lake Erie in the late 1970s, so it is no surprise that he became known as the expert on finding the ``hot spots,'' or knowing the best techniques to catch big walleye and perch. He won many awards for his expertise. He was named Charter Boat Captain of the Year in 2014. I first met Captain Dave during one of my annual fishing trips on Lake Erie more than a decade ago. Dave would also come to Washington, DC, for meetings, but he and I both knew we would both rather be out on his boat. What impressed me most about Dave is that he was not only an expert among the fishing community but that he was also unafraid to get his hands dirty--literally--in other issues impacting the Great Lakes, especially his beloved Lake Erie. He devoted the last several decades of his life to protecting and improving the entire health of the Great Lakes. Where most boaters would try to avoid the green, foul odor of toxic algal blooms that sometimes plague the lakes, Dave drove straight into them--to take samples, track the movement of the bloom, and work to develop solutions. Whether it was harmful algal blooms, Asian carp, or pollution impacting the lakes, Dave eagerly became an expert on all of them. Not only did I turn to him for his knowledge and advice on these issues, but I also admired Dave's ability to bring people together to find solutions, especially in such a divided world that we live in today. Dave had a strong conviction and devoted purpose to protecting the lakes, but he also had a warm and lighthearted demeanor, with a contagious laugh and smile. I will miss my friend, and he will be deeply missed by so many in the Great Lakes community, including those who may have never met him but are able to enjoy the beautiful lakes thanks to his efforts. While Dave is no longer with us in person, his passion for protecting the Great Lakes will continue to inspire us all. Rest in Peace, Captain Dave.

Mr. PORTMAN

Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. President, at 4:20 p.m. today, which is in about 5 minutes, we are going to vote on a Federal judge. We are going to vote on whether to confirm Judge Michael Newman to be the next Federal judge for the Southern District of Ohio. I have known Mike Newman for over three decades, and he is an excellent choice for this role. He is an active member of the legal community in Ohio and is particularly active in his community of Dayton. He is also involved nationally. He was the first magistrate judge ever to be appointed national president of the Federal Bar Association, through which he created an impressive national civics program to allow young people, including a lot of young people in the Southern District of Ohio, to meet with Federal judges. He started and presides over the Southern District of Ohio's Federal Veterans Treatment Court, which has helped more than 70 veterans with PTSD and opioid addiction. I have seen the court in action. Mike is doing a great job. In fact, this year, he was selected to receive the Ohio State Bar Foundation's Ritter Award, which is a lifetime service award given to one lawyer or judge in Ohio every year to recognize a long-term commitment to ethics, professionalism, and integrity. That is Mike. Judge Newman is the right choice for this important seat in his having served the community of Dayton with honor and distinction, and I am confident he will do the same in this new role. I urge my colleagues to, in a moment, strongly support his confirmation. Nomination of Amy Coney Barrett Mr. President, of course, this week, we are also continuing to consider an important nomination of another Federal judge--Seventh Circuit Judge Amy Coney Barrett--to fill the Supreme Court vacancy. Yesterday, I had the chance to sit down one-on-one with Judge Barrett to ask her questions and follow up on what I thought was an impressive performance before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Even before our meeting, what I knew about Judge Barrett suggested she would be a good candidate for this important role. Based on what I heard in our meeting, it is clear to me she is not only well qualified to serve on the Court but that she is also a great listener and has the right understanding of what the Court's role is. She will be a terrific Supreme Court Justice. I believe she also understands the need to address the lack of faith in our institutions in this city, including the Court, and is willing to play an important role in helping to rebuild trust. Importantly, she reiterated to me what she said in the committee, which is that she has a commitment to interpret the text of the Constitution and the laws as they are written rather than through the lens of her own policy and personal preferences. I appreciate that modest approach. It leaves the legislating to the representatives, who have been elected by the people, rather than to the unelected judges. Of course, we are also all inspired by her personal story and her commitment to her faith, to her family, and to her profession. Let's be honest. During normal, less partisan times, this woman would be confirmed overwhelmingly. I believe she is an excellent choice. I commend the President for nominating her, and I strongly support her confirmation to the U.S. Supreme Court. I yield the floor.

Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. President, while we have another minute, let me just say on another topic, which is the coronavirus pandemic, I am deeply disappointed that yesterday we had another vote here on the floor of the Senate wherein we offered legislation which passed by a majority of the Senators but not the supermajority needed that simply focused on the coronavirus pandemic and the economic consequences of it. Unbelievably, it was blocked. In other words, we were not able to move forward because the Democrats were not willing to at least get on the issue and begin to discuss and debate the issue. This is sad to me. We are not out of the woods yet either in terms of the economy or in terms of the pandemic. In fact, we are in the third phase now of the pandemic in many of our States, including in mine, Ohio. We need help. This legislation had that help--as an example, $30 billion-plus for a vaccine. We need that funding to be able to get a vaccine as quickly as possible. We need money for therapies, money for our schools, and money for small businesses to be able to keep their doors open. I am concerned that we are not using the same bipartisan approach we used four other times in this Chamber to help deal with the coronavirus pandemic. I yield the floor. Vote on Newman Nomination

Mr. PORTMAN

Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. President, I am glad we just voted down the motion by the Democratic leader to adjourn because we have work to do here, including the COVID-19 legislation that we need to be here to be working on. So I am glad the motion to table was successful. And, yes, we also have to fill a vacancy on the Supreme Court. Tribute to John Ruthven Mr. President, I have come to the floor today to pay tribute to John Ruthven, a beloved son of Ohio who passed away last week at the age of 95. John Ruthven was a nationally recognized wildlife artist and a naturalist whose extraordinary artistic skills earned him numerous awards and other recognitions. But it was John's integrity, his humility, his generosity, and personal warmth that led to so many admirers. John never met a stranger, and even in these strident times, John never had an enemy. He was an eternal optimist who looked for the best in people and in doing so, brought out the best in everyone. John was a true son of Ohio who grew up in Cincinnati and, as a boy, was often found fishing and hunting and sketching along the Ohio River. He was a lifelong patriot who was very proud of his country and proud of having served his country as an 18-year-old sailor during World War II. He was generous of spirit and generous in giving back to his community, contributing his time and artwork to literally hundreds of good causes. John loved his family--his kids, Ricki and Kevin; his grandsons, Adam and Matt; and his great-grandsons, William, Jack, and Michael. He lost the love of his life, Judy, just under a decade ago. They were inseparable, and they are now together. My wife Jane and I feel John's presence every day through his artwork that hangs on our walls at home and at work. Here in my Washington, DC, office, we displayed his painting ``Eagle to the Moon,'' for the past decade, a masterpiece of natural painting signed not just by John but also John's good friend, the famous astronaut Neil Armstrong. Each Ruthven painting has its own story, and ``Eagle to the Moon'' is no exception. Ohio Governor James Rhodes had commissioned John to paint an eagle on the Moon in honor of the Apollo 11 mission and Neil Armstrong's famous words, ``The eagle has landed.'' John told the Governor there were no eagles on the Moon, and as a naturalist painter, he refused to place one there. Governor Rhodes insisted, so John-- always a peacemaker--found a compromise. He painted a majestic bald eagle flying past an Ohio buckeye tree--tying the eagle, therefore, to the Earth and to Ohio--and put a glowing Moon in the background to please Governor Rhodes. The Governor could not say no to such a beautiful portrayal, and it is beautiful. His paintings are displayed in the statehouse in Columbus and in thousands of offices and living rooms all across Ohio and beyond. You will see his work when strolling through my hometown of Cincinnati, where the side of a downtown building displays a three-story high mural dedicated to Martha, the last passenger pigeon who died at the Cincinnati Zoo. At age 88, high on a rickety scaffolding in the August heat, John Ruthven led the volunteers in creating that rendition of passenger pigeons, taking it from one of his paintings. Those passenger pigeons, once numerous and now extinct, are soaring through the air in a thick flock, warning us all of the fragility of nature. I will always feel John's presence personally when I am in the woods of Southern Ohio, where I had the privilege of spending many hours with him hunting for edible wild mushrooms, hunting turkeys, and learning from an accomplished naturalist who had stories about every single tree, flower, and bird. It was a joy to learn from John. It wasn't a lecture; like every good teacher, John drew you in. John was called a modern-day James Audubon, and there were striking similarities between the two. Both were naturalists, good hunters, artists, and authors whose work was influential in teaching us about the natural world. Like Audubon, John was rightly recognized as one of the most important ambassadors for nature of his time. Starting with his delivery of a hummingbird to the Cincinnati Museum of Natural History at age 10, his name is on specimens he collected around the world and donated to museums. Four Presidents commissioned painters from John Ruthven, and his artwork is hung in the galleries of the Smithsonian and right here in the Halls of Congress. Early in his career, John had the great honor of being selected as the artist for the annual Federal duck stamp. He has been featured in many major magazines and documentaries. He received numerous awards and honors, including from some of his favorite organizations like the Cincinnati Zoo, the Cincinnati Nature Center, the Museum Center, and so many others. One accolade John was most proud of was when he and his wife Judy were inducted into the Brown County Hall of Fame. Judy and John had a beautiful farm and an art gallery in Brown County, 50 miles east of Cincinnati. They developed lifelong friendships there and dedicated time and energy to their adopted home, leading to the restoration of the historic courthouse in Georgetown, OH, and preserving and promoting the boyhood home of Ulysses S. Grant, one of John's heroes. In 2004, I was with John and President George W. Bush at the White House when he became the first wildlife artist ever to receive the National Medal of the Arts, the highest honor that can be bestowed upon an artist. Until his death, John continued to paint every day at his home studio. He still had a number of commissions he was working on. For countless young artists and lovers of nature, he was and will continue to be a true inspiration. As we mourn our loss, we take heart in knowing that we will all continue to feel his presence, that John Ruthven will live on through his masterful artwork, his loving family, and all he did to advance the cause of appreciating and protecting the natural world. I yield the floor.

Mr. PORTMAN

Mr. PORTMAN. 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. PORTMAN

Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. President, I now ask for a second reading, and I object to my own request, all en bloc.

Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. President, I understand there are three bills at the desk, and I ask for their first reading, en bloc.

Mr. PORTMAN

Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. President, I move to recess.

Mr. PORTMAN

Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to executive session and resume consideration of the Newman nomination.

Mr. PORTMAN

Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. President, I rise today to commemorate the University of Akron's sesquicentennial and congratulate them on 150 years of extraordinary research, education, and contributions to northeast Ohio. In 1870, Buchtel College was founded in Akron, OH. It was the predecessor to today's University of Akron. The opening enrollment at Buchtel College was 46 collegiate students with an additional 171 students in the preparatory program. Today, the University of Akron has an enrollment of more than 19,000 students between the main campus in Akron and four regional locations, and the school has more than 175,000 alumni living in 138 countries around the globe. The University of Akron is home to a beautiful 218-acre campus and top programs in psychology, business administration and accounting, secondary education, the world's largest polymer academic program, and more. UA has a $2.7 billion economic impact in its primary service area, which includes the Ohio counties of Summit, Cuyahoga, Stark, Medina, Portage, and Wayne. On October 10, 2020, UA will be celebrating its sesquicentennial anniversary with 150 independent celebrations around the world, concluding with a live message and toast from current University of Akron President, Gary Miller. The evening will honor UA's past 150 years of education and research and recognize the impactful, imaginative, and innovative work faculty, researchers, and staff at UA have done over the years and continue to do today. UA is a prominent institution of higher education with a long history of playing an active role in serving the community in Akron and beyond. Congratulations to the University of Akron for 150 years of excellence, and I wish them the best of luck as they keep the lamp of learning burning for many years to come.

Mr. PORTMAN

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

Mr. PORTMAN

Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Judiciary Committee be discharged from further consideration of S. Res. 687 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.

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

Mr. PORTMAN

Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation be discharged from further consideration and the Senate now proceed to S. Res. 694.