David Perdue

Mr. PERDUE

Mr. PERDUE. Madam President, I rise today to recognize the great work of the Georgia Greater Black Chamber of Commerce. The Georgia Greater Black Chamber has focused on recognizing the integral contributions of Black-owned businesses to the strength of both our State and our Nation's economy during National Black Business Month in Auqust. For 7 straight years, Georgia has been named the No. 1 place in the country in which to do business, and the Georgia Greater Black Chamber has been instrumental in making that possible. As I mentioned, August was National Black Business Month, and the Georgia Greater Black Chamber celebrated by honoring an important Georgian: Mr. Herman J. Russell. H. J. Russell was the epitome of the American entrepreneur. Despite all the obstacles in his way, he worked hard to achieve his dreams. His business started as a plastering company, and he grew it into one of Atlanta's best real estate developers. Anywhere you look in Atlanta, you will see the incredible landmarks that the H.J. Russell Company has worked on: the Georgia Dome, Hartsfield-Jackson Airport, and Castleberry Hill. As a business guy myself, I am inspired by all that Herman J. Russell did in his life. Simply put, Atlanta would not be what it is today without H.J. Russell and the H.J. Russell Company. His children carry on this entrepreneurial spirit to this day. I recently had the opportunity to visit with his sons Michael and Jerome. They and their sister Donata Russell Ross are dedicated to continuing Black entrepreneurship. Recently, I had the privilege of visiting the Russell Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship--RCIE--with Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson. The Russell Center assists African- American entrepreneurs by providing workspace, networking opportunities, and educational resources. In 2019, RCIE converted a 43,000-square-foot corporate headquarters into space for 100 emerging entrepreneurial companies. RCIE is a testament to the efforts of African-American entrepreneurs to uplift each other. As the Georgia Greater Black Chamber and other organizations in my State look to support growth in Black business and entrepreneurship, I will continue to work to support them. Through a recent conversation with Dr. David Thomas, president of Morehouse College, I was made aware that approximately 45 percent of the young men who start as freshmen at Morehouse will not graduate. I have appealed to the Georgia business community to support HBCU's and hire their graduates as part of the solution to this problem. I was also proud to work with Congressman David Scott on a scholarship program for the ``1890s'' land grant institutions like Fort Valley State to help ensure they can continue to produce farmers and agri-businesses that are of critical importance to Georgia's economic future. African-American entrepreneurship and business ownership accounts for nearly 3 million businesses in the United States and nearly a million employees. Before COVID-19, African-American unemployment was at its lowest point in U.S. history. These are remarkable statistics, but we must continue to advance the important work of supporting Black businesses, as this is key to empowering communities and individuals to move out of poverty and into prosperity. I look forward to working with the Georgia Great Black Chamber of Commerce and other Chambers in Georgia to ensure Georgia remains the best place in America for all businesses.

Mr. PERDUE

Mr. PERDUE. Mr. President, one of America's founding principles is the belief that anyone of any background can achieve anything with hard work, perseverance, and a positive attitude. This belief is the very foundation of the American dream. Mr. David Abney, who is retiring after over 40 years at Georgia's own UPS, is the epitome of the American dream. David grew up in the Mississippi Delta, which is one of the most economically challenged areas in the country. Yet David didn't let his circumstances determine his fate. From an early age, David worked odd jobs to help support his family while making sure he kept his grades up at school. This dedication paid off when he got into Delta State University on scholarship, where he met his future wife, Sherry. At the age of 19, while working as a package loader at UPS to pay for his education, a manager recognized David's talent and work ethic and encouraged him to join the company full time. Although he didn't realize it at the time, this encouragement transformed David's life. It was then that David became, as they say, ``brown-blooded,'' devoting his career to UPS. Although he had found his professional home, the road ahead wasn't always easy. The work could be grueling. He moved around a lot. He often put in difficult hours. However, just as he had diligently worked his way into college, David worked his way up the ladder. What has always made David an exceptional leader is his devotion to the people who work for him. Having done the work himself, David understood the needs and challenges of his employees, and he always put their needs over his own. In one case, when the center he managed experienced difficult times, David laid himself off so that his employees could keep their jobs. This selfless, employee-oriented leadership style eventually propelled David to the highest levels of leadership at UPS. He became COO in 2007, CEO in 2014, chairman of the board in 2016. Under David's leadership, UPS has grown into one of the most exceptional logistics companies in the world. He guided UPS through major changes, adapting to the new needs of the digital world. He focused on strengthening the company's diversity and inclusion practices, so that anyone, of any background, would always find a home at UPS just as he had. Today, UPS supports hundreds of thousands of jobs and helps our economy grow and thrive every day. The values of hard work, optimism, and service to others that have guided David's life are infused into the company that he has led. For example, during the COVID-19 crisis, UPS helped manage logistics to deliver critical aid to those who needed it. UPS workers put their own health and safety at risk to serve their communities. David's devotion to serving others extends beyond UPS. He has helped support local businesses as the chairman of the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce. He served on the board of Catalyst, which works to bring women, particularly women of color, into senior leadership positions. He frequently supports his alma mater, so that the next generation of bright young students can find success no matter where they come from. As David Abney prepares to retire from UPS this year, he will be leaving an incredible legacy of excellence, growth, and selfless service. He has made UPS, the State of Georgia, and the entire country a better place. It is my pleasure to wish David, his wife Sherry, and their entire family the very best.

Mr. PERDUE

Mr. PERDUE. Mr. President, I have 9 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 Armed Services The Committee on Armed Services is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Tuesday, July 28, 2020, at 9:30 a.m., to conduct a hearing. Committee on Armed Services The Committee on Armed Services is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Tuesday, July 28, 2020, at 2:30 p.m., to conduct a hearing on nominations. Committee on Energy and Natural Resources The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Tuesday, July 28, 2020, at 10 a.m., to conduct a hearing. Committee on Finance The Committee on Finance is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Tuesday, July 28, 2020, at 10: 15 a.m., to conduct a hearing. Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs The Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Tuesday, July 28, 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, July 28, 2020, at 2:30 p.m., to conduct a hearing. Subcommittee on Communication, Technology, Innovation, and The Internet The Subcommittee on Communication, Technology, Innovation, and The Internet of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Tuesday, July 28, 2020, at 10 a.m., to conduct a hearing. Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs The Subcommittee on Regulatory Affairs and Federal Management of the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Tuesday, July 28, 2020, at 2:30 p.m., to conduct a hearing. Subcommittee on Intellectual Property The Subcommittee on Intellectual Property of the Committee on the Judiciary is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Tuesday, July 28, 2020, at 10 a.m., to conduct a hearing.

Mr. PERDUE

Mr. PERDUE. Madam President, the word ``bipartisanship'' gets tossed around a lot in this town. Unfortunately, we don't often see bipartisanship put into action. However, as we have faced an unprecedented crisis recently, I believe we have seen the Senate prove that it can, in fact, get it done. People can come together, and real, bipartisan solutions can actually happen in this body. It is actually encouraging to me--and it is simply a function of what I have known since I was a kid--that Americans deal with a crisis better than anyone else. In many ways, we put things aside, and we get together for what is good for the people back home. Since the COVID-19 crisis began, we have passed three phases of relief packages to help our country weather this COVID-19 storm. In these three phases, we ramped up testing in support of our healthcare workers, we helped Americans who are struggling financially, and we created the Paycheck Protection Program, which has saved millions of jobs and many businesses. Today, as we debate a fourth COVID-19 relief package, it is absolutely critical that we continue to find common ground and bipartisan solutions to bring our country together again. The Healthcare Workforce Resilience Act is a real, bipartisan solution to a serious problem our country faces today in our healthcare delivery system. This bill is first and foremost a healthcare bill that will help our hospitals deal with this COVID-19 crisis. It is absolutely critical that we include it in the next COVID-19 relief package. Today in America, many communities are facing severe shortages of doctors and nurses. Particularly, hospitals and clinics in rural areas and communities of color are badly understaffed and are struggling to fill crucial positions. My home State of Georgia has been especially impacted by this particular crisis. While Georgia is the 8th largest State by population, it ranks 39th in the number of active physicians per capita--39th. Over half of Georgia's 159 counties have been designated as primary care health professional shortage areas. The Georgia Department of Public Health has stated that Georgia's nursing shortage is a full-blown crisis. This is also true in most other States, actually. They have warned that Georgia is not able to recruit the nurses or doctors our hospitals need. But we can change that. The COVID-19 crisis did not start this shortage of healthcare workers, by the way, but it has exacerbated it dramatically. Since the beginning of this crisis, I have held conference calls with thousands of constituents across Georgia over the last 4\1/2\ months. I have heard directly from healthcare workers who have explained the dire situation they are facing. Nurses and doctors are working longer hours. Retirees are being asked to come back to work. Many healthcare workers have contracted the virus themselves. In fact, one study found that healthcare workers account for nearly one in five COVID-19 cases. In many areas, hospitals have simply not had enough staff to handle the COVID-19 patient increase. Albany, GA, was one of the first hardest hit areas in the country, right there in South Georgia. At one point, nurses and doctors from all over the country had to be flown in just to take care of all those who fell ill in Albany. In many cases, patients had to be exported to other hospitals in the State. As this virus continues to spread, many hospitals are in danger of being overwhelmed as we see this recent surge of COVID-19 cases, particularly in our younger people. Healthcare workers have been true heroes--there is no question about that. Right now, we have an opportunity to give them the support they desperately need. The Healthcare Workforce Resilience Act is a bipartisan solution that gives our hospitals the support they need to get through this crisis. Our bill simply recaptures unused green cards to give highly skilled, foreign-born nurses and doctors the opportunity to work in our country and help solve this crisis. It will recapture approximately 25,000 unused visas for nurses and 15,000 unused visas for doctors. This bill would cut redtape and give our hospitals critical support quickly as America continues to reopen our economy. It will ease the pressure on healthcare providers and help save American lives. I want to emphasize that this bill will not increase current legal immigration limits, displace American workers, or negatively impact healthcare worker wages. I have always been a supporter of a merit-based immigration system, and many people on the other side of the aisle are as well. We all continue to work in that direction. We believe that a merit-based immigration system can strengthen our economy and protect American jobs at the same time. This is a policy that President Trump and the majority of Congress have long supported--on both sides of the aisle, actually. The Healthcare Workforce Resilience Act is fully aligned with these merit-based policies. These immigrant nurses and doctors have already been hired and approved to work in our country. Many of them live here already. The only thing preventing them from saving lives is bureaucratic redtape and the backlog it creates. These folks are highly skilled, well qualified, and extremely motivated to be on the frontlines in the fight against COVID-19. They are all ready to go in the areas that need the most help. This bill is truly bipartisan. I am very proud to say that today. It has 36 cosponsors from both parties. I give the lead sponsor on the Democratic side, my friend from Illinois, Senator Durbin, a lot of credit for that. He has long been a champion for this sort of help in this area. This bill reflects what the American people want. It provides what our healthcare system needs. It has bipartisan support. Actually, in 2005, Congress passed a similar bill. That bill recaptured unused visas and helped address a nursing shortage that existed at the time across the country. It passed with overwhelming and nearly unanimous support. The coronavirus has put our country in a similar position today. There is no time to wait. The deeper our nurse and doctor shortage gets, the more Americans we are needlessly putting at risk. President John F. Kennedy once said: ``In a time of domestic crisis, men of goodwill and generosity should be able to unite regardless of party or politics.'' I don't think that comment has been any more timely than it is today in the midst of this crisis. We are indeed in a time of crisis. We have already shown that we can unite and find meaningful solutions. It is time to do it again. Let's get this bill across the finish line and support our healthcare workers and save lives in America. Madam President, I yield the floor to my colleague from Illinois, Senator Durbin, the lead Democratic cosponsor on the Healthcare Workforce Resilience Act, and I want to thank him for his tireless efforts in this regard and his strong leadership to help the young men and women on the frontlines of our healthcare delivery system.

Mr. PERDUE

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

Mr. PERDUE

Mr. PERDUE. Madam President, I further ask unanimous consent that notwithstanding the provisions of rule XXII, the Senate vote on the motion to invoke cloture on the Kan nomination at 11:30 a.m. tomorrow; further, that if cloture is invoked on the Kan nomination, the postcloture time expire at 2:45 p.m. tomorrow; further, that the cloture motion with respect to the Kaplan nomination ripen following disposition of the Kan nomination and, if cloture is invoked on the Kaplan nomination, the postcloture time expire at 4:45 p.m. tomorrow. I further ask that if either of the nominations are confirmed, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table and the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action. Finally, I ask unanimous consent that the cloture motion with respect to the McFerran nomination ripen at 11:30 a.m., Thursday, July 30; and that if cloture is invoked on the McFerran nomination, the postcloture time expire at 1:30 p.m. Thursday; and that if confirmed, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table and the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action.

Mr. PERDUE

Mr. PERDUE. I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. PERDUE. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the rollcall votes scheduled for 2:30 p.m. today begin now.

Mr. PERDUE

Mr. PERDUE. Madam President, throughout all of human history, in every generation, there are a handful of people who rise to the level of greatness. Despite adversity, danger, and sometimes impossible odds, these great men and women fight for what is right and push our society forward and make America better for the next generation. That has been true for the last 230 years. Representative John Lewis in our generation, who just passed away last week, was certainly the embodiment of this type of greatness. John was a titan in the struggle for civil rights and the equality of all races. Because of him, more Americans can enjoy their God-given rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. John's lifelong fight against injustice began at a very young age, as we now know. When his local library banned African Americans from checking out books, a teenaged John Lewis wrote a petition requesting and demanding equal access. From that point forward, John Lewis never backed down from the fight for what is right. He always remained peaceful, despite receiving physical violence and going to jail for his protests. His commitment to nonviolence served as a guiding force in John's life. He founded the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee to fight for nonviolent resistance across America. In 1961, he participated in the Freedom Rides to protest segregation in public transportation. John's determination for equal rights only grew stronger and more effective over time. At age 23, he was one of the ``Big Six'' leaders of the March on Washington where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., shared his dream for a better future for everyone. Later, John bravely marched across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, AL, where he was beaten in what was called Bloody Sunday. The efforts of John Lewis and others finally paid off with the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. That bill gave African Americans the right to fully participate in our democratic Republic. It pushed our country forward. That incredible victory may seem like the end of John's struggle for equal rights. In reality, it was just the beginning. For the rest of his life, John Lewis never lost sight of what the real fight involved. During his time in the Atlanta City Council and later in Congress, he never gave up the fight for justice. Today, our country is mourning a hero, a truly great American, and a great Georgian. As we continue to say our good-byes, we should also take this time to reflect on John Lewis's life and what he stood for. We should take this as a call to action to continue the effort to which he dedicated his life. The stain of injustice still marks our country. Just this year, there have been horrible tragedies that have shaken all of us to our core. Though John Lewis is no longer with us, we can still carry on his legacy. As if in legislative session, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 660, submitted earlier today, and that the text be read in full.

Mr. PERDUE

Mr. PERDUE. 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. PERDUE

Mr. PERDUE. I ask unanimous consent that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Mr. PERDUE. I know of no further debate on the bill, as amended.

Mr. PERDUE. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources be discharged from further consideration of S. 3758 and that the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.

Mr. PERDUE. I ask unanimous consent that the Merkley amendment at the desk be agreed to and that the bill, as amended, be considered read a third time.

Mr. PERDUE

Mr. PERDUE. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 414, S. 2864.

Mr. PERDUE. I ask unanimous consent that the committee-reported substitute amendment 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. PERDUE

Mr. PERDUE. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 9:30 a.m., Wednesday, July 1; further, that following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and morning business be closed; finally, that following leader remarks, the Senate resume consideration of Calendar No. 483, S. 4049.

Mr. PERDUE

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

Mr. PERDUE. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 422, S. 123.

Mr. PERDUE

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

Mr. PERDUE

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

Mr. PERDUE

Mr. PERDUE. Mr. President, I stand in strong support of and solidarity with my colleague and good friend from South Carolina, Tim Scott. It was 5 years ago when a White man walked into a church in Charleston, SC. After going through 1 hour of Bible study--after they prayed for him and read the Bible to him--he pulled out a gun and shot the nine people in that Bible study. Not long after that, the Presiding Officer and I attended one of the funerals in Charleston, SC, and Tim was there. Any other city in America would not have dealt with it the way Charleston, SC, did. Charleston, SC, dealt with it with love, which is something we don't talk about very often, and Tim Scott was there. Because of his time in grade and because of that mayor and because of the Black leaders in that town and the time in grade they had had with each other, they moved forward and overcame that tragedy. Five years ago, Tim Scott put a bill on this floor, and we ended up then in exactly the same place we are now--doing absolutely nothing. How many more Black men and women will have to die in America before this body stops playing politics with race? It is very clear to me, in having worked hard on justice reform, that there are opportunities--with $75 billion going into the most economically challenged communities in our country--because of Tim Scott, President Trump, and all that we are doing. HBCUs--our historically Black colleges and universities--are stronger today because of President Trump than they ever have been. The time to act is now and to stop playing politics and pandering to the Democratic base, and let's get something done. This bill was never intended to be an end all. It was intended to be a platform for constructive debate, and here we are with only two Democratic Senators voting to even start the debate. I yield to Senator Tim Scott.

Mr. PERDUE

Mr. PERDUE. Mr. President, I stand before this body today with a troubled heart, as most of us do, but that is not good enough. We have to kind of put away our own biases, our own prejudice. I am not talking about racial; I am talking about political. Today we have an opportunity to do something, to start a process. Words are cheap in this body. I hear a lot of empty words. I hope not to add to that quantity today. When I was a kid growing up in the Deep South, Martin Luther King wrote a letter from a jail cell in Birmingham to Black preachers in that community. He encouraged them to turn away from the violence that had such a potentially devastating impact and to seek reform peacefully; that in the long term, that was the better approach. My father had me read that letter. I gave a speech a couple years ago, and I quoted from that letter. It meant something to me as a young White man in the Deep South. Almost 57 years ago, on the other end of the National Mall from where we stand today, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., I believe, changed the world--certainly impacted millions of lives. Standing before thousands of people, he shared his dream. He dreamed of a world where justice would prevail over prejudice. He dreamed of an America where everyone would be judged not by the color of their skin but by the depth of their character. Since that day in 1963, a lot has changed in our country for the better. Unfortunately, Dr. King's vision of racial justice, harmony, and equality is yet to be fully realized. That is unacceptable. This year, our country is seeing devastating tragedies taking place in our communities, but what we see on TV really is the tip of the iceberg, as a lot of my friends from those communities tell me. I believe them. We need to make sure that the fundamental issue of fairness is upheld by all law enforcement agencies so everyone gets treated equally, fairly, period. The tragedies we have seen are unacceptable by any measure, and I don't think anybody in America thinks that what we have seen is right. Those who are responsible need to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, and we need to put a full stop to it right now. But that fight starts today, I believe, here in the U.S. Senate. Like so many Americans, my wife Bonnie and I have spent a lot of time reflecting and praying for our country and our friends and our fellow Americans in the last many weeks. It is clear to us that we have more work to do to make justice for all become a reality for every American. We are a nation of laws, but those laws have to be enforced fairly and equally. To truly be effective, the police need to have the confidence of the communities they serve, and in many cases today, that is just not the case. That trust and confidence must be earned, however. Clearly, there is much work to do on this front to build up mutual trust I had a conversation with two grandmothers last week--well-educated, successful women of color, in positions of tremendous responsibility-- and we talked about how their perspective and my perspective differed and how we saw each other in this crisis. But the most telling thing in that conversation was how they told me their No. 1 concern was for their grandsons and how their grandsons would be treated by members of the police force in their communities. That is a tragedy, and we can do something about it. This issue is personal to me. Growing up in middle Georgia in the 1960s, I have seen the devastation of racism, discrimination, a lack of equality, prejudice. As the son of two public school teachers, I saw how it weighed on my parents during that time. All they wanted was for every child to be treated equally, regardless of where they came from, what their name was, or the color of their skin. Understand, I grew up in a military town, and we had people there from all over the world. So this wasn't an idle conversation; this was an objective they tried to live up to every single day. They wanted every child to have the same simple opportunity. As superintendent of schools in our county, my father successfully integrated our school system--I remember that as a young kid--one of the first counties to do that in our State. They did it there without incident. It was a military town. We had people, again, from all over the world, and it was a joint effort. My dad did not do it because it was the easy thing to do, the convenient thing to do; he did it because it was the right thing to do. In my own life, I have been blessed to have interacted with people from all over the world in my career. My hometown of Warner Robins is a military town. I went to school there, went to church there, and played ball there with people literally from all over the world. Later on, my wife Bonnie and I had the opportunity to live around the world in different places. This challenged our perspective in many ways. It helped us develop a deeper appreciation of how America's diversity is at once our greatest asset and, yes, sometimes our greatest challenge. However, I also recognize that as a White man, my perspective is by definition very different from those of African Americans in my own community. We have these conversations all the time. I know I could never fully appreciate the pain and adversity many African Americans have faced in my lifetime and still face today. That is wrong. We can fix that starting today or at least start down that road again. Yes, we have made a lot of progress--I can see that in my own lifetime--but that is no reason to ignore the situation today or to sit back and not do anything. However, as Dr. King said at the Lincoln Memorial, we will ``not be satisfied until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.'' Right now, the Senate has the opportunity to fight for justice for all. Today we will be voting to--it is a technicality, but it is a motion to proceed. This is nothing more than to just start on the bill. I hear my Democratic colleagues talking about, well, it is not perfect; it is only 75 percent of the solution. Well, OK. Great. Let's start there. The purpose of a motion to proceed is to put a bill on the floor and actually debate it, have amendments. This bill is not perfect. It doesn't satisfy all the things I want to do. But it is a start. I plan to offer amendments. I am sure the Presiding Officer wants to offer amendments. We welcome amendments in this process. The majority leader has said we will have an open amendment process. What we want to do is offer up this as a starting point, not a final solution. Today we will have the vote on whether to start actually working on the JUSTICE Act. Senator Tim Scott has led a small task force to come up with the starting point--a bill that we can actually put our hands on, read, and then start changing. I am proud to be a cosponsor. We have many cosponsors. I think that we will probably have a unanimous vote on that on the Republican side today. My prayer is that we will have many on the Democratic side say: Look, we understand it is not perfect. We want this. We want that. Let's put in the work, and let's start working on this now. It should be a foregone conclusion that we get overwhelming bipartisan support to debate the bill. Let's make it a good law. If it is not to your satisfaction, fine. Let's debate it. Some say: Well, we don't trust the majority leader. You don't have to trust the majority leader. The rules of the Senate protect each individual Senator once we put the bill in play. But if we don't put the bill on the floor, nobody is protected--especially our constituents. Unfortunately, many of my colleagues on the other side are attempting to shut down this debate before we even start. They say it doesn't go far enough. They call it a token. That is absurd. That is ridiculous. It is insulting, particularly to my good friend Tim Scott. Look, none of us believes this bill is perfect or an end-all as it is. As I just said, we have differences on this side, but we are willing to put it on the floor. We have allowed the Democrats to do things like this where we went on the floor and tried to debate a bill to get it to where--if you don't like what we end up with, you can always vote it down at cloture. You don't have to even go to the final vote. All we are pleading for today is a motion to proceed to allow this bill to go on the floor and be fully debated. It is simply a starting point for debate and true compromise. Isn't that what our job is? Isn't that what we are supposed to do? I ask my Democratic colleagues this: What major bill has come before this body in perfect form at the very outset? I can't think of any. If you have issues with this bill, let's debate it and offer amendments. Don't let perfect be the enemy of the good, please. On major issues like this, it is our duty to come together. It is our duty to find common ground. It is our duty to fight for what is right. This bill offers meaningful solutions that will help build trust between law enforcement and the communities they serve. These are just ideas. It provides solutions that all of us can get behind right now. In addition to modifying the rules concerning the use of force and providing body cams, this bill does several critical things to establish that trust and provide additional funding to help improve our police forces. First, it incentivizes police recruiting to reflect the demographics of the communities they serve. How simple is that? This is a big step. If the police live in the communities they serve, if they reflect the demographics of that community, if they identify with the people of that community, it is a lot easier to develop trust and common ground Second, this bill encourages deescalation training for law enforcement officers. This will help law enforcement develop the skills and techniques they need to prevent public interactions that lead to the violence we have seen of late. Third, this bill creates a database that helps our communities root out those who do not serve the public even though they are enforcing law. The bottom line is that the bill increases funding for law enforcement. It doesn't defend law enforcement or eliminate the police force. These solutions we are offering up as a starting point today are meaningful. They will restore the confidence of our communities and hold accountable police officers who abuse their positions or who are poorly trained. Most of us who truly want change also understand that eliminating police forces is not the answer, as some suggest. Our police forces are to serve and protect our communities--all of our communities--and there needs to be change before they can be successful in that. We have proven in the past that we can come together to fight for what is right. We did when we provided permanent funding for our HBCUs, our historically Black colleges and universities. We did it when we created opportunity zones in hundreds of communities of color around the country, many of them economically challenged. In 2018, when we passed the bipartisan criminal justice reform bill--the biggest one in the last 50 years--that was true progress. We did it. We can do it again today, but first we have to put this bill on the floor. We have to start the debate. We have to pass this motion to proceed, or--guess what--no debate will happen. They will talk to their base, Republicans will talk to our base, and nothing will happen. A pox on all of us if we let that happen. If Democrats shut down this bill today, it will demonstrate a lack of sincerity, in my opinion, to at least engage in finding solutions. This is no different from the immigration conversation we had just a couple years ago. When the President of the United States, Donald Trump, offered up a pathway to citizenship for 1.8 million DACA recipients and we couldn't even get a debate going with the other side--they turned it down out of hand because it was President Trump's suggestion. All of us need to remember that while we look different, we might talk differently, we certainly may think differently, we really are one Nation under God. Our diversity is our strength. It makes us different. It makes us stronger. It makes us the leader of the world in our current time. What unites us is far greater than what divides us. Let's work on this bill today and start building a more perfect union for every American. Let's vote yes on this motion to proceed. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. PERDUE

Mr. PERDUE. Mr. President, the State of Georgia and truly the entire world lost an exceptional beacon of goodness and faith when Ravi Zacharias passed away on May 19, 2020. However, our loss is Heaven's gain. Ravi was a man of deep faith, love, and service to others. He embodied the command of Jesus in Mark 16:15 to ``Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.'' Ravi first came to know the teachings of Jesus Christ when he was 17 years old, when a nurse read the Word of God to him while he was recovering from a suicide attempt. From that day forth, Ravi made it his mission to share with others the joy and faith which had rescued him from despair. In 1971, when he was just 25 years old, Ravi traveled to war-torn Vietnam, where he ministered in hospitals, military bases, and prison camps. The trip nearly cost him his life. Yet he went on to travel to every corner of the world sharing the Gospel. In 1983, Reverend Billy Graham personally invited Ravi to speak at the inaugural International Conference for Itinerant Evangelists in Amsterdam. This helped Ravi develop a new passion for apologetics. Not only did he want to spread the Gospel, he wanted to help train others how to defend their faith in a rapidly secularizing world. A year later, Ravi founded Ravi Zacharias International Ministries to carry out this mission. Over the years, Ravi continued sharing faith and love around the world through speaking engagements, books, and radio appearances, reaching untold numbers of people in need. Ravi built incredible institutions for sharing the Christian faith. He founded the Oxford Centre for Christian Apologetics. He founded Wellspring International, a humanitarian group helping women and children around the world. In 2017, he founded the Zacharias Institute to teach apologetics in Atlanta, Georgia. Ravi spent the last 36 years of his life in Atlanta. He is remembered as a man of kindness, joy, and steadfast devotion to his faith. He leaves behind his beloved wife Margie and three children: Sarah, Naomi, and Nathan, all of whom are carrying on his incredible legacy of faith and service.

Mr. PERDUE

Mr. PERDUE. Mr. President, we are on the cusp of a historic bill today--a bipartisan bill--that we took a different approach on, thanks to Republican leadership. We asked the leaders of each of the committees, both Democrats and Republicans, to focus on their portion of the needs behind this COVID-19 crisis. Before I get into my remarks today, though, I want to remind my colleagues here today that we have sponsored a resolution recognizing and thanking all the people in America who are stepping up and, as others have said, putting their own health and their families' health at risk to make sure that their neighbors and friends and patients and business partners are taken care of. I am talking about supply chain people, healthcare workers, transportation workers, ag industry--all the people in the country who are keeping the essential needs of our population going. While restaurants are closed, they have takeout services, even here in Washington, DC. That is not an easy thing to do for those folks. It is a loss. They are losing money right now. I want to make sure that we recognize, in the midst of this crisis, how Americans are responding. Americans always respond to crisis in a better way than anybody else in the history of the world, in my opinion. Sometimes we are not always the quickest to recognize that we are in a crisis, but, right now, we are responding to this one right here before us. As a matter of fact, I believe we have two crises today. One is obviously the medical crisis--the healthcare crisis that we now are characterizing as the COVID-19 virus. We know how it originated, and we know now what other countries that were ahead of us in the cycle are learning from that. But because of that, we have a connecting economic crisis that we are trying to deal with in this piece of legislation today. I hope we can get this done tonight. I don't see any reason why we can't. We have a deal. There are some questions here in the last hour, but I think we will get those done and hopefully get this vote going tonight. As we deal with these two crises, it is my suggestion that we look at how we address dealing with this crisis in three phases. One is we are in the middle of the first phase right now, and I would characterize it as mobilization, where we are identifying the severity of the disease; we are identifying who is the most vulnerable; we are identifying what we need to do to deal with it; and we are mobilizing behind it. We have seen a dramatic increase in the number of tests, thanks to Vice President Pence. We still have shortages of testing kits, swabs, and reagents, and even testing machines. But we have things, like in my State, where one of our major hospitals, Emory University Hospital, has their own testing. They can do it in a number of hours versus days, and they are making that available to other hospitals in the State. This is all hands on deck. And they will probably lose money doing that, but they are willing to do that. We have an apparel company in Georgia that has now shut down their business in apparel. They have good orders, profitable orders. They are putting those aside to make masks to try to help fill the need there and those shortages. But the mobilization phase is where we are today. Based on the experiences of other countries, we are identifying what we might expect here. We have hot spots in our country, just like other countries have had. We saw what happened in Wuhan and Hubei Province in China. I have been there. It is a very old population--older population. They were late getting to the identification, treatment, and isolation, and we see the repercussions of that. But what we can learn from them is that they are ahead of us in the cycle. However they dealt with that in the early days, we see now how they have dealt with that crisis and what is happening with the numbers, and we can learn from that. I will talk about that in a second. The second phase, though, is transition. This is one that I am not sure we are in it yet, but we are about to go into it partly because of this package; that is, to make sure that we protect the parts of the economy that we can so that when we do start to come out of this, just like every other country ahead of us in the cycle has done and is doing right now, we will have our businesses in a position to reconnect with the employees they have worked so hard to develop. Of course, the third phase is full-on recovery; that is, to do the things to get the economy back on its strong footing and to make sure we address the shortages that we found in our current preparation for this. For example, we didn't have a strategic stockpile of some of the essential medical supplies we needed for the identification, testing, and treatment of this particular virus. That recovery will take some time, but at the same time, as America always responds to these sorts of things, I believe we can respond very quickly if we get the transition phase correct, and that is what I want to talk about today. As we look at the medical crisis, though, we understand now, through a lot of data outside of the United States--and I will caveat this by saying that each country's experience is just a little bit different. I would also comment that there is a lot of noise in the data that I see around the world right now. The medical community is doing a great job of trying to aggregate this data to see how it applies to our needs here at home. I give our doctors and nurses and caregivers the highest thank-you I can for what they are doing here and all over the world, for that matter. But the experience in Italy might not be the same as it is here. The experience in South Korea might not be the same as it is here. So we have to look at those and be very careful that we don't try to extrapolate either the severity or lack of severity as being applicable here. Before I get to the bill, what we do know, though, is that just this week, the World Health Organization published an update to their numbers. They are characterizing this disease this way--and every country has a little bit different infection rate and a little different mortality rate. I believe in the United States, because we haven't tested as broadly as some of the other countries have--like South Korea--we don't know what the denominator is yet, so we really don't know what the mortality rate is, or the infection rate, for that matter. But just to put this into perspective, this is from the World Health Organization: About 80 percent of the people infected with this COVID- 19 virus will probably have a mild--that is the way they characterize it--experience with this disease. Fifteen percent will be serious enough to go to a hospital, and then of that, 5 percent will be critical patients, typically generally toward the more vulnerable patients--the elderly, people with respiratory preexisting diseases or who have potentially immune deficiencies. As we deal with that medical crisis--and we poured a lot of resources toward that in the first two phases of help, in addition to what the President did with his $50 billion allocation earlier--in this bill, almost $2 trillion of aid, as we see it, goes toward businesses and communities and States to make sure that we can weather this storm. Let's be very clear about this. This is not about companies. This is about employees. This is about the people who work for employers, either in their own business or in somebody else's business. This is all about employees. It is merely a financial bridge to get through this period of time, to get into that recovery phase that I was trying to describe here a little earlier. It is about the employer-employee relationship and to make sure we keep that relationship intact. In the last 3 years, we created 7.5 million new jobs. Prior to this coronavirus crisis, we had an economy that was just booming. It created 7.5 million new jobs. We had 7.5 million job openings, as a matter of fact, and only 5 million people looking for work. So we had a situation where we had the economy moving in the right direction, and then this hits. We want to make sure we don't lose any of those jobs, and for that reason, we focused on the employer-employee relationship. Yes, we plussed up unemployment benefits for the States so that they are not overwhelmed, but we made sure the employer had the liquidity to keep these people employed. In that vein, we did not want to have a liquidity crisis, which we could very well have right now because of shutting down these businesses. We didn't want that liquidity crisis to turn into an insolvency crisis. We can deal with a liquidity issue. It is very difficult to come back and deal with companies that have gone insolvent and are now in bankruptcy proceedings. That is a very long and difficult process. It is difficult to come back from. We do not want to do that. And that was the primary purpose of most of the facets of this bill--some $2 trillion. I will say this about that. There are two major components to do that. One is a small business contingency. A little over 50 percent of the people who work in America work for companies that have 500 employees or fewer. That is a new learning for me. That has changed dramatically. But it is the engine--this is not new news--this is the engine of new job growth in the last 3 years. We know that. Well, we have $350 billion directly targeted toward those small businesses, which could then, by the way, go to their existing local banker and get this contingency, a government-backed loan guarantee. In addition to that, there is $454 billion directed at other businesses, plus another $58 billion toward strategically important industries, like our airline industry and so forth. Again, most of this money is in the form of loan guarantees to provide liquidity to keep the employees employed with their employers. It is no more difficult than that. But there is one other thing that is not being discussed, and I want to highlight this, and that is, $454 billion is historic. That is a lot of money. But it has the ability--through the Treasury, they can actually lever that up in terms of the way the money goes out to banks. It can be levered up to $3 or $4 trillion. So what we are talking about here is the potential of up to $5 trillion of liquidity into our economy. This is historic, and it should be enough to shock the system to say: OK, there is going to be liquidity here. There may be some growing pains in the early days, but the liquidity is going to be there to weather this storm, to bridge this crisis. I want to look at what is next. I will talk about this transition phase and maybe even the recovery phase for a second The first thing we have to do is we have to really learn from other countries that are ahead of us in the cycle. For example, it took about 6 to 8 weeks for China, even with their mistakes, to go from zero to their maximum number. We know the disease has a life cycle. If somebody is infected with it, if they survive, they come on the back side. So far, there are over 70,000 people who have had the disease in China and are healthy now. We know from anecdotal evidence on the ground that about 80 percent of the employed workers in China are beginning to go back to work in almost 90 percent of the factories. This is outside of Wuhan and Hubei Province. They are going back to work. In South Korea, the learning there is testing, testing, testing, but more than that, they also track contacts. There are 50 million people in South Korea. We have 330 million. It is a little different here. But in certain cities and States, they can certainly look at doing that. So we have to learn from countries like South Korea, Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia, and even China because they are ahead of us in this cycle. In the first few weeks of this cycle, we should be going from zero to whatever our maximum number is. But it is the number of active cases that is the most important, not the number of total cases. The mortality rate is yet to be determined because we don't really know the denominator. But I believe, if we can test more--and according to Vice President Pence, the acceleration curve for that is underway right now, and we will have the ability to do that. Contact tracking is another, and then isolation is another one we have to think about, unfortunately. We have hot spots. With the Ebola crisis in Africa, what we learned from the medical community was that if they could put a full court press on the areas of flaring, where they had the disease flare up, and isolate it so they didn't have people traveling outside of those areas--isolation by geography and demography are unfortunately called for if we are going to do everything we have to do to control this disease in the timeframe that we should. The third thing I will highlight briefly is that I believe right now this shows that we were behind in terms of our preparation for a pandemic like this--there is no question about it--in the country and the world. We can point fingers and blame. That is not my purpose today. What I want to say about this is that in America, if we can bring the world's resources of data--this is the big thing. We have limited data in the United States. Other countries have a lot of data. I believe that if we aggregate that data and create a Manhattan Project-type effort to go toward vaccines and treatments, we can absolutely be ready for flu season next year if, in fact, this particular COVID-19 virus has a seasonality. We don't know that yet. In conclusion, there is no question that this is a moment of challenge in America. I will say this: President Trump, for all his distractors, early on stepped up and was a strong leader. I said this several years ago--he reminded me of Winston Churchill: irascible but effective in getting results. That is what we had early on. Right now, we need a steady hand to make sure we don't kill the economy while we kill this disease. And my only point is that in this transition period--and nobody has all the answers yet--we need to start asking the question of what we can do in this transition period to find a balance between protecting life and protecting the economy long term so that when people get well, they will have a job to go back to and will have an economy that can help the world prepare for the next pandemic that we are talking about here. The American people have the best spirit, I believe, in the history of the world when it comes to dealing with this crisis. I have talked about a couple of examples in my State. The airlines right now are another one. I know that Delta is one of the primary airline carriers we have in the country. They are keeping some flights on. I know I have a reservation on a commercial flight later this week, and I asked my assistant: Are you sure I can get a seat on that plane? She said: Yes. There are only five people who have booked seats on that plane. So it shows that people are trying to do their part here--neighbors, people going to their grocery stores for their neighbors, taking care of picking up the mail, doing anything they can to protect the people who are at risk. In small communities, we know how to do that. In major cities, it is difficult, but it is even possible there. I will conclude with this: There is a day coming--and it is not that far off--that we will be behind the top end of this curve in America. We will have lost some lives. That is unfortunate. We all regret that. But what we have to do now is to make sure we prepare ourselves for this transition phase, that while we are still dealing with people who are getting the disease, the disease is on the wane, and the economy needs to be brought back so that we can make sure that we can prepare this country for the next round that we may or may not see in the future. With that, I yield the floor.