Chuck Schumer

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 209, submitted earlier today.

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

Mr. SCHUMER. 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. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, 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. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 210, submitted earlier today.

Mr. SCHUMER. I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, 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. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 211, submitted earlier today.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, pursuant to S. Res. 27, the Finance Committee being tied on the question of reporting, I move to discharge the Senate Finance Committee from further consideration of the nomination of Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, of Virginia, to be Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, for the information of all Senators, we expect a vote on the motion to discharge to occur around noon tomorrow, Wednesday, May 12. I yield the floor.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I move to proceed to executive session.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. First, let me thank our chair of the Banking Committee, someone who has fought against the abuses in the financial services industry throughout his career, Senator Brown. Let me also thank Senator Van Hollen, who, again, has been one of those leaders doing great things to help people who are often taken advantage of. Now, for millions of working Americans, one of the most dangerous things that can happen is falling victim to predatory lenders. Unscrupulous actors have always promised quick cash or credit to people with unexpected expenses or financial difficulties, only to trap them with crippling interest rates that can erase a person's life savings or even claim their homes. They are in trouble. They reach out to the lifeline, and the lifeline is a trap. Often they are trapped for years and even some for their whole lives. That is why more than 40 States have passed laws that prohibit this behavior and placed limits on interest rates made by nonbank lenders. It runs the gamut from liberal California to conservative Texas. Inexplicably--inexplicably--the Trump administration decided to give these predatory lenders a massive loophole to circumvent State law and once again prey on low-income Americans. Under the Trump administration's rule, so long as payday lenders found a bank to provide the cash upfront and attach their name to the transaction, interest rates in the triple digits were suddenly OK, even if the States explicitly banned it. It is despicable and so typical of the Trump administration not caring about average folks at all and just listening to the special interests. It had devastating consequences for working families and for small businesses. In New York, the owner of a southern food restaurant in Harlem took out a $67,000 loan from a fraudulent lender to make renovations to their restaurant. They fell behind on payments and tried to work with their lender when COVID hit and realized that their loan had an APR of 268 percent. Rather than work toward a solution, the lender went to the bank to try and foreclose on their property--their property in which they had put blood and sweat and tears--stating that the Trump rule gave them the grounds to do so. It mattered little that New York State law had a 268-percent interest rate as blatantly illegal. So today's vote is simple. It would revoke the Trump administration's so-called true lender rule that permits predatory lenders to exploit small businesses and working Americans. In the middle of a pandemic, the last thing we should be doing is perpetrating a rule that makes it easier for payday lenders to scam working people and business owners. With today's vote, the Senate stands up for working families and small businesses all across the country by repealing this terrible, essentially Scrooge-like rule pushed by former President Trump and his allies. And one final point for those who say elections don't make a difference. Just look at this. Here was a rule protecting people-- States protected people. The Trump administration comes in and rips away those protections, leaving so many people bare and defenseless because they were desperate; they need the money. Elections occur. A new Democratic President, a Democratic Senate, and this horrible, horrible rule change by the Trump administration is undone. We go back to giving some help and protection to working families and small business people. This story could be repeated not just with CRAs but up and down the line--up and down the line. Elections do make a difference, and today's vote shows one of many examples. Vote on S.J. Res. 15 I yield the floor and, Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that all remaining time be yielded back.

Mr. SCHUMER. Let me first commend my colleague from Ohio for the excellent work, not only moving this forward but the vote counting that he did, which worked with a little bit of margin of error.

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

Mr. SCHUMER

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

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, the last time we observed Mother's Day, most of the country could not spend time with their parents or have their kids spend time with them. Standing outside of a window and waving to mom was the closest you could get. I remember that. So this year, I was beyond grateful to celebrate with my mother and my daughters in person. I know the same was true for Americans across the country. As COVID-19 continues to recede--and more than half of eligible adults have received at least one shot of the vaccine after a very painful and difficult year--it was another sign that our country is turning the corner. Praise God. Now, as we begin this work period, the Senate will continue working to help the country recover and build back stronger than ever. That includes filling vacancies in the executive branch with highly qualified public servants. This week, the Senate will consider the nomination of Andrea Palm for Deputy HHS Secretary and Cynthia Marten, a teacher of 17 years, to serve as the next Deputy Education Secretary. There will be additional nominations on the floor as the week goes on. At the committee level, at least half a dozen other nominees will have their markups. There will be plenty of legislative action off the floor as well. Discussions continue on a potential, bipartisan infrastructure bill, gun safety legislation, and policing reform. On Wednesday, the Senate Commerce Committee will begin to mark up the Endless Frontier Act, bipartisan legislation that would invest in our scientific and technologic capabilities and help the United States outcompete China and other nations in a number of emerging industries. There have been extremely constructive bipartisan talks over the last week, and I am fully supportive of the product that will be considered in Wednesday's committee meeting. In addition, a number of other Senate committees are working on bipartisan legislation to improve our competitiveness and make the United States a world leader in advanced manufacturing, innovation, and supply chains. It is my intention to have the full Senate consider comprehensive competitive legislation during this work period. This week, the Senate Rules Committee will also mark up S. 1, a bill to strengthen our democracy, increase transparency in our campaign finance system, and make it easier for all Americans to vote. The Senate Democratic majority named this bill ``S. 1'' because it is a very top priority. The majority gets to name the first five bills of any new Congress. We picked the For the People Act to be S. 1 for a reason. Make no mistake, we are moving forward with S. 1 in the Rules Committee this week. I will attend the markup tomorrow. As a reminder to my colleagues, I have committed to bring S. 1 to the floor of the Senate. As the Rules Committee prepares to amend and advance S. 1, our Republican colleagues face a critical choice between working with Democrats in good faith to pass law to protect our democracy or siding with Republican State legislatures that are orchestrating the largest contraction of voting rights in decades. There is no reason our two parties can't work together on S. 1. In fact, the legislation has already been updated and improved. It now includes input from election officials across the country, including Republican election officials. I am sure we will see additional amendments to mark up tomorrow. For example, I understand my colleague from Georgia, Senator Ossoff, will offer an amendment to ban States from restricting volunteers from giving food and water to Americans waiting in line to vote. You would think such a provision would be unnecessary, but, sadly, giving voters food or water while they are waiting in long lines has just been criminalized by the State of Georgia. Look, we know our Republican colleagues don't like every aspect of S. 1, but will they work in good faith to improve it? Will they offer revisions or new ideas to protect voting rights, or, through uncompromising resistance to commonsense voter protections, will they side with Republican legislatures across the country that are restricting the voting rights in a way that hurts African Americans, Latinos, and younger and poorer Americans? The choice is theirs. Two final points on this. No. 1, Donald Trump spread the ``big lie.'' We all know it was a big lie that there was massive fraud in the elections. Instead of resisting that lie--so harmful to our democracy because when people don't have faith in the electoral process, it withers faith in our very democracy--so many Republicans in State legislatures and here in the Senate, unfortunately, are spreading that lie. Second, what has been the tradition of America? It has been to improve the right to vote. At the time of the Constitution, in many States, you had to be a White male Protestant property owner to vote. We have improved on that. We have improved on that beginning in many different ways through the years. What the Republican legislatures are taking is a giant setback--a giant step back in the progress we have made to making this a more perfect union. Will the Republican Senate, in the Rules Committee tomorrow and later on the floor of the Senate when they bring the bill forward, participate in improving on democracy or in helping, aiding, and abetting the big lie and the giant step backward? Finally, on State and local aid, today the Treasury Department launched a $350 billion program to deliver aid to State and local governments--funding that Democrats in Congress provided through the American Rescue Plan. After fighting this pandemic on the frontlines, State and local governments in New York and across the country needed help, and they needed it quickly to keep frontline workers on the job and prevent brutal service cuts. Thanks to the American Rescue Plan and the Treasury Department's announcement this morning, we can finally say that help is on the way to State and local governments. Eligible State, territorial, city, county, and Tribal governments will be able to access funding directly from the Treasury Department in the coming days. State and local governments now need to file applications with Treasury. Once they are processed, money will begin flowing. Let me say that again. State, local, and Tribal governments should prepare to file applications with the Treasury Department for assistance, and I am told the assistance will be quickly forthcoming. And, State and local government, it is not only available, it is flexible. The Biden administration deserves credit for providing clear guidance in broad categories for spending the money, letting States make their own decisions about how to allocate funds to recover from the pandemic and address immediate needs. Whether it is to support public health systems, small businesses, necessary infrastructure, hard-hit industries like tourism, or premium pay for essential workers, States can use the funding we passed in the American Rescue Plan to help their constituents and their economy recover in a variety of ways. The Treasury Department's announcement today begins the process of delivering the resources our States and municipalities need to prevent layoffs, keep essential services running, and boost Main Street businesses from one end of the country to the other. I was proud to successfully push for robust State and local funding in the American Rescue Plan, and I will continue to work with the Biden administration as this funding is distributed. I yield the floor. No, I don't yield the floor. I finished my speech, but I have another activity or two to do.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I move to proceed to executive session to consider Calendar No. 108.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I move to proceed to legislative session.

Mr. SCHUMER

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

Mr. SCHUMER. Finally, I ask unanimous consent that the mandatory quorum calls for the cloture motions filed today, May 10, be waived.

Mr. SCHUMER

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

Mr. SCHUMER

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

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I move to proceed to executive session to consider Calendar No. 112.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I move to proceed to legislative session.