Business Before the Senate (Cong. Rec., June 3, 2020)
Summary
The opening Senate and House proceedings in the Congressional Record, Volume 166, No. 103, for Wednesday, June 3, 2020. The House was not in session and is to meet next on Thursday, June 4, 2020, at 10 a.m. The Senate met at 10 a.m., was called to order by Senator Shelley Moore Capito, and heard a prayer by the Chaplain, Dr. Barry C. Black. In his remarks Mr. McConnell says the Senate is filling vacancies and had confirmed the Special Inspector General for Pandemic Response, and the clerk reads a nomination to be a Deputy Under Secretary of Defense.
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Cite this document
“Business Before the Senate (Cong. Rec., June 3, 2020).”
Original at www.govinfo.gov. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/crec-crec-2020-06-03-crec-2020-06-03-pt1-pgs2659-8-90c05fdbbd/
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Congressional Record
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116 th CONGRESS, SECOND SESSION
United States
of America PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATES OF THE
Vol. 166 WASHINGTON, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3, 2020 No. 103
House of Representatives
The House was not in session today. Its next meeting will be held on Thursday, June 4, 2020, at 10 a.m.
Senate
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3, 2020
The Senate met at 10 a.m. and was to the Senate from the President pro healthcare professionals, and paralyze
called to order by the Honorable SHEL- tempore (Mr. GRASSLEY). schools, universities, and employers
LEY MOORE CAPITO, a Senator from the The senior assistant legislative clerk that are eager to reopen. Of course,
State of West Virginia. read the following letter: there is also the important business we
f U.S. SENATE, would have needed to have addressed
PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE, even before the pandemic.
PRAYER Washington, DC, June 3, 2020. So, for all of these reasons and more,
The Chaplain, Dr. Barry C. Black, of- To the Senate: while the Democratic House of Rep-
fered the following prayer: Under the provisions of rule I, paragraph 3, resentatives may be absent—with no
Let us pray. of the Standing Rules of the Senate, I hereby plans to return for weeks and weeks—
appoint the Honorable SHELLEY MOORE CAP- the U.S. Senate is here and working for
Eternal God, ruler of the universe, we
ITO, a Senator from the State of West Vir-
rejoice because You are near. Lord, we ginia, to perform the duties of the Chair.
the American people.
are grateful we belong to You, and You This week, we are filling more crit-
CHUCK GRASSLEY, ical vacancies throughout our govern-
desire us to call You our Father in President pro tempore.
good and bad times. We can face any ment. Yesterday, we confirmed the
Mrs. CAPITO thereupon assumed the
calamity with the knowledge that Special Inspector General for Pan-
Chair as Acting President pro tempore. demic Response. This is a brandnew po-
nothing can separate us from Your
f sition born of immediate necessity and
love. Death and life can’t. Our fears for
today and our worries about tomorrow RECOGNITION OF THE MAJORITY goals shared by Members of both par-
can’t. Whether we are high above the LEADER ties. Yet, though our Democratic col-
clouds or in the deepest ocean, nothing leagues said for weeks that CARES Act
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- oversight was a top priority, our col-
in all creation can separate us from pore. The majority leader is recog-
You. May this knowledge of Your abid- leagues chose to delay this nomination
nized. for as long as possible. When the rubber
ing and indestructible love inspire our
Senators to trust You with all their f met the road, yet again, picking small
hearts and depend upon Your wisdom. fights with President Trump took prec-
BUSINESS BEFORE THE SENATE
We pray in Your awesome Name. edence over urgent work for the com-
Mr. MCCONNELL. Madam President, mon good.
Amen.
our Nation is caught within a number At the same time, we also hear from
f of grave problems at the same time. the very same Democratic colleagues
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE This week, in cities all across Amer- that they wish the Senate would spend
The Presiding Officer led the Pledge ica, the pain of racial injustice has less time on nominations. Well, the
of Allegiance, as follows: been compounded by violent riots that good news is that the Senate Demo-
have drowned out peaceful protests and crats can change that whenever they
I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the
United States of America, and to the Repub- hurt innocent people. Millions of work- want, but as long as they continue to
lic for which it stands, one nation under God, ing families continue to face the his- visit delays and obstruction on even
indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. toric economic fallout from the these lower level executive branch ap-
f coronavirus pandemic, including unem- pointments, just for the sake of irri-
ployment levels not seen in decades, tating the White House, the Senate
APPOINTMENT OF ACTING and, lest we forget, the actual pan- will continue to do our job the hard
PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE demic itself is still with us. The virus way.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The continues to claim hundreds of Amer- Of course, in the weeks ahead, we
clerk will please read a communication ican lives every day, challenge will also tackle significant legislation
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∑ This ‘‘bullet’’ symbol identifies statements or insertions which are not spoken by a Member of the Senate on the floor.
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S2660 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE June 3, 2020
for our country. We will turn to legis- administrations. The President’s strat- The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem-
lation to strengthen the implementa- egy and diplomacy have helped create pore. The clerk will call the roll.
tion of the Paycheck Protection Pro- a path for discussions among Afghans— The senior assistant legislative clerk
gram for the workers and small busi- the only thing that could actually se- proceeded to call the roll.
nesses that are struggling to weather cure the country’s future. Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I
this storm. We will consider a bipar- If these qualified successes continue, ask unanimous consent that the order
tisan bill from Senators DAINES and it would be appropriate to further re- for the quorum call be rescinded.
GARDNER to safeguard America’s abun- duce our American presence as certain The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mrs.
dant public lands. For the 60th con- conditions are met, but we must retain LOEFFLER). Without objection, it is so
secutive year, we will also take up the enough forces and influence to main- ordered.
National Defense Authorization Act to tain our counterterrorism capabilities. RECOGNITION OF THE MINORITY LEADER
help guide the strategic and oper- Given recent reports and our long- The PRESIDING OFFICER. The
ational priorities of our Nation’s standing experience, we cannot just Democratic leader is recognized.
Armed Forces in the face of evolving trust the Taliban will sever ties to al- PROTESTS AND BUSINESS OF THE SENATE
threats. Qaida and other terrorist networks. We
Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President,
f need to be vigilant. We need to main-
this has been a very difficult week
tain enough presence to judge whether
AFGHANISTAN after what has been a very difficult few
the Taliban complies with agreements
Mr. MCCONNELL. Madam President, months. A nation, beleaguered by dis-
and help the Afghan Government im-
make no mistake, the foreign actors ease and economic depression, has once
pose consequences if it does not. We
who seek to harm the United States again come face-to-face with the racial
need to maintain enough presence to
have not let up while we have attended injustice that infects our society. The
preserve our strategic foothold against
to other problems. For example, in Af- death of George Floyd in police cus-
ISIS, the Haqqani Network, and al-
ghanistan, despite agreeing just tody was a searing reminder of a long
Qaida. We should also maintain enough
months ago to engage in further peace list of unarmed African Americans
presence to help prevent a full replay
negotiations with the Afghan Govern- whose lives have been taken under
of Iraq or Syria—a bloodbath and a
ment and sever its ties with al-Qaida, similar circumstances—Breonna Tay-
human rights collapse, particularly for
the Taliban has, instead, continued its lor, Ahmaud Arbery, and too many oth-
generations of Afghan women.
violent campaign against the Afghan ers—a well of grief and loss and pain
Last year, a bipartisan supermajority
people. too deep to express. It was a searing re-
in the Senate voted for an amendment
President Trump has expressed frus- minder of the bigotry and discrimina-
I authored, which warned against pre-
tration with the Taliban’s failures and tion that African Americans encounter
cipitous withdrawals from Afghanistan
is reportedly considering withdrawing as part of their daily reality.
and Syria in ways that could jeopardize
from Afghanistan even more rapidly. That is why so many Americans of
the hard-won progress we have at-
Yet, as we weigh our options, we must all ages, colors, and faiths are out in
tained, embolden Iran and Russia, and
not forget the painful lessons of the the streets protesting right now. They
create more pain for us and everyone
last administration’s mistakes. are fed up with racial injustice in this
else in the future.
Former President Obama and Vice country and want to see some change.
Our enemies would be thrilled if the
President Biden were intent on beating Here in the Senate, Member after
United States would grow too tired to
a hasty retreat from Iraq, conditions Member has come to the floor to share
continue the hard work of standing
on the ground notwithstanding. Just as support for the same cause.
with our partners, confronting our ad-
many of us warned at the time, their Yesterday, our caucus held a somber,
versaries, and maintaining measured
recklessness left a vacuum that terror- emotional, and very personal meeting,
leadership that projects our security
ists and Iran readily filled. ISIS flour- during which our Members shared their
around the world. Our enemies would
ished. Tragically, the rest is history. own lived experiences of racism and
be delighted if we would grow too
The resulting chaos threatened our in- spoke about what we need to do next
weary to act in our own long-term in-
terests and drew American efforts back because the truth is, while speeches
terest. We must not give them that
into the region. and protests are vital, they will never
satisfaction.
By contrast, the Trump administra- be enough.
f We need greater accountability and
tion has seen a number of successes in
this difficult region. The President’s RESERVATION OF LEADER TIME transparency in police departments
strategy has secured a territorial de- The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- and reformed police practices so these
feat of ISIS. It has put new pressure on pore. Under the previous order, the events don’t happen in the first place.
Iran and given the Iraqi people a fight- leadership time is reserved. We need to reform the criminal justice
ing chance, which their new govern- system that is still too short on justice
f
ment seems inclined to take. and begin chipping away at the racial
Yet helping Iraq stand up to Iranian CONCLUSION OF MORNING disparities that exist in healthcare,
influence will not be an overnight BUSINESS housing, education, and in the econ-
project. Iran wants to drive the United The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- omy.
States from the region. China and Rus- pore. Morning business is closed. These issues will not be solved in a
sia would also be thrilled with a reduc- week or a month or in a year. Let’s
f
tion of American presence and influ- hope they can be solved in this decade.
ence there. So, as we struggle to clean EXECUTIVE SESSION But I will be damned if we don’t at
up the broken pieces of one rushed least try to make some progress. Al-
withdrawal, we need to avoid repeating ready, my colleagues Senators BOOKER,
those mistakes somewhere else. EXECUTIVE CALENDAR HARRIS, CARDIN, KLOBUCHAR,
I applaud the Trump administration The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- DUCKWORTH, SCHATZ, SMITH, and others
for its approach thus far in Afghani- pore. Under the previous order, the are working with the Congressional
stan. The President has taken con- Senate will proceed to executive ses- Black Caucus in the House to develop
straints off U.S. forces. We have helped sion to resume consideration of the fol- legislation to address a number of
Afghan forces go after the terrorists. lowing nomination, which the clerk issues related to police violence and ra-
We have ratcheted up the costs on the will report. cial justice. Senate Democrats will not
dlhill on DSK120RN23PROD with SENATE
Taliban, bolstered the Afghan forces The senior assistant legislative clerk wait to propose and push for bold, bold
that bear the brunt of the violence, and read the nomination of James H. An- change.
won international support for our mis- derson, of Virginia, to be a Deputy Will our Republican colleagues join
sion there. We have done all of this Under Secretary of Defense. us? Leader MCCONNELL, commit to put
with fewer resources and fewer per- Mr. MCCONNELL. Madam President, a law enforcement reform bill on the
sonnel than during the previous two I suggest the absence of a quorum. floor of the Senate before July 4.
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