Business Before the Senate (Cong. Rec., March 25, 2021)
Summary
This is the opening of the Congressional Record, Vol. 167, No. 56, for Thursday, March 25, 2021. The House was not in session, and the Senate met at 10 a.m. with Ms. Rosen as Acting President pro tempore and the Chaplain, Dr. Barry C. Black, offering the prayer. Mr. Schumer objects to proceeding en bloc on S. 963, a bill to authorize dedicated domestic terrorism offices, and H.R. 1868, a bill to prevent across-the-board direct spending cuts, so the bills are placed on the calendar. Under the heading Business Before the Senate, Mr. Schumer says the Senate has had an extremely productive first period, confirming every available Cabinet Secretary, with the views attributed to Mr. Schumer.
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“Business Before the Senate (Cong. Rec., March 25, 2021).”
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Congressional Record
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117 th CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION
United States
of America PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATES OF THE
Vol. 167 WASHINGTON, THURSDAY, MARCH 25, 2021 No. 56
House of Representatives
The House was not in session today. Its next meeting will be held on Friday, March 26, 2021, at 2 p.m.
Senate
THURSDAY, MARCH 25, 2021
The Senate met at 10 a.m. and was to the Senate from the President pro A bill (S. 963) to authorize dedicated do-
called to order by the Honorable JACKY tempore (Mr. LEAHY). mestic terrorism offices within the Depart-
ROSEN, a Senator from the State of Ne- The senior assistant legislative clerk ment of Homeland Security, the Department
read the following letter: of Justice, and the Federal Bureau of Inves-
vada.
tigation to analyze and monitor domestic
f U.S. SENATE, terrorist activity and require the Federal
PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE, Government to take steps to prevent domes-
PRAYER Washington, DC, March 25, 2021. tic terrorism, and for other purposes.
The Chaplain, Dr. Barry C. Black, of- To the Senate: A bill (H.R. 1868) to prevent across-the-
fered the following prayer: Under the provisions of rule I, paragraph 3, board direct spending cuts, and for other
Let us pray. of the Standing Rules of the Senate, I hereby purposes.
Eternal God, who sends the rain that appoint the Honorable JACKY ROSEN, a Sen-
ator from the State of Nevada, to perform Mr. SCHUMER. In order to place the
satisfies the parched Earth, we honor
the duties of the Chair. bills on the calender under the provi-
Your Name.
Today, give our lawmakers the wis- PATRICK J. LEAHY, sions of rule XIV, I would object to fur-
President pro tempore. ther proceeding en bloc.
dom to understand that You are their
sure foundation. Inspire them to seek Ms. ROSEN thereupon assumed the The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem-
Your guidance as they strive to do Chair as Acting President pro tempore. pore. Objection having been heard, the
Your will. Lead them by Your truth f bills will be placed on the calendar.
and teach them, for You are the God RESERVATION OF LEADER TIME f
who saves them.
May their quest to fulfill Your pur- The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- BUSINESS BEFORE THE SENATE
poses motivate them to bring You their pore. Under the previous order, the
Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President,
requests and to wait patiently for Your leadership time is reserved.
despite unprecedented obstacles, the
response. f Senate has had an extremely produc-
Lord, show them clearly what to do RECOGNITION OF THE MAJORITY tive first period of business.
and which way to turn. Surround them LEADER It has been a little over 60 days since
with the shield of Your love. Democrats assumed the majority in
We pray in Your marvelous Name. The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem-
pore. The majority leader is recog- the Senate and Joe Biden was sworn in
Amen. as President. In that relatively short
nized.
f amount of time, the Senate has con-
f
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE firmed every available Cabinet Sec-
MEASURES PLACED ON THE retary—a group filled with a bevy of
The Presiding Officer led the Pledge CALENDAR—S. 963 and H.R. 1868 historic firsts—faster than under the
of Allegiance, as follows:
Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, prior two administrations.
I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the
first, I understand that there are two Every single Cabinet nominee has re-
United States of America, and to the Repub-
lic for which it stands, one nation under God, bills at the desk due for a second read- ceived a bipartisan vote of approval
indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. ing en bloc. here on the floor, a tribute to their
f The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- character, their qualifications, and
pore. The leader is correct. their caliber.
APPOINTMENT OF ACTING The clerk will read the bills by title The Senate also conducted a fair and
PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE for a second time. honest impeachment trial of the
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The The senior assistant legislative clerk former President, resulting in the larg-
clerk will please read a communication read as follows: est and most bipartisan conviction
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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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S1792 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE March 25, 2021
vote in the history, in the history of tice based on their gender or sexual tion—gases that pack a much greater
Presidential impeachments. orientation. punch than carbon dioxide when it
And, of course, the Democratic ma- In the coming work period, the comes to our climate. Senators HEIN-
jority in the Senate passed the most Democratic majority will also seek to RICH, KING, and MARKEY have been
sweeping Federal recovery effort in repeal a Trump administration rule working very hard on this issue. I ap-
decades, the American Rescue Plan. that gives employers an unfair advan- plaud them. The Senate will take up a
Again, despite several unprecedented tage over workers when settling dis- Congressional Review Act measure to
obstacles, not only did we get a late criminatory claims. reinstate the commonsense regulation
start on our work, a result of the run- At the same time, the Judiciary and of methane emissions to fight climate
off elections in Georgia, we have had to Rules Committees have started their change.
contend with the aftermath of an work responding to the concerted, na- The bottom line is this: The Senate
armed insurrection at the Capitol, an tionwide, despicable attack on voting of the 117th Congress has accomplished
impeachment trial, and the difficulty rights. In one State after another, new a lot in its first few months, but we
of navigating an evenly divided Senate. restrictions on the franchise are taking have a lot of work left to do. The chal-
Let’s take a quick look at the score- aim at communities of color in ways lenges our country still faces are im-
board. we haven’t seen since the days of Jim mense, and there is no reason both
Economists project that the Amer- Crow. sides cannot work together on issues
ican Rescue Plan could double eco- Yesterday, I attended the Rules Com- that will affect our country and our
nomic growth while cutting child pov- mittee hearing on S. 1, the For the children’s future. We won’t agree on
erty in half—the biggest anti-poverty People Act, and I listened to my Re- everything, but we must agree that in-
effort in a generation. publican colleagues try to defend these action is unacceptable. The Senate
We have made the single largest in- outrageous voter suppression laws. One must help the country finish the job
vestment in American education and member on the committee told us not against COVID while continuing to
Native Tribes ever. to worry about them because many are build a more equal economy and a
Experts have called the American just proposals and won’t become law. more just society.
Rescue Plan the most significant legis- Later that day, the same day, the Mon- I yield the floor.
lation for Black farmers since the Civil tana State Senate advanced a bill to f
Rights Act. end same-day voter registration.
The American Rescue Plan provides a Another member on the committee LEGISLATIVE SESSION
lifeline to Main Street businesses from defended limits to early voting on Sun- ---
one end of the country to the other. days—a day when many African Ameri-
PPP EXTENSION ACT OF 2021—
Companies are already scaling back cans go to vote after church—by
MOTION TO PROCEED—Resumed
layoffs. quoting the Bible and the Command-
In less than 100 days, the Biden ad- ment to keep the Sabbath holy. I don’t The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem-
ministration and Democratic majori- know where to begin with that one, but pore. The clerk will report the pending
ties have helped deliver more than 100 I will start by reminding my colleagues business.
million shots in people’s arms and 100 of the separation between church and The senior assistant legislative clerk
million checks in people’s pockets. As state, and, frankly, the Bible passage read as follows:
a result, the American people are more she talked about comes from the Old Motion to proceed to H.R. 1799, a bill to
optimistic than at any time over the Testament, when the Sabbath was on amend the Small Business Act and the
past year, and for the first time since Saturday. CARES Act to extend the covered period for
the COVID–19 pandemic began, a clear This is getting beyond ridiculous. the paycheck protection program, and for
other purposes.
majority of Americans believe our Across the country, the Republican
country is back on track. Party seems to believe that the best The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem-
Just this morning, the jobs report strategy for winning elections is not to pore. Under the previous order, all
showed that applications for unemploy- win more voters but to try to prevent postcloture time for the motion to pro-
ment benefits fell by nearly 100,000 peo- the other side from voting. That is not ceed to H.R. 1799 has expired, and the
ple—a sign that businesses are reopen- America. That is not democracy. And motion to proceed is agreed to.
ing and Americans are optimistic this Senate will take action to protect The clerk will report the bill by title.
about getting back to work. After one the voting rights of tens of millions of f
of the most difficult years in American Americans. The Senate will vote on the PPP EXTENSION ACT OF 2021
history, the country is finally turning For the People Act.
the corner, and the Senate is off to a We will also keep a laser focus on our The senior assistant legislative clerk
fantastic start. economic recovery. In the coming read as follows:
Now looking forward, of course the months, the Senate will consider legis- A bill (H.R. 1799) to amend the Small Busi-
job certainly isn’t done yet. Now that lation to rebuild our infrastructure and ness Act and the CARES Act to extend the
covered period for the paycheck protection
we have passed the American Rescue fight climate change, boost research program, and for other purposes.
Plan, the Senate must continue to and development and domestic manu-
RECOGNITION OF THE MINORITY LEADER
make progress on other issues facing facturing, reform our broken immigra-
the American people. When the Senate tion system, and grow the power of The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem-
returns to session, our agenda will be American workers. Finally, the Senate pore. The Republican leader is recog-
no less ambitious than it was over the will address health and gun safety. nized.
past few months. When the Senate gavels back into IMMIGRATION
We will focus on three areas: one, session, we will vote on Senator Mr. MCCONNELL. Madam President,
voting rights, civil rights; two, eco- HIRONO’s COVID hate crimes bill, the crisis on our southern border con-
nomic recovery and jobs, with an em- which my colleague GRACE MENG has tinues to escalate. CBP is tracking the
phasis on climate change and building sponsored in the House. It will give the largest surge in migrant apprehensions
back better; and three, health and gun Department of Justice and our local in 20 years. Unaccompanied children
safety. police departments crucial tools to are literally piling up in close quarters.
This Senate will once again be the fight the wave of racist violence we It turns out when politicians spend a 2-
forum where civil rights are debated have seen against Asian Americans. year campaign advertising amnesty,
and historic action is taken to secure I have also committed to put a bill people actually listen. As one senior
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them for all Americans. on expanded background checks on the CBP official said, there is ‘‘no end in
Last week, the Judiciary Committee floor of the Senate. sight.’’ No end in sight.
held the first-ever hearing on the On the health front, we will take aim The administration still refuses to
Equality Act, landmark legislation against the former administration’s de- even admit there is a crisis, much less
that would enshrine as a matter of law cision to roll back limits on methane address it. We keep hearing strange
that no American shall be denied jus- emissions from oil and gas produc- mixed messaging from the White House
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