Madam President, first, I want to offer congratulations to longtime Senate staffer Ann Berry, who will soon be taking over the responsibilities of a very important job as Secretary of the Senate. This is a position that dates all the way…
Madam President, first, I want to offer congratulations to longtime Senate staffer Ann Berry, who will soon be taking over the responsibilities of a very important job as Secretary of the Senate. This is a position that dates all the way back to April 8, 1789, 2 days after the Senate achieved its first quorum for business.
Ann's nomination was approved by the Senate yesterday afternoon, making her the first African American and only the eighth woman to ever serve in that position. It would be an understatement to say Ann knows the Senate well. She brings four decades of experience in the Senate to her new office, having worked with Senator Leahy for many years, and, more recently, with Senator Jones from her home State of Alabama.
She is going to do a fantastic job helping the Senate through its day-to-day responsibilities, and I look forward to seeing her up here on the dais when she assumes her new title in a few weeks.
Once again, another ceiling has been broken, and we welcome Ann Berry as Secretary of the Senate.
Coronavirus
Madam President, next, COVID. One year ago, the United States reported 11 confirmed cases of COVID-19. A few days later, a woman from California became the first American to die from this disease.
Today, those numbers stand at over 26 million Americans infected and over 450,000 Americans dead. Along the way, COVID-19 has turned life as we know it
upside down. It triggered the greatest economic emergency since the Great Depression, tens of millions of lost jobs, shuttered schools, collapsed businesses, and the greatest healthcare crisis since the Spanish pandemic flu.
Congress has come together on several occasions to pass important relief measures--measures that did a lot of good. They saved jobs and lives and businesses. But it has not yet been enough. The crisis is still with us. The economy has weakened. Everyday Americans are struggling with the basic costs of living, of necessities.
So today the Senate is going to take the next strong step forward in passing a rescue plan to lift the country out of a crisis and set it back on the path to normal. Starting this afternoon, we begin the process of debating amendments to the budget resolution. When that process is complete at whatever hour, we will vote on final passage and pave the way for Senate committees to begin crafting the rescue plan itself, in coordination with House committees as well.
The amendment process here today will be bipartisan, it will be open, and it will be vigorous. Democrats and Republicans alike will have the opportunity to share their ideas. We welcome that. Of course, what amendments our friends in the minority propose is entirely up to them.
Now, the Republican leader hinted yesterday that his conference is preparing several messaging amendments that they hope might score political points. That is fine. That is their right. But I sincerely hope our Republican colleagues approach our work today with the intention of having serious ideas considered, not using the debate over pandemic relief to sharpen ephemeral, partisan talking points. This should be a very serious debate, a very much needed debate. We are in one of the greatest crises America has ever faced. If there are good- faith amendments from the other side, we look forward to them.
What we can't do, however, is think small in the face of big problems. We cannot repeat the mistakes of the past. We cannot do too little. We cannot lock our country into a long and slow recovery. We must instead respond to the urgent needs in our country and chart a bold path back to normal.
We must make sure that our country and its citizens have the resources to survive the remaining months of challenge; that struggling businesses can access loans and grants; that State and local governments and, yes, Tribal governments are not forced to cut essential services and millions of essential employees; and that our doctors and medical workers can administer the vaccine as quickly and as widely as possible. That is how we get back to normal. That is how we survive the months in between until we get back to normal. And that is what this budget resolution and the rescue plan are all about.
Impeachment
Madam President, now on impeachment, a few weeks ago, I laid out the agenda for the Senate's opening few weeks: first, nominations; second, major legislation to rescue the American people from the continued effects of COVID-19; and third, an impeachment trial for Donald J. Trump.
The Senate has made steady progress on the first two agenda items, confirming several historic and exceptionally qualified nominees to President Biden's Cabinet.
Tonight, we will be voting on the budget resolution--the first step in giving the Congress the tools to pass a major relief bill.
On Tuesday, the Senate will begin to fulfill the third responsibility that I outlined: the second impeachment trial of Donald J. Trump for inciting a violent mob against the Capitol on January 6. They were right near all of us--right near all of us.
It has been nearly a month since the attacks on the 6th. Time will do its part to heal the scars left by that day, but we cannot allow it to dull our sense of responsibility for holding to account those who perpetrated and motivated the attack.
We were all witnesses to the events that day when a group of insurrectionists, White supremacists, and domestic terrorists fed a cavalcade of lies about the legitimacy of the American elections by the former President, told to come to Washington by the former President, whipped into a frenzy and directed toward the Capitol by the former President, invaded and desecrated this sacred temple of democracy with the intention of denying the counting of the electoral college vote-- the final act in certifying the former President's defeat.
The horrors of that day may have faded for some, not for others. Many in this Chamber, staff, Senators, House Members, and House staff alike, still live through this every single day--every single day. So it has not faded for a lot of us. But as country, even for those for whom it has faded, we cannot simply move on.
The U.S. Capitol Complex has been militarized, patrolled by the National Guard, surrounded by a fence to safeguard the people's house from the people themselves. Five people are dead. Just yesterday, we held a memorial service in the Rotunda of this building for a Capitol Police officer who was tragically killed during the attack.
There cannot be any healing without truth, without accountability. The idea that we should sweep this under the rug and move on--one of the greatest acts of perfidy against this government, against the American people in our grand 200-some-odd-year history--no sweeping under the rug.
So the trial will commence on Tuesday. Senators have already been sworn in as judges and jurors. The House managers have filed their brief. The former President's counsel have filed their answer. The constitutional objection raised by some of my Republican colleagues has been completely debunked by more than 150 scholars representing the entire breadth of the political spectrum, including very prominent conservatives like Steven Calabresi, the cofounder of the Federalist Society.
We will move forward with a fair and speedy trial. The House managers will present their case. The former President's counsel will mount a defense. Senators will have to look deep into their consciences and determine if Donald Trump is guilty and if so, ever qualified again to enjoy any office of honor, trust, or profit under the United States.
We will pass judgment, as our solemn duty under the Constitution demands, and in turn, history will judge how the Senate and each Senator responds.
Student Loans
Madam President, now on student loans, finally, later this morning, I will join several of my Democratic colleagues from the House and Senate to reintroduce our proposal to cancel up to $50,000 in Federal student loan debt, a life-changing measure--life-changing--for Americans struggling to stay afloat during this pandemic and secure financial independence.
For tens of millions, especially people of color, college education has represented the surest path to the middle class, but now that often means taking on a mountain of debt that can take decades to pay off. It makes it harder to own a home, save for retirement, and provide a better life for loved ones. In the midst of a once-in-a-century crisis, these Americans need relief fast. College has always been the ladder up. For too many, it is now an anchor weighed down by huge amounts of debt they almost can never see repaid in full.
I look forward to joining Senator Elizabeth Warren, as well as Representatives Adams, Omar, and Jones, this morning to present our plan for student loan debt cancellation.
I yield the floor.
I suggest the absence of a quorum.
I ask unanimous consent I be allowed to speak for 1 minute.
Madam President, as the Senate proceeds today on its long string of rollcall votes, I rise at this moment to note that this vote is different than the rest.
One of our most beloved, effective Members has just cast her 9,000th rollcall vote in the course of her career.
Senator Murray, congratulations.
(Applause, Senators rising.)
It is a history-making accomplishment from a truly history-making public servant
Madam President, as the Senate proceeds today on its long string of rollcall votes, I rise at this moment to note that this one is different from the rest--because, with this vote, our
friend Senator Murray has now reached 9,000 rollcall votes over the course of her career, a history-making accomplishment from a truly history-making public servant.
Senator Murray was elected to this Chamber in 1992, the, ``Year of the Woman.'' She began her tenure alongside Senator Feinstein, who will also hit this significant milestone later today, and two other women in a year that tripled the number of women who served in this chamber, from two to six.
Over the course of her career, she was the first woman to serve in a number of positions of Senate leadership, including chair of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee and chair of the Senate Budget Committee.
In her time, she has been a leading voice on the biggest issues, from healthcare, to the environment, to labor rights, pensions, standing up for families and workers everywhere, possessing the rare gift of explaining and presenting complex policy with extraordinary clarity.
As a close member of my leadership team, she has been a valued and trusted partner and a dear friend.
So let us take this moment to recognize Senator Murray, a public servant of extraordinary skill, and a Member we have all been honored to serve alongside for all these years.
I yield the floor.
Madam President, I ask for the yeas and nays.
Would the gentleman yield?
It would help speed things along if we could have a set amount. You keep handing us new sheets.
(Applause.)
And that is OK, but let's see the total amount of amendments, and then we can try to move the time as quickly as possible. OK?
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to address the Chamber for a minute.
Mr. President, we have another great accomplishment, one right after the other, because they both came together. Earlier today, we all congratulated our good friend Senator Murray for achieving a historic
milestone--9,000 rollcall votes. Well, we are pretty lucky because today we get to celebrate another 9,000-vote accomplishment by none other than the great senior Senator from California, Senator Feinstein.
(Applause.
Like Senator Murray, she was also elected during the Year of the Woman, and she helped blaze a trail that many would follow.
Throughout her career, and through many of those 9,000 votes, she has made her mark on some of the biggest issues of our time: the environment, healthcare, gun safety, and much, much more.
Alongside Senator Boxer, she was the first woman to come to the Senate from the State of California, the first Jewish woman to come to the Senate from any State, and she became the first woman ever to serve as chair of both the Rules Committee and Select Intelligence Committee.
One glass ceiling right after another in a storied and continually impactful career.
I congratulate Senator Feinstein for today's accomplishment, and I thank her for her many years of friendship.