Floor Statements

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that upon the conclusion of morning business on January 25, the Senate proceed to executive session to consider the following nomination: Executive Calendar No. 2, the nomination of Janet Yellen to be the Secretary of the Treasury; further, that the time until 5:30 be equally divided between the two leaders or their designees, and that at 5:30 the Senate vote without intervening action or debate on the nomination; 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. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 3 p.m., Monday, January 25;

further, that following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, and 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 proceed to executive session to consider the Yellen nomination, as provided under the previous order.

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. President, now, it came to our attention last night that members of the National Guard, after standing on duty to protect the Capitol for Inauguration Day, keeping us safe, were sleeping in parking garages and cramped quarters without proper space or ventilation. It was utterly unacceptable.

I have told those who run the security of the Capitol that it can never happen again, and I pledge to every National Guard member that it will not happen again.

The minute I heard about this outrage last night, we made sure it was fixed immediately. Every member of the Guard was found proper accommodations inside, and, as of this morning, everyone was accounted for and taken care of.

This morning I went over to the CVC and I spoke to a number of Guardsmen personally to make sure they were OK.

I want to thank Senators Hassan, Duckworth, Kelly, and Heinrich for their work on this matter last night, as well as Senator Lujan, who went around late at night to make sure things were OK, as well. And I want to thank all the Members who were concerned and lent a hand.

I also want to particularly thank Acting Sergeant at Arms Jennifer Hemingway, who, when we told her about this situation, patrolled the floors of the Capitol Complex until past 3 a.m. to ensure that no one was left behind or not where they belonged. And she was back at her desk first thing today to follow up.

We owe an enormous debt of gratitude to the men and women who worked to keep us safe on January 6 and the days since. A situation like last night will never happen again

Now, I have spoken about the Senate's agenda for the next several weeks. We have three essential items on our plate: one, the confirmation of President Biden's Cabinet and other key officials; two, legislation to provide desperately needed COVID relief; three, a second impeachment trial of Donald Trump. The Senate must and will do all three--COVID relief, confirmation of nominees, and an impeachment trial.

Now, the first order of business is to fulfill our constitutional duty to advise and consent on the President's appointments to his Cabinet. This morning the Senate will vote to confirm President Biden's nominee for Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin. Mr. Austin will be the first African American to ever helm the Defense Department in its history--a powerful symbol of the diversity and history of America's Armed Forces.

Mr. Austin has a storied career in the Army, but those days are behind him. As Secretary of Defense, he has promised to empower and lift up his civilian staff, and I believe he will be an outstanding Secretary of Defense for everyone at the Pentagon--servicemembers and civilian employees alike.

The Secretary of Defense, of course, has a hugely important task ahead of him. He must once again demonstrate

to the world that the U.S. military will always support our friends, deter our adversaries, and, if necessary, defeat them.

Lloyd Austin is the right person for the job. He has the experience, the vision, and the competence to run the largest agency in our government. I look forward to confirming his nomination shortly.

Afterward, the Senate must continue to install President Biden's team by confirming Secretaries of State, Homeland Security, and Treasury. We need Republican cooperation to confirm these nominees, but we expect that cooperation to continue. The continuity of our national security, military, and intelligence policy, as well as our ability to effectively respond to the current health and economic crises, depend on having these Cabinet officials confirmed.

Now, as I mentioned, the Senate will also conduct a second impeachment trial for Donald Trump. I have been speaking to the Republican leader about the timing and duration of the trial, but--make no mistake--a trial will be held in the U.S. Senate, and there will be a vote on whether to convict the President.

I have spoken to Speaker Pelosi, who informed me that the article will be delivered to the Senate on Monday.

Now, I have heard some of my Republican colleagues argue that this trial would be unconstitutional because Donald Trump is no longer in office--an argument that has been roundly repudiated, debunked by hundreds of constitutional scholars--left, right, and center--and defies basic common sense. It makes no sense whatsoever that a President or any official could commit a heinous crime against our country and then be permitted to resign so as to avoid accountability and a vote to disbar them from future office. It makes no sense.

Regardless, the purveyors of this unusual argument are trying to delay the inevitable. The fact is, the House will deliver the Article of Impeachment to the Senate. The Senate will conduct a trial of the impeachment of Donald Trump. It will be a full trial. It will be a fair trial. But make no mistake, there will be a trial, and when that trial ends, Senators will have to decide if they believe Donald John Trump incited the insurrection against the United States.

Now, over the course of elections in November and January, the American people chose to retire four Republican Senators and elect a Democratic majority to this Senate. The Senate must now take the basic step of passing an organizing resolution and setting up the rules for a Senate where there are 50 Members of either party.

Luckily, we have a clear precedent for what to do in this situation. In 2001, then-Majority Leader Lott and Minority Leader Daschle came together and agreed on a set of rules to govern a 50-50 Senate. We should follow that precedent.

We have offered to abide by the same agreement the last time there was a 50-50 Senate. What is fair is fair. That is precedent. We could organize the Senate today if both sides agreed to abide by the same rules as last time.

The Republican leader, however, has made an extraneous demand that would place additional constraints on the majority--constraints that have never been in place before. In fact, his proposal would remove a tool that the Republican leader himself used twice in just the last Congress to accelerate the confirmation of Republican nominees.

Leader McConnell's proposal is unacceptable, and it won't be accepted. And the Republican leader knew that when he first proposed it.

Only 2 days ago, we celebrated the inauguration of a new President and the turning over of a new leaf. The American people want us to work together and move past the meaningless political fights and gridlock that have plagued us for too long.

It is time to get to work. A first step is for the Republican caucus to agree to follow the same precedent that governed the Senate the last time around.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, it is nice to see you back in that position.

Yesterday, Mr. President, we began a new chapter in the history of our Nation. On the same steps stormed by domestic terrorists 2 weeks ago, we held a ceremony to the enduring power of our democracy. It was a symbol to the world that America is back and a message to those domestic terrorists that they will never prevail.

Even as the festivities were in full swing, our new President and this new Senate commenced the work of rebuilding our country and healing its wounds. With the stroke of a pen, President Biden started the process of rejoining the United States to the Paris accords. He extended the pause on student loan payments, put an end to the Muslim travel ban, reinstalled safeguards for our Nation's Dreamers, and put a halt on the ineffective border wall.

Crucially, President Biden signed a number of orders to refocus the Federal Government's efforts on fighting the coronavirus pandemic. The United States has rejoined the World Health Organization. A mask mandate has been issued for all Federal properties. And President Biden has named a new coronavirus response coordinator to manage vaccine distribution, which is so desperately needed and was such a failure under the Trump administration.

Our country has suffered deeply from the chaotic, lackluster, and incompetent Federal response to COVID-19. As we cross the grim milestone of 400,000--400,000--American fatalities from COVID, the Biden administration is wasting no time in marshaling the resources of the Federal Government into action and today released a national strategy to defeat the pandemic.

What a concept--a President who actually takes the defining crisis of our time seriously. What a change--and how great is the need.

Here in the Senate, the first order of business is to fulfill our constitutional duty to advise and consent on the President's appointments to his Cabinet. Last night, the Senate confirmed the President's selection for the Director of National Intelligence, Avril Haines. We appreciate the bipartisan cooperation to get her confirmation done yesterday, and we should continue in that spirit today.

Traditionally, the Senate has confirmed several national security nominees for an incoming administration during their first few days. Even as power changes hands from one administration to the other, the work of keeping our Nation safe must not be paused or be disrupted. Foreign adversaries will seek to exploit this period of transition, and we cannot allow America's military, intelligence, and national security policy to be disrupted by staffing delays.

In 2017, President Trump had his Defense Secretary and Secretary of Homeland Security in place on Inauguration Day. President Biden deserves his national security team in place as soon as possible, as well as key officials in charge of responding to the current health and economic crises. With the cooperation of our Republican colleagues, we can and should confirm the Secretaries of Defense, State, Homeland Security, and Treasury without much delay.

While national security is paramount, I would remind my colleagues that we are in the middle of an economic crisis. The sooner we confirm a Treasury Secretary, the better.

And so, as we begin the process of bringing our country back together, let the first week of this Congress be a collaboration between our two parties to confirm President Biden's Cabinet.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Inaugural Ceremony proceedings be printed in the Record.

Thank you, Mr. President.

A new politeness from the Chair.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Madam President, I will be, in a moment, asking for unanimous consent that we do the waiver on the Secretary of Defense, and we will vote on that relatively shortly, the Members should be aware.

So, Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate receives H.R. 335 from the House, that the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration; that there be 30 minutes for debate; that the bill be considered read a third time; and that the Senate vote on the passage of the bill, with 60 affirmative votes required for passage; and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, all without intervening action or debate.

I yield the floor.

Madam President, just to clarify for the Members, we expect this vote to occur sometime within the next hour.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I have a request for one committee to meet during today's session of the Senate. It has the approval of the Majority and Minority leaders.

Pursuant to rule XXVI, paragraph 5(a), of the Standing Rules of the Senate, the following committee is authorized to meet during today's session of the Senate:

Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

The Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Thursday, January 21, 2021, at 10 a.m., to conduct a closed hearing.

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

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that upon the conclusion of morning business on Friday, January 22, the Senate proceed to executive session to consider the following nomination: Calendar No. 1, the nomination of Lloyd Austin to be the Secretary of Defense; further, that there be 10 minutes for debate on the nomination, equally divided in the usual form; that upon the use or yielding back of time, the Senate proceed to vote without intervening action or debate on the nomination; 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.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 10 a.m., Friday, January 22; 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 upon conclusion of morning business, the Senate proceed to executive session as provided under the previous order.

Madam President, now, for the information of Senators, there will be a rollcall vote on confirmation of the Austin nomination to be Secretary of Defense at approximately 10:30 tomorrow.

We also hope to vote on confirmation of the Yellen and Blinken nominations this week.

Madam President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask unanimous consent that it stand adjourned under the previous order.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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

Madam President, just to let the Members know the order of business, we will first install Senator Leahy as President pro tempore. We will then have some other mechanical business. I will then give my maiden speech as majority leader of the U.S. Senate, and then we will--

(Applause, Senators rising.) --and then we will hear from Senator McConnell.

There may be a vote this evening.