Floor Statements

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 6, submitted earlier today.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 7, submitted earlier today.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 8, submitted earlier today.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to and that the motion to reconsider be considered be made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 9, submitted earlier today.

I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 10, submitted earlier today.

I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 11, submitted earlier today.

I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.

Mr. President, I need to catch my breath, so much has happened.

A few hours ago, on the West Front of this citadel of democracy, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris were administered the oaths of Office to the Presidency and Vice Presidency of the United States. We have turned the page to a new chapter in the history of our democracy, and I am full of hope.

I would challenge anyone not to feel hopeful today after listening to Amanda Gorman, the amazing 22-year-old poet, wise far beyond her years, who told us that:

Somehow we've weathered and witnessed

a nation that isn't broken

but simply unfinished

The hope she spoke about--the strong and happy hope--the hope we feel today, is a hope, of course, that is tempered by reality. This was an inauguration unlike most others. The crowds that customarily line the National Mall were absent, a reminder that our Nation is still in the throes of a deadly pandemic.

The presence of thousands of National Guardsmen, police, and Secret Service was a reminder that 2 weeks ago, in this very room and on those very steps where President Biden took the oath, a mob of violent criminals tried to dismantle our democracy--our sacred democracy--brick by brick and would try again if they could.

But, as President Biden said a few hours ago, today, democracy has prevailed, the will of the people was heeded, and the peaceful transfer of power fulfilled. It takes a lot more than a band of hooligans to bring our grand democracy down.

Let it be a message to our friends and adversaries around the world that our democracy, though it has been tried and been tested, shall long endure. And let it be a message to those terrorists who desecrated this temple of democracy that they will never prevail.

Joe Biden is now the 46th President of the United States. Kamala Harris is now the 49th Vice President of the United States. But, of course, in more ways than one, she is not the 49th but the first--the first African-American woman, the first Asian-American woman, and the first woman, period, to hold the Office of Vice Presidency in our Nation's history.

Today, the threat to our democracy from the Presidency itself has ended, but the challenges we face as a nation remain. In the wake of violence and division, hatred and mistruth, in the shadow of disease and economic hardship, a warming planet and unequal society, we begin the work of the 117th Congress.

In his inaugural address, President Biden spoke to this moment--a moment of great challenge--and told us two simple truths: One, that our responsibilities are numerous, and, two, it will take unity--unity of spirit, unity of purpose--to fulfill them.

President Biden, we heard you loud and clear. We have a lengthy agenda, and we need to get it done together.

President Biden pointed the way to our Nation's recovery and renewal. He reminded us of who we are and where we need to go, but we must now turn the spirit of his words into action.

The Senate must immediately set to work on the mission President Biden described--restoring the greatness and goodness of America. This will be an exceptionally busy and consequential period for the U.S. Senate. There is much to do, and we are ready to get to work.

Now, not to upstage our new President and Vice President, but theirs has not been the only swearing in today. A few moments ago, the Senate welcomed three new Members to this Chamber. I can now happily and proudly call them Senator Padilla, Senator Ossoff, and Senator Warnock. They join Senators Kelly, Hickenlooper, and Lujan as part of a six- Member class of Democratic Senators and a new Democratic Senate majority.

I mention the historic nature of Vice President Harris' ascendance, but let's not forget that her successor, Alex Padilla, is the first Latino Senator to represent California; that Rafael Warnock, born while Georgia was represented in this Chamber by two staunch segregationists, is now the first African-American Senator Georgia has ever elected; and that John Ossoff is the first Jewish Senator from his State, sworn in today on a book of Hebrew Scripture once owned by the rabbi, who, decades ago, formed a bond between the Jewish and African-American communities of Georgia.

As President Biden said in his inaugural address, ``don't tell me things can't change.'' With the swearing in of these three Senators, the Senate will turn to Democratic control, for which I deeply thank my colleagues. We will return to Democratic control under the first New York-born majority leader in American history--a kid from Brooklyn, the son of an exterminator and a housewife, and a descendant of victims of the Holocaust.

That I should be the leader of this new Senate majority is an awesome responsibility--awesome in the Biblical sense, as the angels that tremble in awe before God. Today, I feel the full weight of that responsibility, a sense of reverence and of awe at the trust placed in me. I intend to honor that trust with all of my energy and with joy.

And as the majority changes in the Senate, the Senate will do business differently. The Senate will address the challenges our country faces head on and without delay, not with timid solutions but with boldness and with courage. The Senate will tackle the perils of the moment, a once-in-a-generation health and economic crisis, and it will strive to make progress on generations-long struggle for racial justice, economic justice, equality of opportunity, and equality under the law.

And make no mistake, the Senate will forcefully, consistently, and urgently address the greatest threat to this country and to our planet: climate change.

This Senate will legislate. It will be active, responsive, energetic, and bold.

And to my Republican colleagues, when and where we can, the Democratic majority will strive to make this important work bipartisan. The Senate works best when we work together. We have no choice.

The challenges we face are great. The divisions in the country are real. We have no choice but to try to work together every day to reward the faith the American people have placed in us. So let us begin.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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

Mr. President, before I get into my remarks, I noted that my dear friend and colleague, the Senator from Illinois, is giving remarks to say a fond and, I am sure, a somewhat poignant farewell to Reema Dodin, who has done a great job for him, for the Senate, for Senate Democrats, and for me for decades. We are going to miss her very much. The only consolation is that she is going on to the new administration and even bigger and better things.

Mr. President, the Senate returns to session today for what will be a very busy and consequential period. Tomorrow, we will celebrate one of democracy's core attributes: the peaceful transfer of power, albeit under much different circumstances than most Americans are used to.

Rioters, insurrectionists, White supremacists, and domestic terrorists tried to prevent the transfer of power. They were incited by none other than the President of the United States. They have failed. Though they have made the transition of power anything but peaceful, democracy's oldest and most revered tradition, the peaceful passing of the torch, will take place tomorrow.

We must remain vigilant. We must remain strong. If we do, democracy will always prevail. Despite what these evil terrorists tried to do, the peaceful passing of the torch will take place tomorrow as it has for generations.

In the weeks since the attack, the Nation has learned about the heroism displayed by many Capitol Police officers on January 6. I want to again thank those officers who protected Members and staff. Let us also recognize the bravery of one officer in particular, Brian Sicknick, who was killed in the line of duty.

I also want to acknowledge those members of the fourth estate for their efforts during these difficult times, for continuing to shine a light on what is happening at the Capitol, sometimes at great personal risk.

Now, in the wake of the despicable assault on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, we have taken precautions to ensure the safety of the Inauguration of President-Elect Biden tomorrow. Senate leadership has been in close and constant communication with the Secret Service, the FBI, the National Guard, and the D.C. police. As we speak, there are more troops around the Capitol than there are in Afghanistan. No force--no force--will prevent tomorrow's constitutional proceedings from taking place.

Tomorrow, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will be administered the oath of office. They will be sworn into the Presidency and Vice Presidency of the United States, and the powers vested in our Chief Executive will flow to a new office holder, a peaceful passing of the torch, as it has been for over two centuries in the grand tradition of democracy in the United States of America.

Tomorrow, the country will turn the page on the most chaotic and divisive Presidency that can ever be remembered. We will begin again the hard work of unifying and healing this Nation, defeating the pandemic, recovering our economy, and repairing our standing and stature in the world--and this is just the beginning.

Mr. President, the Inauguration of a new President and the start of a new administration always brings a flurry of activity to our Nation's government, but rarely-- rarely--has so much piled up for the Senate as during this particular transition. Over the next several weeks, the Senate must accomplish three essential items: a second impeachment trial of Donald Trump; the confirmation of President Biden's Cabinet and other key officials; and legislation to provide much needed--almost desperately needed--COVID relief.

Again, there are three essential items of business. No. 1, as mandated

by law and Constitution, once the House of Representatives delivers Articles of Impeachment to the Senate, we will conduct and complete a trial of Donald Trump for inciting an insurrection against these United States.

No. 2, the Senate will confirm key members of soon-to-be President Biden's Cabinet. Those Cabinet officials in charge of national security must be confirmed quickly, as well as those in charge of responding to the current health and economic crisis.

No. 3, the Senate will take up legislation to provide the country additional relief from the pandemic.

On impeachment, the Senate has solemn responsibility to try and hold Donald Trump accountable for the most serious charge ever levied against a President: the incitement of an insurrection against the United States of America.

The events on January 6, make no mistake about it, were not a spontaneous demonstration. President Trump invented the lie that motivated these criminals. He exhorted them to come to Washington. He then directed them at the U.S. Capitol, and his demagoguery whipped them into a frenzy.

We need to set a precedent that the severest threat ever committed by a President will be met by the severest remedy provided by the U.S. Constitution: impeachment and conviction by this Chamber, as well as disbarment from future office.

In 230 years, the House of Representatives has impeached the President of the United States only twice. In just the past 13 months, it has impeached President Trump twice more. President Trump is a threat to our constitutional order whether he is in or out of office. Even now, he has not accepted responsibility for what he has done and still falsely maintains that the election was stolen.

Once he leaves office, do we really expect him to change his tune and accept the truth? Of course not. He will continue spreading lies about the election and stoking the grievances of his most radical supporters, using the prospect of a future Presidential run to poison the public arena at a time when we must get so much done. After what he has done, the consequences of which we were all witness to, Donald Trump should not be eligible to run for office ever again.

All of us want to put this awful chapter in our Nation's history behind us, but healing and unity will only come if there is truth and accountability, not sweeping such a severe charge, such awful actions, under the rug.

So let me be clear. There will be an impeachment trial in the U.S. Senate. There will be a vote on convicting the President of high crimes and misdemeanors. And, if the President is convicted, there will be a vote on barring him from running again.

Now, the Cabinet. As I mentioned, the Senate must also fulfill its constitutional duty to advise and consent on soon-to-be President Biden's executive and judicial nominations, particularly his Cabinet. Today, there are no fewer than five Senate hearings on Cabinet-level officials for good reason. The violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on January 6 showed us we need qualified Senate-confirmed people in key national security positions on day one. That means tomorrow.

The Senate will be in session tomorrow after the conclusion of the Inauguration of the 46th President of the United States. With cooperation, we can confirm key national security nominees at State, the Department of Defense, Homeland Security, Treasury, and the intelligence community. The health and economic challenges our Nation faces and the need to get vaccines out quickly also require having key health officials and key economic nominees confirmed and on the job as soon as possible.

In 2017, the Senate confirmed President Trump's Secretary of Defense and his Secretary of Homeland Security on Inauguration Day. President Biden should have the same officials in place on his Inauguration Day at the very least. That is the expectation and tradition for any administration, but especially now in the midst of a Homeland Security crisis.

As I said, the way the Senate works, it will take cooperation from our Republican colleagues to swiftly confirm these highly qualified national security officials. But make no mistake, the Senate will move quickly to consider and confirm President Biden's cabinet.

Finally, on COVID and the legislation that is needed, once the Senate has confirmed key nominations for the incoming administration, it will turn to the subject of additional COVID relief items, including key items such as an increase in direct payments to American families; strong, further support of vaccine distribution which must be improved; help for small businesses, schools, and State and local governments. Very soon, the country will pass another tragic milestone: 400,000 American deaths from COVID-19. There is no issue more urgent then defeating this pandemic, and the Senate will immediately set to work on that goal as the first order of legislative business.

There will be much more work for us to do in the following months. Working with President Biden and our House colleagues, the Senate will finally address the major challenges facing our country that have for too long been ignored. We will consider bold legislation to defeat the climate crisis by investing in clean infrastructure and manufacturing, which will create millions of good jobs for Americans, regardless of ZIP Code. We must move significantly to improve our healthcare and childcare systems. To fix and restore our income and equality problem, we will fight to restore workers' rights and fairness in the Tax Code.

Today, we announce the first bill, S. 1, which will be a package of long overdue reforms to protect our democracy after it has been so attacked in 4 years and will guarantee every American's right to vote.

One issue that has been long important to me is immigration reform. I always felt that comprehensive immigration reform with a path to citizenship is one of the most important things a Democratic Congress can do. To me, passing comprehensive reform is a very high priority, so I was pleased that President-Elect Biden has crafted a proposal and will call on Congress to take up this important subject. I am studying the President-elect's proposal, and I look forward to working together with him and the new administration and with my colleagues in Congress to get comprehensive immigration reform signed into law.

As I said at the beginning of this talk, the next several months will be very, very busy and a very consequential period for the U.S. Senate. Let us begin our work in earnest.

I yield the floor.

Mr. Vice President, as prescribed by the Constitution and the laws of the Nation, the purpose of this joint session is for tellers, appointed on a bipartisan basis by the two Houses, to read to the Congress the results of an election that has already happened. We are here to receive an announcement of a vote that has already been certified by every State in the Union and confirmed by the courts many times--many times over. We are here to watch the current Vice President open envelopes and receive the news of a verdict that has already been rendered. It is a solemn and august occasion, no doubt, but it is a formality.

The Congress does not determine the outcome of elections; the people do. The Congress is not endowed with the power to administer elections; our States are given that power.

By the end of the proceedings today, there will be confirmed once again something that is well known and well settled: The American people elected Joe Biden and Kamala Harris to be the next President and Vice President of the United States. Yet a number of our colleagues have organized an effort to undermine and object to that free and fair election. They are in the minority. They will lose; they know that. They have no evidence of widespread voter fraud upon which to base their objections. That is because there is none. There is none, not brought before any of the courts successfully.

They know that President Trump and his allies have suffered a defeat in court after court across the country, losing no fewer than 62 legal challenges. And, I might add, many Republican-appointed judges--some appointed by President Trump--rendered those decisions.

They know--you all know--that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are going to be sworn in as President and Vice President of the United States on January 20, but they are going to object to the counting of the vote anyway, and in the process, they will embarrass themselves, they will embarrass their party, and worst of all, they will embarrass their country.

This insurrection was fortunately discouraged by the leadership of the majority party, but it was not quelled.

It is a very sad comment on our times that merely accepting the results of an election is considered an act of political courage. Sadder and more dangerous still is the fact that an element of the Republican Party believes their political viability hinges on the endorsement of an attempted coup, that anyone--much less an elected official--would be willing to tarnish our democracy in order to burnish their personal political fortunes.

Over the course of the afternoon and however far into the evening this band of Republic objectors wants to take us, Senators of good will from both sides of the aisle will explain why these challenges must be dismissed. The Senators from States whose electoral votes are being challenged will explain how the allegations of fraud are baseless. And a substantial bipartisan majority must vote to put down these objections and defend the sanctity of our elections and indeed--and indeed--our great and grand democracy because that is what we are talking about today: the health of power democracy, this wonderful, beautiful, grand democracy where the peaceful passing of the torch is extolled by schoolchildren in the second grade but not by some here.

As we speak, half of our voters are being conditioned by the outgoing President to believe that when his party loses an election, the results must not be legitimate.

As we speak, the eyes of the world are on this Chamber, questioning whether America is still the shining example of democracy, the shining city on the Hill.

What message will we send today to our people, to the world that has so looked up to us for centuries? What message will we send to fledgling democracies who study our Constitution, mirror our laws and traditions in the hopes that they, too, can build a country ruled by the consent of the governed?

What message will we send to those countries where democratic values are under assault and look to us to see if those values are still worth fighting for?

What message will we send to every dark corner of the world where human rights are betrayed, elections are stolen, human dignity denied?

What will we show those people? Will we show those people that there is a better way to ensure liberty and opportunity of humankind?

Sadly, a small band of Republican objectors may darken the view of our democracy today, but a larger group of Senators and House Members from both sides of the aisle can send a message, too; that democracy beats deep in the hearts of our citizens and our elected representatives; that we are a country of laws and of not men; that our traditions are not so easily discarded, even by our President; that facts matter; that truth matters; that while democracy allows free speech and free expression, even if that expression is antidemocratic, there will always, always be--praise God--a far broader and stronger coalition ready to push back and defend everything we hold dear.

We can send that message today by voting in large and overwhelming numbers to defeat these objections. My colleagues, we each swore an oath just 3 days ago that we would defend and support the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that we would bear true faith and allegiance to the same.

We swore that we took this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, and that we could well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office we were about to enter, so help us God.

The precise words of that oath were shortly written after the Civil War, when the idea of true faith and allegiance to this country and its Constitution took on enormous meaning. Let those words ring in the ears of every Senator today. Let us do our duty to support and defend the Constitution of the United States, so help us God.

Senator Klobuchar.

Mr. President, the Senator from the great State of Arizona, Senator Sinema.

Mr. President, it is very, very difficult to put into words what has transpired today. I have never lived through or even imagined an experience like the one we have just witnessed in this Capitol. President Franklin Roosevelt set aside December 7, 1941, as a day that ``will live in infamy.'' Unfortunately, we can now add January 6, 2021, to that very short list of dates in American history that will live forever in infamy.

This temple to democracy was desecrated, its windows smashed, and our offices vandalized. The world saw America's elected officials hurriedly ushered out because they were in harm's way. The House and Senate floor were places of shelter until the evacuation was ordered, leaving rioters to stalk these hallowed Halls. Lawmakers and our staffs, average citizens who love their country and serve it every day, feared for their lives. I understand that one woman was shot and tragically lost her life. We mourn her and feel for her friends and family.

These images were projected to the world. Foreign Embassies cabled their home capitals to report on the harrowing scenes at the very heart of our democracy. This will be a stain on our country not so easily washed away--the final, terrible, indelible legacy of the 45th President of the United States and undoubtedly our worst.

I want to be very clear. Those who performed these reprehensible acts cannot be called protestors. No, these were rioters and insurrectionists, goons and thugs, domestic terrorists. They do not represent America. These were a few thousand violent extremists who tried to take over the Capitol Building and attack our democracy. They must and should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law, hopefully, by this administration; if not, certainly by the next. They should be provided no leniency.

I want to thank the many in the Capitol Hill Police and Secret Service and local police who kept us safe today and worked to clear the Capitol and return it to its rightful owners and its rightful purpose. I want to thank the leaders, Democratic and Republican, House and Senate. It was Speaker Pelosi, Leader McConnell, Leader McCarthy, and myself who came together and decided that these thugs would not succeed and that we would finish the work that our Constitution requires us to complete in the very legislative Chambers of the House and Senate that were desecrated but we know always belong to the people and do again tonight.

But make no mistake--make no mistake, my friends--today's events did not happen spontaneously. The President who promoted the conspiracy theories that motivated these thugs, the President who exhorted them to come to our Nation's Capital egged them on. He hardly ever discourages violence and more often encourages it. This President bears a great deal of the blame.

This mob was, in good part, President Trump's doing, incited by his words and his lies. This violence, in good part, is his responsibility and his everlasting shame. Today's events certainly--certainly--would not have happened without him.

Now January 6 will go down as one of the darkest days in recent American history--a final warning to our Nation about the consequences of a demagogic President, the people who enable him, the captive media that parrot his lies, and the people who follow him as he attempts to push America to the brink of ruin.

As we reconvene tonight, let us remember, in the end, all this mob has really accomplished is to delay our

work by a few hours. We will resume our responsibilities now, and we will finish our task tonight. The House and Senate Chambers will be restored good as new and ready for legislating in short order.

The counting of the electoral votes is our sacred duty. Democracy's roots in this Nation are deep; they are strong; and they will not be undone, ever, by a group of thugs. Democracy will triumph, as it has for centuries.

So to my fellow Americans who were shocked and appalled by the images on their televisions today and who are worried about the future of this country, let me speak to you directly. The divisions in our country clearly run deep, but we are a resilient, forward-looking, and optimistic people. And we will begin the hard work of repairing this Nation tonight because here in America we do hard things. In America, we always overcome our challenges.

I yield the floor.

The Senator from Nevada, Senator Cortez Masto.

The Senator from Colorado, Mr. Bennet.

I yield 2\1/2\ minutes to Senator Booker and 2\1/2\ minutes to Senator Kaine, in reverse order.

The Senator from Illinois, Mr. Durbin.

The Senator from Illinois, Senator Duckworth

The Senator from Virginia, Senator Warner.

The Senator from Pennsylvania, Mr. Casey.

The Senator from New Hampshire, Senator Shaheen.

Mr. President, I believe we have 8 minutes left, so I would like to divide 4 to Senator King and 4 to Senator Van Hollen.

And on our side, Senators Wyden, Hirono, and Coons.