, senator collins and senator feinstein. the list goes on and on. but that increase of, by 38% of the national institutes of health was something that our little quartet did together. i'm particularly proud to be part of it. it wasn't by far the only thing that you've done. you championed the increase in the department of energy office of science as chair of the energy and water appropriations committee, which senator feinstein noted. under your leadership with her, that office budget has increased by 38% since 2015. you worked with the national labs oak ridge, argonne, those are near and dear to me as well. your support for research infrastructure provided essential help to this lab, labs across america. i want to just close by saying this -- most of us were moved by your speech. i'm sure that it was a perfect illustration of your view of this chamber and the good memories you have and it challenged all of us to do better. i think the honest answer is it's not the rules of the senate that make the difference. it's the senat

senate. indeed this is work that has benefited also in tennesseans and all americans. as governor of tennessee he was very successful in working to persuade nissan automotive, this started a new impact on our state with the auto industry. and turned his attention to infrastructure. the access that was necessary was a to encourage this business and as the former secretary of education under president george h w bush, he couldn't not put his personal touch on education policy, working tirelessly as he said to fix no child left behind and this earned him the first ever james madison award. he has a reputation for being a go to lawmaker and as chairman of health and the senate he put a spotlight in the issues that affect the most sensitive aspect of tennesseans lives. again benefiting all americans. .. out of his committee that have become law. 45 bills. as he mentioned one of those was 21st century cures act, and as a member in the house and working on originating this bill, we said were going t

senate. so i lot comes through here. if you want to get rid of common core or fix no child left behind, this is where you come. if you want to get medical miracles into a doctor's office more rapidly, you come here. if there is an opioid crisis, here. big argument over labor, here. so a lot happens here. we've got 23 members of the senate, from elizabeth warren and bernie sanders to rand paul. so if we can get a consensus here, we think the country can live with it as well. greta: highlights of your chairmanship over the years? senator alexander: one emotional highlight was when i was sitting there and all 23 senators voted to report the bill fixing no child left behind. it may sound silly, but think about the elementary and secondary education. and everybody is an expert. it is like being in the university of tennessee football stadium with 100,000 people, all of whom played a little football, so they know what play to call. that is the way we are with everything from sexual orientation to c

i know the marines will miss senator roberts. i will miss senator roberts. just like the remarks today and toave the honor joe so many stories and allow the stories and for me involving alaska is a very close friend of patson the seed of which i'm honored to pull here and i have learned so much of the stories that i have heard from senator roberts. a great example for me and so many other senators a statesman and marine and optimist. and then to a beautiful wife and a leader in the senate six chairmanshipsip who gets things done for his state and country and finally mr. president a man of integrity. is tough to be the chairman of the nate ethics committee but the senate ethics committee i much needed here to chair the committee for 24 years to say how much they believe in ts man's integrit on to serve othe eisenhower memorial commission and i saw again one of the great qualities of senator roberts' tenaci on a rainy night a few months ago i attend a dedication ceremony for president eisenhow and watched as america celebrated great american and kansan if ther

and it was critical to legislation where we worked with senator kennedy, senator dodd, senator landrieu for voucher funding to assist education for public and nonpublic students in grades k-12 displaced byhe hurricane. then reauthorizing the perkins act, a wershed moment, education week said it was. staffer jake baker worked on that. senator enzi did a lot of heavy work. i've been fortunate to have two extraordinary women r the team on the help committee. mary sumpter lapinski and grace graham. before they started melissa was instrumental in passing the premmie act in 2003 getting the bill written and signed into law to help working with the march of dimes to hp there be more healthy babies live long and healthy lives. once i became sior on the help committee we began to work on the 21st century cures a. senator mcconnell said it was the most important law of that congress. it helped speed medical miracles to patients and doctors offices. margaret coulter, melissa pfaff spent countless hours getting readyor that. f.d.a. user fees, working es with senator murray's staff and house committ

in his early years in the senate the senator roberts indicated he liked the senate intelligence committee during theime of the 911 attacks and under his leadership committee conducted a swping and exhaustive w review of u.s. intelligence which led to critical reforms t put us in a better position and to know more and protectmericans better and that work on the intelligence reform and intelligence reform earned him a spote in a very distinguished guest speaker program that prestigious land and lecture series kansas ste university.d combining his experience and agriculture and intelligence and defense senator roberts has laid the groundwork for the national bio and agro defense facility at his alma mater in manhattan, kansas. it brings great oppornity to our state and we are so pleased to have pat accomplishment benefithe country and our state for generations to come. pat roberts deserves great credit for the eisenhower memorial and i've been aund this issue for a long time an it has been challenging from the get-go and nothing was easy and controversy apparently had fallenly every new memo

i want to thank senator sanders, senator schumer for bringing this with clarity to the floor of the senate. we support $2000

after senator mcconnell's remark, we'll hear senator alexander's farewell speech. sen. mcconnell: mr. president, on a complete different matter, the senate revolves around people. the body consists of 100 individuals. one of our key duties concerns the personnel that we examine and confirm. and there are all the dedicated staff professionals that makes it go. i'd like to honor someone who does all three parts, lamar alexander. foot here as a talented young staffer. decades later, he appeared before us as a super successful former governor and university president, with a nomination to the cabinet. and for the past 18 years, the other 99 of us have gotten to serve alongside one of the most impactful senators in modern american history. lamar for more than 50 years. 1969, when i was working for a freshman senator named marlo cook. and he worked down in the executive branch. we met at the suggestion of his previous boss and mentor, senator howard baker. either he suspected our paths mike ross again later or he just saw two serious young guys that needed livelier social liv

two major funding bills are in limbo and those senators hope to come to agreement before the new senate is sworn in sunday. >> let's talk about covid-19 relief. >> reporter: mitch mcconnell on the floor just hours ago announced he will move forward with the covid-19 relief package that includes $2,000 direct payments but there's a catch involving the president's wishlist. mcconnell says to get the $2,000 checks democrats must repeal section 230 of the communications decency act which protect big tech companies who censor speech online, donald trump says company like twitter and facebook unfairly censor republican perspectives that have been for years. the majority leader wants a bipartisan study examining the integrity and security of the 2020 presidential election. >> the senate will not split the issues donald trump linked together just because democrats are afraid to address two of them. >> reporter: democrats call the package poison pills, a straight up or down only on the $2,000 direct payments. on monday the house passed a measure that would give $2,000 direct payments to the amer

senate here on c-span2. the senate will come to order. the chaplain, dr. black, will lead the senate in prayer. the chaplain: let us pray.. great redeemer, guide our lawmakers along the best path to fulfill your purposes on earth. may they submit to your wisdom and providential leading, believing that you will supply all of their needs. .remind them that your unfailing love accompanies those who put their trust in you. give our senators an attitude of reverential awe that will keep them from evil. .inspire them to rejoice and be glad, as they strive to live lives of purity and obedience. and lord, as we remember pearl harbor on this december 7th, thank you for your loving and prevailing providence. may we show our gratitude by facing the future without fear. .we pray in your majestic name. amen. the president pro tempore: please join me in reciting the pledge of allegiance i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. mr. grassle

speech on the senate senate floor. for the past years senator has conducted work with legislatures senators udall caliber, someone who possesses a massive public policy and is principle. you'll always know where senator udall stands on an issue but you always know he's willing to sit with you and work with you until you find common ground. and because of these qualities, tom will leave this chamberas a supremely accomplished legislator . here's defender of the environment and a true champion of the american west . now a lot of politicians are described as wonder kinds, but getting elected at a young age. but should be hard-pressed to find someone got their start in politics earlier than tom. he made his debut at the plucky age of five, boosting campaign signs from the back of his family's convertible during his dad'sbid for congress . a service runs deep in the veins of the udall is, it might be called the staff of the udall family tree. alongside his father he looked up to his uncle know who succeeded his father as on

but could cost us two senate seats and control of the senate. i would beg him to bring up the $2,000 payment as a free standing, independent vote. >> clearly, mitch mcconnell is not listening to newt gingrich and newt gingrich knows a little more about georgia politics than mitch mcconnell does. >> you know what is so sick about that? he is right that the senate must act to send money to people but is newt gingrich saying the senate should act because people are suffering and need help? no. he is saying the senate should act just for cynical, short term political reasons. it's about time that we elected people in this country who had a heart for the people. who weren't just thinking about an election in five days. who don't just support help for working families when they have to face the voters but are thinking about working families at all times. who aren't working to rip voting rights away from the very people they represent. we lost john lewis this year. we can honor his memory by winning these two races in georgia. i'm asking everybody to h

new senate is sworn in on sunday. >> let's talk about covid-19 relief. >> senate majority leader mitch mcconnell on the floor an hour ago announce he will move forward with a relief package that includes $2,000 direct payments, but there's a catch involving the president's wish list. mcconnell says to get the $2,000 checks, democrats must also repeal section 230 of the communications decency act which protects big tech companies who censor speech online. president trump says companies like twitter and facebook unfairly censor republican perspectives and have been for years. the majority leader also wants a bipartisan study examining the integrity and security of the 2020 presidential election. >> the senate does not going to split apart the three issues president trump linked together because democrats are afraid to em them.two of >> democrats called the election integrity and section 230 parts of the package poison pills and want a straight up and down vote only on the $2,000 payments. on monday, the house passed a measure that would give $2,000 direct payments to the american people.

i thank my chairman, senator hoeven and senator barrasso for their partnership and friendship. we worked together as a committee for better health care, education, housing and urgently needed resources for native american communities, especially as they battle this pandemic. the federal government's obligation to uphold its trust and treaty obligations is sacred. some of my proudest achievements have been the result of working with tribal leaders to advance indian country's priorities to support miew annexation's -- new mexico's 23 tribes. recently we passed legislation for tribal self-governor unanimous, to provide -- governance to secure investments in language revitalization. the achievements i remember most fondly are those we did together. indeed those are the only kinds of achievements that are possible in this body. take the frank lautenberg chemical safety for the 21st century act, our landmark reform of the toxic substances control act. it was the biggest environmental reform in a generation. i was proud to lead that effort to protect our families from toxic chemicals.

so that senator sullivan and senator whitehouse will leave me alone. [laughing] >> highly meritorious reason. >> if we ever clean up classics in the ocean it will be because of these two folks, and senator pat leahy and i would be willing co-conspirators. i have been told about this a lot and i'm just astounded by the problem mankind has created for the oceans. we can be better stewards of god's creation and what were going to dog is have a hearing today about some solutions, and senator leahy and myself will sit down and find a way to create somee kind of fund that people can contribute to. i know they're doing it at the world bank, that i like the fund idea where the world kd of comes together under amecan leadership to solve the problem. so too are two colleagues, thank you very much for your leadership and senator leahy. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman. with all joking they goes back and forth, i think it' safe to say that the chairman and i feel very strongly about this. we do wt to help. senator whitehouse and i were in vietnam last year. we

senate to have it. so, no, that won't go anywhere. >> and despite that, you have these members of congress, though, going forward with this. what does this say about your party tonight, ben? >> well, nothing good. i think they probably see it as a freebie vote, which is extremely short sighted for the future of the party. but they see that the democrats in the house and enough republican senators will save them frommi inhaving to be in t unprecedented and unprincipled position of actually overturning the popular results of the election. >> they see it as a safe vote, no matter the message it sends to the rest of the world. let me ask you this. republican congressional aid next week's session of congress where electoral college votes will be counted will, quote, definitely be a spectacle. what should we be bracing for, do you think? >> you know, it will be a circus. it will be all hail king trump from the republican party, about 140 or so, jake tapper is hearing, in the house. and you're obviously hearin

senate runoff debate. martha maccallum takes it from here. martha. martha: thank you, novelly. good -- molly. good evening, everybody. it all comes down to this. >> the future of our country is on the ballot right here in georgia. >> the stakes could not possibly be higher exactly one month before georgia's two u.s. senate runoffs. >> this is our moment, and georgia's on everybody's mind. martha: deciding whether republicans or democrats will control the united states senate for the next two years. >> now we take georgia, then we change america! martha: moments from now, georgia senator kelly loeffler, a republican, squares off with her challenger, reverend raphael warnock, a democrat. >> he has espouse add radical views from the pulpit. >> they are trying to divide

a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from wisconsin. mr. johnson: reserving the right to object, mr. president. first of all, i want to say to my colleague from missouri that i certainly share -- i think every senator in this chamber shares his concern for people who are hurting because of this covid pandemic. businesses have closed. people are on unemployment. people are in need through no fault of their own. this is an act of god, and that's one of the reasons why i certainly supported the cares act. that was over $2 trillion. in total, this body has passed well over $3 trillion, 15% to 16% of last year's g.d.p. in terms of financial relief. my comments here are really not directed specifically at the senator from missouri's proposal because he makes many good points. we do have working men and women. we have households that gp again through no fault of their own are struggling, and we need to provide financial support. i think my comments are in some respect more general from the standpoint of how we've done that. and as i have explained

he's not a powerful enough senator to get the full republican caucus in the senate to pay attention to him about anything ever. this is mitch mcconnell putting toomey up to this to side track this at this moment for mitch mcconnell's reasons. and i don't know what those is because this is a kind of maneuver that we have never seen in the senate. here is what i promise you. take a look at how the democrats handle negotiations. you can go back as far as you want. you will never ever find an instance where they are in any kind of legislative negotiation with republicans of this sort where at the last minute the democrats suddenly say, oh, we need this thing that we have never mentioned before ever. and suddenly every single democrat is in favor of it. that has never happened in the history of congressional negotiations either in the house or the senate. this is a uniquely mcconnell republican senate maneuver. we have never seen anything like it before. so i don't know how this turns out now. >> i'll be interested to see if, as the years go on after president trump's presidency if the tone

senate seat to fill the senate seat held by senator loeffler. as moderator, i will take the privilege of asking a question to start this round. reverend, i'll begin with you. i am interested in the number that you are comfortable with when it comes to coronavirus relief. senator mcconnell seems to favor billion, twoe 500 months ago, the white house suggested $1.8 trillion and the democrats wanted more. how much is required by this moment? rev. warnock: for months we have not seen any relief, and we can talk about the numbers. that would be an important part of the conversation. but, when we saw relief, we saw the shake shacks of the world, the l.a. lakers at the front of the line, and small businesses at the back of the line. our front-line workers, our teachers, our police officers, our health professionals need ppe. our workers need relief. and we need to begin even now, i think, thinking beyond how we survived this pandemic and begin to think about how we survived on the other end of the pandemic. i think it is time for us to start thinking a

and that is why senator sanders and senator kamala harris and i introduce legislation to provide every person inur our country regardless of immigration status with 2000-dollar monthly recurring payments to help weather this storm. seven months ago, single relief check was not going to be enough to help families goodbye. and that 600-dollar payments in the latest coronavirus package, is crumbs to working people who have faced economic hardships through no fault of their own. it will even cover some of the road let alone heating bills, food bills, wi-fi bills, students learning from home and all of the other expenses which are piling up to these families. while some of my republican colleagues have said, the providing $2000 that would be too expensive. there are other costs they seem to have forgotten. about the proposal to increase stimulus checks to the $2000, the overall cost of stimulus bill would go from 900 o $9,900,000,000,000 to 1.36 - yes that is $464 million increase inover what we were a car for ts bill. plus, it is only a fraction of the 740 billion-dollar defense bill that

the senate. if we lose georgia, we are never going to get a vote on section 230. they will send another bill over that will make this bill look cheap. but it will send another stimulus package. it will have every wish list for liberals and appeared it will be two or three times bigger than what we have before us. so if you want to control spending, make sure that the republicans win the senate. if you want to secure the supreme court, make sure they control the senate. if you don't want illegal immigrants to get free health care and go to open borders, make sure republicans control the senate. we cannot run the government from the senate, but we sure can control socialism if you have control with the senate. that's why everybody needs to get out and vote in georgia. >> trey: you know, senator, there is hyperbole from time to time in politics. but quite literally, quite literally control of the united states senate. it hangs in the balance. >> literally. >>>> trey: they spent hundred million dolla

no longer really allows senators to offer amendments on the senate floor the way they used to. but he didn't have the courage to mention that it was his dear friend mitch mcconnell who has been preventing him from offering amendments on the senate floor. mitch mcconnell was moved to tears by lamar alexander's speech. that's how much mitch mcconnell treasures his spineless enablers, his quislings who cower to donald trump. two hours before donald trump defaced the white house with his verbal graffiti about the election, mike pence did his duty as vice president and swore in the newest united states senator from arizona, democrat mark kelly. acceptance of the results of an election does not get more clear and more formal than that, actually administering the oath of office to the winner of that election. to find republicans who are willing to stand up to donald trump's lies about the election, you have to get outside of washington, because there isn't a single republican in washington with the minimal courage it would take to stand up to donald trump's lies about the election and

senator. tom udall has literally been a giant in public service, no one should surprised. he summed up with what drove him saying, the thing that inspired me if you had a good idea of reforming something and you really stuck to it, you could literally change the world. i'm going to miss senator udall and we're also going to miss his wife jo who i got to know well. i have a fond memory of one of the new senator's orientation, where we were tasked to the new senators in the building and giving them tips how though operate and handle the first years and how you can stay married while being a u.s. senator. i remember it fondly because mitt romney was sitting in the front row taking notes diligently and i thought maybe he didn't need our advice on this. but tom and joe jo are an incredible couple in a town where it's not easy to keep a strong and beautiful relationship. i want to thank him for on behalf of his state, the beautiful state of new mexico and thank the state for sharing their extraordin

was hard work and took years but if you can get a project where senator markey and senator in half are working for the same goal you can get a lot done around here. it's another example how friendships get you the finish line my partner like ted kennedy and orrin hatch friendship political odd couple looking at those big problems before us will never forget the dinner we had after frank passed away we decided to take on a reform we looked at each other and shook cans and said we will get this done. we did to pass the senate unanimously and we agreed there was aro problem and found common ground on the solution. but i didn't come here to list accomplishments you can check my twitter feed for that but i doeen what share final thoughts we face before i leave the senate for all of us here public services the calling for me in my life i had the privilege of learning from many dedicated servants one of them was senator john mccain a friend to me and to my family and when he first came to the house my uncle took him under his wing. he did the same for me and work together on issues like campa

senate republican leader mitch mcconnell gave an emotional tribute on the senate floor, recalling their friendship as young senate staffers. sen. mcconnell: mr. president, on a complete different matter, the senate revolves around people. reinvolves around peopl. one of our key duties involves the personnel we examine and confirm. there are all the dedicated staff professionals who make this place go. today it is both my great honor and regrettable task to honor someone who secured our three parts of that senatorial triple crown. the senior senator from tennessee, the chairman of the committee on health, education, labor, and pensions, lamar alexander. lamar first set foot here as a talented young staffer. decades later he appeared before us as a super-successful former governor and university president with a nomination to the cabinet. and for the past 18 years, the other 99 of us have gotten to serve along one of the most impactful senators in modern american history. i have known lamar for more than 50 years. we first met in 1969 when i was working for a freshman senator named marlo

senator? senator? hi, senator. senator. senator? i'm kyung lah from cnn. hey. hey. why don't you debate, senator? >> reporter: when it comes to the general public, only a select group is invited. by contrast the senator was eager to appear next to president trump at his highly publicized, nearly fact-free georgia rally. >> i want to take literally just one second. >> reporter: as perdue spoke, the crowd drowned him out, shouting support for president trump. >> -- president trump personally -- >> reporter: who was leveling basic attacks against the voting system in georgia. >> they cheated is and they rigged our presidential election. but we will still win it. >> reporter: but perdue and fellow republican senator kelly loeffler need voters to use that system. plus republican enthusiasm. when loeffler was asked this in her debate. >> do you stand by his narrative that the election was rigged? >> reporter: she did not directly answer. >> and look, it's vitally important that georgians trust our election process. and the president has every right to every legal recourse

senator kennedy used to chair that committee, working with senator enzi, senator gregg, senator hatch and others to produce a lot of legislation. he used to say that committee has a third of all the jurisdiction in the senate. maybe that's about right. doug jones was one of the newest senators. we have 23 members. he was way down at the end of the line. but i noticed he always came, and he always asked questions, and he always listened. he seemed to me to be trying to say what he believed but learn from the witnesses how to get a result. let me just mention one contribution he made that i think will stick with him and with the people of alabama and this country for a long time. that was the work we did in 201, doug jones, senator tim scott, senator bennet of colorado was on it from the beginning -- to do two things at once to help low-income americans who wanted to go to college. the first was to simplify the dreaded fafsa, the federal aid application form that 20 million americans fill out every year that's 108 questions long, about 90 of them are unnecessary. everybody agrees. and f

let me take one more minute because this is something senator crapo, senator scott, senator tillis on our side, have come together on. this package of $12 million for capital investment for financial institutions. we know black and latino businesses have been particularly hard-hit by covid. thousands of black-owned businesses have shut their doors, generations of accumulation that has closed down. we know 40% of latino owned businesses have closed their doors. i heard a constituent of mine who, five years ago, opened up a diabetic center and a low income neighborhood. covid-19 hit her business hard and she said, i treat folks. the they walked through door, they want to receive the compassion they deserve. that is what they do. that business is on the brink of shutting down. article,sk about the to be turned into the record. sen. crapo: without objection. sen. warner:. -- sen. warner: i would ask two questions. the details of the bipartisan plan put out this morning, without knowing them, do you think, directionally, this kind of bridge emergency relief is needed at this point? chairma

they will have to get agreement from 100 senator >> we been talking about the georgia senate races and the fact that on that depends mitch mcconnell's continuing power in the senate. just a brief answer on whether you think he will retain that leadership in the senate after next week or not. >> the only way the democrats can take contr is by winning both georgia seats. ce president kamala harr would break the tie. >> of got to leave it there. -- i have got to leave it there. thanks, and we willatch that next tuesday very carefully. the u.s. has recorded his firs case of the new variant of coronavirus first identified here in the u.k. the governor of colorado tweeted it was discovered andonaying we willor it very closely. it has also been recorded in canada, australia,apan, as well as other european countries. risen steeply to a record.of one senior medal officer has expressed extreme concern on the situation. the official data puts the figure at 53,135 new cases in the latest 24 hours and 414 dehs were reported. this report includes flash photograph reporter we all wanted to have a few

the most important thing you have in the senate is floor time the minority or any single senator has the ability to slow down your floor time and that's one of the challenges stop every nomination, if it is contested is time you are not spent doing other legislative business like getting bills passed. so whether you have 59 or 60 votes in the senate as we had in 2009, it certainly affects who or put up when you put up 48 50, like the biden team has, that makes a big difference. mo: do you want to add to that? the game has that totally changed. we are going to see closer votes on these nominees just because of the polarization we are experiencing in the country. thing amost important nominee or president-elect candy for his or her nominees is to put forth people that are immensely qualified. there are people that exist like colin powell, still, and in partisan places that we all find ourselves being shocked by sometimes how rough this town of abovehat are kind reproach. they are harder to find and they were 15 or 20 years ago, but that is the best defense. -- i thinkiduals elaine chao

senator. senator gardner lost his reelection bid this year to democratic challenger john hickenlooper. you to the people of colorado for this incredible honor that you have lent to me these last six years to serve you in the united states senate. thank you to my fame jamie, mom and dad and lisa who supported me this last decade of service with your love and sacrifice through missed ball games and lost teeth, school concerts and junior high dances. sore throats and first moments. thank you to my incredible staff, many in the chamber today who are in colorado and washington who made so many great things happen and whose difference will be felt for generations to come. you leave a mark on the country far beyond the etching of a signature. -- signature, desk, and the floor. thank you to my colleagues and senator bennet. thank you for the honor of serving along your side and commitment to our nation, capitol police, the staff, support staff in the senate who make it all possible. above all, most im

the senate. the other is democrats have 48 or 49 senators. the democrats control the senate they'll be able to get very significant things done. they will basically have to abolish filibuster rules as they exist now, i'm sure they're willing to do that because the senate has become so broken. mitch mcconnell retains control of the senate, joe biden knows what he's dealing with, he knows better than anyone how far from reasonable mitch mcconnell has travelled. in the '90s when i was in the senate mitch mcconnell and joe biden were there and mitch mcconnell was one of the reasonable republicans who you could talk to and not necessarily get him into a policy compromise but he wasn't going to put up ridiculous road blocks to everything and jo joe biden knows better than anyone just how much mitch mcconnell has changed and the mitch mcconnell he used to deal with when he was a senator really no longer exists and biden knows that. no one knows, including joe biden, how you deal with this version of mit

he sits on the senate appropriations committee and member of the senate budget committee. senator, first, do you agree with president trump, are $2,000 stimulus checks needed asap? >> bianna, it's good to be with you. the answer is yes. the way to make that happen today is for senator mitch mcconnell and senate republicans to let us vote up or down on the $2,000 individual payments bill that's already come over to the senate from the house of representatives. we can get it to president trump's desk today. he can sign it, and mitch mcconnell and senator republicans are holding this up and playing political games and people are hurting. it's actually disgraceful and this is exactly what the country hates about the plul maneuvers they see on capitol hill. >> and clearly mitch mcconnell is not wanting to move forward with this as a stand-alone bill, attaching what would be described as a poison pill. what is your sense of his ultimate strategy here? and will he prevail? >> his strategy is to stop these individual payments. he's never been for them. large numbers of his senate

the senate stands in recess the senate stands in recess >> you can follow live senate coverage here on c-span2. >> the latest results of vaccine trials continue to suggest our victory over the coronavirus is on the horizon. but here in washington the additional relief that would help families, , workers, schoos and small businesses crossed the finish line has been held for months while democrat leaders pursued an all or nothing approach. when the speaker of the house put forward the so-called heroes act back in may, multiple, multiple house democrats called the political start that it clearly was. when democrat said it was not focused, rushed to a vote to fast, and it doesn't help us accomplish the core mission of helping struggling people. well, after a several months wih no progress the same democrat just said a few days ago that said republicans proposal, quote, is a bill we can pass. we should negotiate that to the finish. even speaker pelosi's own members think our senate republican bill is better than hers. well, let's hope our democratic colleagues will fight let us make a law a

i want to mention the chairman of committees that i worked on, senator crapo senator inhofe, senator alexander he was one of the first people to help me come over in the work that we did who pulled me and help me in senator collins who shared the aging committee but i'm especially grateful for the ranking members of those committees senator brown casey, murray and reed, their friendship and counsel have been invaluable and of course i want to think the minority leader for all of his work for me on behalf of me and i think as you guys know in the people of alabama, senator schumer never tried to put puppet strings on me, i know i got accused of that but he never ever tried and for that i am very grateful into the people of alabama i promise to do my best to represent each of you whether or not you voted for me i'm proud of the work that we did on your behalf and i've accomplished onis your behalf, thank you to the people for giving me the honor of starting you as my senator, finally i will resist the urge to tell you what's wrong with the senate, however, operates today, you hear it e

why didn't senator mcconnell announce the senate for the vote on the 2000-dollar checks bill?qu why didn't he agree to senator schumer's agree to bring it up for an immediate vote? now a lot of republicans say they object to the payments because it cost too much. and it is going to add too much to the deficit. while frankly, spare me the fake righteous indignation about the deficit all the sedentary three years ago the same republicans pass the tax cut bill that before the pandemic hit already added overan $200 billion to the annual deficit. that was a tax cut for 80% of the benefits went to the richest 1% of americans. worn buffet wrote to his note to investors last year the deficit financed tax cuts earned his empire $29 billion overnight. that windfall, buffett noted quote did not do anything we accomplished. so it's funny, deficits did not matter to the 52 when it was a tax cuts to the 600 richest people in america. but even at this congress was not ending in five days and we had time to figure how to pay for, june how we can't pay for? cutting foreign aid. president trump

here is senate majority leader mitch mcconnell announcing the deal on the senate floor. importantlyll: more for the american people, we can final report that our nation has needed to hear for a very long time. more help is on the way. moments ago in consultation with our committees and leaders of the senate and the house, we finalized an agreement. there will be another major rescue package for the american people

with that, i am happy to introduce my fellow senator from new hampshire, senator shaheen. >> thank you. i am pleased to join my colleagues in the senate and the problem solvers folks from the house who are here to endorse a framework that we believe makes it possible for us to move forward to provide emergency aid to the people who are hurting in this country. to date we have lost almost a quarter million americans to covid. over 13 million americans have been affected in some way. as i traveled around new hampshire, what i heard everywhere i went was that people were hurting and they need help. whether it is the small business people, those unemployed, cities and towns who are worried about laying off frontline workers, hospitals who are in financial distress, they need help from the federal government and we are here to say we think there is a pathway to an agreement that can provide that help for a temporary period. number of my is, calls have talked about this being a victory, if we passed it, it is a victory. this is step one. we have a lot of steps going forward. to provide help

the gop controlled senate. and either way, millions of americans are losing money they need right now due to his delay in signing the bill. they won't get it back. there is that, the pandemic itself, and the president's seeming obsession with overturning the election. your votes. joining us now our cnn political commentators democratic strategist and former republican senator rick santorum. thanks so much to both of you. senator santorum, the president delayed. if he had taken the simple step of signing this even on saturday night 24 hours before, folks would be getting money they won't get now because some of this is not retroactive. what was gained here? what was the point? >> it's pretty inexplicable to me. the fact that he went ahead and signed these two bills there really isn't a good reason to have held off. he conflated the two bills, created a lot of confusion with people that somehow or another the covid bill had foreign aid in it which was not the case and it was a separate bill. it just seems like th

senator. markey: i want to make it clear that i thank you for your service, admiral. excellent joban and i look forward to working with you. chairman sullivan: senator scott. thankr scott: i want to chairman sullivan for his commitment to the coast guard, the arctic, and all the things he has taught me about icebreakers. idea, the importance of icebreakers, until i got this job. chairman sullivan: being a senator from florida, we are ok with that. scott: i had a great deal of help from chelsea, who will eventually be a great coast guard admiral. capabilities have remained stagnant for decades, and russia and china continue to advance policies and dedicate resources to capitalize on the arctic. influenceowing presents a danger to world markets, the united states and our allies and freedom around the world we must do everything we can to make sure our men and women in uniform have every resource to defend against the growing threat. i want to thank chairman sullivan. he was a big advocate of mak

and 22 years in the senate. y colleagues, first i thank the leadership on both sides for this opportunity to give the pat roberts adios amigos speech. as a fourth generation kansan, my great grandfathers on both sides of the roberts-patrick family, were pioneer newspaper editors who came to kansas as crusading abolitionists. to say i believe fourth generation printer's ink would be very close to the truth. the main influence that drew me to public service was my dad, wes roberts, who was a newspaper man and soon journalism led to politics. he served as chief of staff and advisor for several kansas governors becoming the state republican chairman. in 1952, my dad was asked to head up the citizens for ike campaign which was a genuine army of volunteers made up of legions of veterans, women's groups and republicans who wanted a candidate who could win, plus they really liked ike. at 16, at my dad's tow, i was a sergeant at arms at the 1962 convention back when the conventions actually chose the nominee for presiden

the presiding officer: the senator from kansas. mr. moran: mr. president, good evening. this evening -- the presiding officer: senator, which are in a quorum call. mr. moran: oh. thank you for reminding me. i would ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be lifted. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. moran: mr. president, thank you for recognizing me and tonight i am pleased to speak as the chairman of the senate committee on veterans' affairs as we work to deliver today meaningful benefits and reforms for our nation's veterans and to recognize the decades of service of two of our departing colleagues who are dedicated to the well-being of our colleagues. today we pass the david p. roe m.d. improvements act of 2020. this legislation is a culmination of more than two years of bipartisan work with input from all of our veteran service organizations, from dozens of senators, from members of the house of representatives, our partners at the department of veterans affairs, and the leadership of the former senate and house v.a.

the senators. we usually can't get a vote with that many to say the sunrises in the east. the majority gave us time to bring those votes up and debate them and vote them. i will have more comments to make. i don't question the good intentions of any senator here. but what i'm saying is, we could have done this in june, we could have done it in july, we could have done it in august, we could have done it in september, we could have done it in november. and to now complain, well, up to the last few days, we've got to change everything and now let's pledge instead that we'll follow regular order in the coming days. yield the floor. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from wisconsin. mrjohnson: mr. president, i appreciate the comments of the senator from vermont. i think what senator lee and i was talking about is opposed to the way it used to be, when we got here in 20, the appropriations process was completely broken and it is still broken. it has been a bipartisan failure. i

let's make a date for that, senator. chris murphy, thank you very much. >> will do. >> next, what would a post holiday spike in coronavirus cases mean for hospitals that are already at the breaking point? dr. richard besser on the aftermath of thanksgiving and the months ahead, after this. ha the months ahead, after this they use stamps.com all the services of the post office only cheaper get a 4-week trial plus postage and a digital scale go to stamps.com/tv and never go to the post office again. understanding how to talk to your doctor about treatment options is key. today, we are redefining how we do things. we find new ways of speaking, so you're never out of touch. it's seeing someone's face that comforts us, no matter where. when those around us know us, they can show us just how much they care. the first steps of checking in, the smallest moments can end up being everything. there's resources that can inform us, and that spark can make a difference. when we use it to improve things, then that change can last withi

the united states senate. he spoke for too long. the republican leader of the senate, also baker's father in law, senator dirksen, walked over to congratulate him and then said, howard, occasionally you might enjoy the luxury of an unexpressed thought, which is good advice for a farewell address as well. as senator baker's legislative assistant, i was also his speechwriter for that maiden address, or at least i thought i was. he developed a bad habit of not saying what i wrote for his speech, so i asked to see him and i said do we have a problem with our relationship? he said, no, we have a perfect relationship. you write what you want to write and i will say what i want to say. i learned a couple of of other things about saying what i want to say. one came from alex haley, the author of "roots" who heard me speak once and called me aside afterwards and said may i make a suggestion? he said if when you begin a speech, you would start by saying instead of making a speech, let me tell you a story, someone might

senator crapoh, senator inhofe, senator alexander, the work that we did together, senator collins, i am especially grateful for the ranking members of the committees, senators brown, casey and read, the friendship and counsel have been invaluable and i want to thank the minority leader for all of his work on behalf of me. as you guys know, senator schumer never tried to put puppet strings on me. i got accused of that but he never ever tried. for that i am very grateful. whether you vote for me and i am proud of the work we did on your behalf, accomplished on your behalf, thank you for giving me the honor of serving you as your senator. to tell you what is wrong with the senate, how it operates today. you hear it whenever a senator gives a farewell address and instinctively you know it, i will offer you this, there is a book i finished reading recently, former staffer, you may remember, a book called the last great senate. every senator coming in published eight years ago, how they operate, the majority leader, howard baker is the minority leader and how they got things done for the a

senator rosen. are you with us? senator rosen? senator cantwell. >> thank you. and for people participating, i want to thank thousands of the independent artists and venues for trying to communicate this issue. when you're talking about issues like macklemore, pearl jam, and many others you can see that music is an important issue to the state of washington. i want to thank senator klobuchar and corn in for legislation -- there is bipartisan support in a stimulus package, but we have a long way to go to make that a reality. a survey by the washington nightlife music association, 63% of independently close clubs would have no choice but to permanently close, you guys have been talking about many of those issues, even in spokane, a staple of the music scene there closed its doors and in dividend venues like spokane arena, the knitting factory, the fox, and many others are impacted by the closures and looking for the relief. when i hear these comments this morning and our colleagues you think this would be a slamdunk, if nothing else we can go ahead and pass legisl