[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 217 (Sunday, December 20, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Page S7855]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             117TH CONGRESS

  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, today is Sunday, and I want to remember 
what Senator Byrd said on a lot of Sundays when the Senate was in 
session. He didn't say this because he didn't want to work on Sunday, 
but he wanted everybody to remember the significance of Sunday for some 
people, particularly Christians. He always said: ``Remember the Sabbath 
and keep it holy.''
  Now, I want to refer to another particular Sunday. Never in the 
Senate's history has the Senate convened Congress--meaning a new 
Congress--on a Sunday. The Constitution mandates that Congress convene 
at noon on January 3, unless the preceding Congress, by law, designates 
a different day.
  Of course, January 3 has fallen on a Sunday over the last 238 years, 
and each time, by unanimous consent, the Congress set a new convening 
day other than that Sunday. So now it appears, for the first time in 
history, that Senate Democrats don't want to agree to such unanimous 
consent and instead are insisting that the Senate start the 117th 
Congress on Sunday.
  I am not looking to get out of work. I have proven that I have 
respect for attendance in the Senate. But out of respect, the Senate 
usually does not have business on religious holidays observed by 
members of various faiths.
  So just like Senator Byrd, I also think the Lord's Day, particularly 
when it is paired with the weight of starting a new Congress, deserves 
reverence.
  I yield.

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