Congressional Record, Volume 166 Issue 222 (Wednesday, December 30, 2020)

[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 222 (Wednesday, December 30, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7972-S7973]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

LEGISLATIVE SESSION

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JUST AND UNIFYING SOLUTIONS TO INVIGORATE COMMUNITIES EVERYWHERE ACT OF
2020--MOTION TO PROCEED

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I move to proceed to Calendar No. 480,
S. 3985.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the motion.
The legislative clerk read as follows:

Motion to proceed to Calendar No. 480, S. 3985, a bill to
improve and reform policing practices, accountability and
transparency.

Measures Placed On The Calendar--S. 5085 and H.R. 9051

Mr. McCONNELL. I understand there are two bills at the desk due a
second reading en bloc.

=========================== NOTE ===========================

On page S7972, December 30, 2020, third column, the following
appears: Motion to proceed to Calendar No. 480, S. 3985, a bill to
improve and reform policing practices, accountability and
transparency. MEASURES PLACED ON THE CALENDAR--S. 3985 AND H.R.
9051 Mr. McCONNELL. I understand there are two bills at the desk
due a second reading en bloc.

The online version has been corrected to read: Motion to proceed
to Calendar No. 480, S. 3985, a bill to improve and reform
policing practices, accountability and transparency. MEASURES
PLACED ON THE CALENDAR--S. 5085 AND H.R. 9051 Mr. McCONNELL. I
understand there are two bills at the desk due a second reading en
bloc.

========================= END NOTE =========================

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will read the bills by title for the
second time.
The legislative clerk read as follows:

A bill (S. 5085) to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986
to increase the additional 2020 recovery rebates, to repeal
section 230 of the Communications Act of 1934, and for other
purposes;
A bill (H.R. 9051), to amend the Internal Revenue Code of
1986 to increase recovery rebate amounts to $2,000 for
individuals, and for other purposes.

Mr. McCONNELL. In order to place the bills on the calendar under
provision of rule XIV, I object to further proceedings en bloc.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection having been heard, the bills will be
placed on the calendar.

Recognition Of The Minority Leader

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Democratic leader is recognized.

Electoral College

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I was prepared this afternoon to speak
about the business the Senate must address, and I will do that, but,
first, I must respond to the recent announcement by the junior Senator
of Missouri that he intends to contest the certified votes of the
electrical college when Congress meets to count those votes next week.
The process for electing American Presidents is provided in our
Constitution and laws.
The process has been followed fully, fairly. The results have been
duly certified by the Governors of the States, and they have been
reviewed and confirmed by the courts many times over. The result is
that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris won the election by overwhelming
margins in both the popular vote and the electoral vote.
The Biden-Harris ticket received more than 81 million votes, more
than any ticket in American history. That was over 7 million more votes
than Trump-Pence. The Biden-Harris ticket won the electoral college 306
to 232, the very same total that President Trump called a landslide for
himself then just 4 years ago.
Since the election process, President Trump and his acolytes have
lost more than 50 lawsuits, falsely claiming fraud or other
irregularities in the conduct of the 2020 election, including the
unanimous decision by the Supreme Court to dismiss a lawsuit brought by
the attorney general of Texas and more than half the Republican Members
of the House.
Today, we heard from the junior Senator from Missouri that he intends
to object to the election results, particularly in Pennsylvania--a
State where

[[Page S7973]]

the Trump campaign and its allies have brought no fewer than 13
lawsuits and lost every single one, many with Republican judges ruling.
There have been only three individuals--three--charged with voter fraud
in Pennsylvania, and in each case, the person voted for Trump.
The effort by the sitting President of the United States to overturn
the results is patently undemocratic. The effort by others to amplify
and burnish his ludicrous claims of fraud is equally revolting. This is
America. We have elections. We have results. We make arguments based on
fact and reason, not conspiracy and fantasy.
On January 6, Congress will meet to formally recognize the electoral
college result. There is a very clear process to handle and dispense
with the objections of Members of Congress to the counting of the
result, and that is just what we will do--dispense with them. On
January 6, Congress will ratify the electoral college's decision that
Joe Biden will be President and Kamala Harris will be Vice President.
Make no mistake about it--Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will be sworn in
as President and Vice President on January 20.

National Defense Authorization Act

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, now let me return to the matters at hand.
Today, the Senate will begin the process of overriding the
President's veto on the annual Defense bill. The House has already
overridden the veto by a comfortable margin. I expect the Senate to
follow suit and enact the NDAA into law over President Trump's evolving
and ridiculous objections. Congress has passed the annual Defense bill
for 59 years in a row. It is an important opportunity to ensure our
defense and security policies reflect the evolving challenges of our
world and provide our servicemembers and their families, as well as
Defense Department civilians, the support, resources, and training they
need. The particular legislation includes a pay raise for troops and
provisions that will allow the executive branch to be better postured
to identify and deter breaches to America's cyber security. In the wake
of the SolarWinds hack, that might be a good policy to enact.
Nonetheless, President Trump vetoed this legislation because it
provides for renaming military installations that honor Confederate
military leaders or, maybe, because it doesn't address an unrelated
social media issue. Think about it for a moment. The President vetoed a
pay raise to living American soldiers in order to defend the honor of
dead Confederate traitors. Well, the Senate will soon have an
opportunity to override the President's objection and do right by those
brave Americans who wear the uniform.
As I said yesterday, there are two major issues before the Senate
right now--the annual Defense bill and the vital and important effort
to send $2,000 stimulus checks to American families. There are only a
few days left in this session, and the Senate should consider both
issues before adjourning.
There is a very simple solution to this dilemma: Leader McConnell
should bring both measures up for a vote and let the chips fall where
they may. I believe both measures--the defense override and the $2,000
checks to American families--will pass, but at the very least, the
Senate deserves the opportunity for an up-or-down vote on increasing
the individual payments to the American people.
At the end of my remarks, I will ask the Senate to set a time tonight
for a vote on the House bill to provide $2,000 checks. The Republican
leader objected to a similar request I made yesterday, and it appears
he may be considering a different bill that packages stimulus checks
with other unrelated and partisan policies.
I want to be very clear about one thing: There is no other game in
town besides the House bill. The only way to get the American people
the $2,000 checks they deserve and need is to pass the House bill and
pass it now. The House has recessed for the year. Any modification or
addition to the House bill cannot become law before the end of this
Congress. It is a way to kill the bill. Make no mistake about it:
Either the Senate takes up and passes the House bill or struggling
American families will not get $2,000 checks during the worst economic
crisis in 75 years.
Over the past few days, the idea of increasing direct payments to the
American people has united folks from all points of the political
spectrum. I salute the Senator from Vermont for the good job he has
done in bringing this forward to the American people's attention. An
overwhelming bipartisan majority in the House supports the $2,000
checks. Senate Democrats strongly support these $2,000 checks, and our
unlikely ally, President Trump, this morning, tweeted: ``$2000 ASAP!''
For once, the Democrats agree with something on President Trump's
Twitter feed. Let's send $2,000 ASAP to working Americans who are
facing the hardest and darkest days of the pandemic.
After all of the insanity that the Senate Republicans have tolerated
from President Trump--his attacks on the rule of law, an independent
judiciary, the conduct that led to his impeachment--is this where the
Senate Republicans are going to draw the line--with $2,000 checks to
the American people? That is a bridge too far? Please.
For the awareness of my colleagues, we can have this vote tonight and
send the bill directly to the President's desk for his signature. We
can vote on the NDAA bill tonight and finish the Senate's business
before the end of the year. All it takes is our Republican colleagues
to consent to a simple vote on the House bill to provide $2,000 checks
to the American people. Yes or no, up or down, do you support sending
$2,000 to the American people or not? Let's have the vote

Unanimous Consent Request--H.R. 9051

I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate
consideration of H.R. 9051, a bill received from the House, to increase
recovery rebate amounts to $2,000 for individuals; that the bill be
read a third time and passed; and that the motion to reconsider be
considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or
debate.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I object.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.

Reservation Of Leader Time

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the leadership time
is reserved.

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