Executive Session

Floor Speech

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Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I am learning the etiquette of the mask as we try to make certain we set a good example for our country that is very attentive to the public healthcare crisis we face.

I listened carefully to the remarks of the Republican majority leader. He spoke about the reconvening of the Senate this day, and he talked about the work that we achieved a few weeks ago in passing the CARES Act--$2.2 trillion in rescue funds for America--by 96 to nothing. Then, by a voice vote, we passed $484 billion more--almost $2.7 trillion. That is an amount that is far in excess of the annual Federal budget of the United States of America for domestic discretionary spending, and we did it in a matter of days and weeks. We knew that we were facing, as the President characterized it, a national emergency, and we still do.

The Senate is here today because, against medical advice, the majority leader has brought us back to Washington. We know what the standard is in the District of Columbia for the people who live here--to stay home; not to meet in groups; to work away from your normal working place to protect yourself, your family, and everyone else. Yet we are back in town. The majority leader tells us we don't take days off. He says we are here to do the Nation's business, which can only be done--that it is only possible--when we are here. He talks about taking careful steps back. I have been waiting for the majority leader to announce what the business of this week will be. Boy, there are a lot of things we should be doing.

I know, back home, from the endless telephone conference calls that I am involved in and from the comments by my friends and neighbors in Illinois, that there are many unanswered questions which they would like this Congress to address. We have been waiting carefully, expectantly, for the majority leader to announce what we are doing this week that merits this return. It is not just because Members of the Senate are being asked to come back. Listen, that is what we ran to do. We promised the people of our States that we would be there to do the business of the Senate and the Nation when called upon. Certainly, I want to keep that promise. All of us do. Yet it is appropriate to ask exactly what it is this week that we will be doing.

There is a noncontroversial nomination that will be before us in a matter of 2 hours, which is likely to pass by an overwhelming vote. That can't be the reason. There must be more, but what is it? There are lots of things which the majority leader could bring us back to do. It appears one of the things he is most intent on is to make certain that we consider the nomination of a young district court judge from the Commonwealth of Kentucky. This individual was nominated last year to serve on the district court in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. His name is Justin Walker.

Justin Walker has a distinction. He is one of nine Presidential nominees who has been sent to the Senate Judiciary Committee by the White House who has been judged ``not qualified'' by the American Bar Association. It was the American Bar Association that said his absence of any significant trial experience disqualified him to serve at the lowest Federal court--a lifetime appointment, make no mistake. Yet it seems Justin Walker is well connected with the majority leader by his having served on his staff, at least as an intern, but it may be more-- I am not sure--and other connections that I am not aware of. It is enough that his nomination has become a priority for the U.S. Senate, which is interesting. Despite any ``career'' on the Federal district court of less than 6 or 8 months and despite the fact that he has had no trial experience by which to take that job, the majority leader, Senator McConnell, wants this man to be elevated to the second highest court in the land--the DC Circuit Court of Appeals.

I don't understand it. It is certainly hard to argue that this is part of a response to a national health emergency in America. It has nothing to do with it. It is a political decision, clearly, to elevate this man--of all of the members of the Federal district court bench across the Nation--to be next in line to be considered for the Supreme Court. I hope he has seen a Federal trial in the time he has served on the district court in Kentucky. I guess we will find out in the hearing that has been called for on Wednesday of this week.

So, when the majority leader comes to us and says we have important nominations that deal with national security, I am sorry, but Judge Walker is not one of them. What we have in his confirmation hearing is a political decision for political advancement at the risk of this Senate and the hundreds of people who are working here today because we have been called back.

What else could the Senate Judiciary Committee do other than to entertain Senator McConnell's former intern to be raised to the second highest court in the land? There are a number of things we might consider.

I think one is contact tracing. Contact tracing is going to be the key to opening our economy in America. Contact tracing says, if you have been exposed to a person who has tested positive for COVID-19, that we have ways--technological ways and other ways--to trace you and notify you. That also raises questions about information and privacy, which is one of the issues the Senate Judiciary Committee considers.

There is the Bureau of Prisons. Currently, at the Bureau of Prisons, there is a raging conflict because there is raging infection. This is not the only correctional institution that faces that, but it does. Guards, correction officers, as well as the inmates themselves, are at risk because COVID-19 is in the ranks of those serving time in our prisons. Many States--even the Federal Government to some extent--are considering the appropriate policy to keep America safe but also to treat these individuals with fairness, especially those who are working for the Federal Government and are doing what we ask them to do. That is under the jurisdiction of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Instead of this Kentucky nominee of Senator McConnell's, whom he wants to move up quickly to the second highest court of the land, shouldn't we be asking basic questions about the policies of the Bureau of Prisons?

There are immigration issues too. It is interesting when you take a look at the spokespersons when it comes to medicine. So many of them-- not all of them by any means--are new immigrants to America. I salute all of our healthcare heroes. We have signs in our yard at home, and others around the neighborhood do as well. We can't thank these men and women enough for going to work every day and risking their lives every day to keep us safe--doctors, nurses, lab technicians, those working in nursing homes--and to treat those who are infected and save the lives of the people we love.

As you listen on television to their comments about the risks they are taking and the costs they are paying with their families and others, I note how many of them are new immigrants to this country. It is no surprise. Many of these people--well-trained and educated--come to the United States for opportunities they can't get in their home countries, and in terms of our healthcare, we prosper because of that decision. Yet, when it comes to decisions by the U.S. Senate in dealing with immigration and healthcare, you would think that we would have no use for these people.

Take the DACA protectees--those who, under President Obama's Executive order, have the protection of DACA so they will not be deported from the United States and can legally work in the United States. These are important people. I tried, with Senator Graham, in a bipartisan amendment back 6 weeks ago, to say that their legal status in America would be respected at least until the end of this calendar year so they could continue to be here without the fear of deportation, and it was stopped.

According to Senator Graham, the comment from one of his colleagues was: There go Durbin and Graham again, working on the Dream Act.

Yes, I am. I am still working on the Dream Act. Do you know why I am doing this? It is that, out of the 780,000 DACA protectees, at least 41,000 of them are in the healthcare field today.

When it come to those here in the United States who have temporary protected status--at least 11,000 of them--are we ready to say publicly what some Members of the Senate say privately: ``Let them leave. We don't need them''? I am not going to say that. I know better, and so do families across America. Thank goodness for these healthcare heroes-- those born in the United States and those not born in the United States--who have come here to help us through this public healthcare crisis. Immigration is an issue for the Senate Judiciary Committee. Will there be a hearing this week? None have been posted that relate to this COVID-19 challenge. We haven't even addressed it.

What about profiteering? Wouldn't that be an interesting issue for us to have a hearing on in the Senate Judiciary Committee--violations of current law? As I mentioned, I spent my time in telephone conference with a lot of people who are buying protective equipment-- administrators of hospitals, clinics, and medical professionals themselves. They report what is happening. It came from Fairfield, IL, which is a smaller community in downstate Illinois, where the hospital administrator said: Senator, we used to pay 22 cents for a surgical gown at this hospital. The price is now between $11 and $20 apiece. Somebody is ripping them off. They know it, I know it, and the Senate Judiciary Committee should know it too.

This is another issue we could take up and that I hope we would consider. Instead, we have McConnell's nominee for the DC Circuit Court of Appeals, which he considers to be vital national business. I don't see it that way. What I see is a lot of people here who are gathered in the Capitol, doing their jobs as they were hired to do and as they are dedicated to perform--at risk. I am prepared to be here because that is what I ran for office to do, but I would hope it would be for something substantive in order to deal with real issues of national security and, certainly, issues related to this national health emergency.

The District of Columbia and the States on either side of the District--Maryland and Virginia--all continue to record new cases of COVID infection and death. They have not seen a 2-week decline in new COVID cases, which the White House announced as a guideline a few weeks ago, that is necessary to begin the first phase of reopening. The opposite is true. In this Washington Metropolitan Area, where we have been called in to work today, we find a COVID hotspot. In the week ending last Thursday, the District, Maryland, and Virginia recorded 20,000 new COVID cases--a staggering amount of sickness and suffering. All three jurisdictions remain under stay-at-home orders to try to curb the spread of this deadly virus in order to save lives and ease the burden on our exhausted medical workers.

My State of Illinois also remains under a stay-at-home order as do more than half of the States. Not one State in America has yet to meet the first requirement of safety to reopen our schools and businesses and communities in this pandemic. That first requirement is a 2-week decline in new infections. Like millions of Americans, Members of the Senate and our staffs have been working from home for the last 6 weeks to try to save lives and keep our health system from collapsing.

I do have to take exception to the statement made by Senator McConnell when he said: Across America, you don't get to take days off. I have been on the phone every single day--my colleagues, the same-- talking to people in their own home States, dealing with challenges and issues that face businesses and labor unions and charities and hospitals. The list is so long that I don't know where to start or where to end. Yet he would suggest I was home, taking a day off.

Out of my home, Senator McConnell, my kitchen became my surrogate office, and I am sure many Senators will say the same. I worked as hard there as I do in this building--maybe harder on some days. So we didn't take days off. We have negotiated a nearly half-trillion-dollar COVID emergency aid package for our home States--a life support package to provide much needed resources for testing and for our heroic healthcare workers.

When you take a look at the issue of lost revenue, I spoke to the mayor of the District of Columbia a few minutes ago. She talked about revenue that is, obviously, lost to her--hundreds of millions of dollars that she has to face in the next budget--all related to the COVID and all related to the downturn in our economy. The same thing is true in my State and virtually every other State.

This COVID crisis has taken its toll on business activity, on the attendance at events, on purchases. It means less revenue going into the coffers of States and local governments. We provided $150 billion for this purpose in the original CARES bill. Many of us believe we need to stand up for them again. You can't give speeches on the floor about your respect for the police and first responders and firefighters and then say it is a darned shame that the people who employ them will not be able to pay them in the months ahead.

As for this notion of declaring bankruptcy, what an economic disaster that would be if States and local governments were declaring bankruptcy right and left, not to mention the real hardship it would cause among first responders and those healthcare workers, including nurses, whom we value so much. So many of them who are employed by State and local governments would suffer if the suggestion of bankruptcy went forward.

We can legislate without violating public health guidelines and risking making this pandemic worse. So the urgent business of the Senate should be the COVID challenge that we face everywhere. In our coming back to Washington, why isn't that a priority that has been announced? At this moment, we don't know what will happen with the Senate's agenda tomorrow or in the 2 or 3 days after. If it relates to COVID-19, count me in. If it relates to true national security, count me in. Yet, if we are just coming here because of a promise made to a 38-year-old Federal judge in Kentucky, it doesn't meet the test. As I mentioned before, this nominee was judged ``not qualified,'' and he has made statements that are openly hostile to the Affordable Care Act, which I would like to address for a moment.

When we passed the Affordable Care Act about 10 years ago, the goal was to reduce the number of Americans who had no health insurance. It was successful. In the State of Illinois, it cut in half the number of uninsured--people without health insurance. Its critics didn't vote for it; have not come up with an alternative to it; and like this Justin Walker, the Federal judge in Kentucky, have been openly contemptuous of the notion of moving our Nation toward full healthcare coverage. I don't think that argument is as compelling today, under the current circumstances, if it ever were. All of us appreciate the need for a real safety net. All of us understand, without real health insurance protection at this moment in history, the people we love--our children, our spouses, our parents--would be at risk because they wouldn't have access to good, quality healthcare.

This is a situation in which this judicial nominee--Mr. Walker, who was found ``not qualified'' for the Federal district court position--is now openly contemptuous of the Affordable Care Act and argues that it should be eliminated at this moment in history--the assurance of healthcare and health insurance protection. Is he the person we want on the second highest court in the land? In the midst of the most deadly health crisis and the most devastating economic catastrophe of our times, the majority leader's agenda remains unchanged--to fill the Federal bench at any cost.

The Trump administration's response to the COVID-19 crisis has shocked many people. America has 5 percent of the world's population. Yet we have one-third of the world's COVID infections and more than 25 percent of the COVID deaths. Let me say that again. America has 5 percent of the world's population and more than 25 percent of the COVID deaths. As of this morning, 67,682 Americans have died of this ferocious virus. They include my friends, people I know, and members of my family. In my State of Illinois, we have lost 2,618 men, women, and children to this pandemic. When the Senate left Washington, DC, 6 weeks ago to work from home, there were 5,000 COVID infections in my State. There are more than 50,000 today. We are No. 2 in testing, so our numbers, I think, are more accurate than in many other States.

Americans feel great anxiety and sadness, but these healthcare professionals keep our heads up and our focus very clear. These essential heroes are doctors, nurses, respiratory therapists, pharmacists, and the men and women who make sure there is food in these hospitals and that the floors are clean. They include postal workers, grocery store clerks, truckdrivers, law enforcement officers, teachers who continue to teach our kids and help to keep them safe. They are all part of this national effort. I would say that the notion of homeschooling, or e-schooling, which is now very common across America, has renewed the appreciation of many parents for what the teachers are doing every single day to help their kids.

In my State and every State, people of color have suffered more than their share of COVID sickness and death, partly because of longstanding health inequities that leave people of color with more preexisting health conditions, partly because of barriers to healthcare, and partly because Black and Brown people fill so many jobs that are deemed essential. One major hospital in Chicago told me that half the people who died from COVID-19 in their hospital were uninsured, many of them Hispanic. They are people who may or may not have health insurance. They are desperate to work and earn a living. Some of them are afraid that they or some member of their family may be deported if they show up to a hospital to report themselves sick, so they wait until it is literally too late, and they die.

We have seen our economy shut down and a lot of hardship as a result. Many owners of businesses, restaurants, and others have talked to me and others in the Senate about how soon we can reopen. But most of them, not all of them, most of them understand that going through this kind of shutdown of our economy and our personal lives is bad--bad if we do it one time; it is horrible to think about doing it a second time if we reopen too soon in the wrong way.

In my State, 830,000 people filed for unemployment insurance between March 1 and April 25. They are among the 30 million Americans who filed for unemployment since COVID came to America--40 million. That is the fastest, deepest loss of jobs we have ever seen. To reopen our States and Nation before we have done the hard and careful work required to open safely only risks more infection, more death, more lost jobs, and more economic hardship. Reopening before we can reopen safely risks overwhelming our hospitals and ICUs. We need to listen to public health experts, the doctors and the nurses, many of whom have worked past exhaustion. We need to be responsible and not give in to chance on the street.

What is the essential work that the Senate should be doing? Investigating why we do not have enough testing in this country that is essential to reopening the economy and working with State, local, and Tribal governments to help them hire and train the estimated 300,000 contact tracers needed to reopen America safely. Rather than forcing States to bid against each other, we have to plead with the President to use his authority under the Defense Production Act to produce here in America the respirators and other PPE that is essential for workers and their families. We have to provide oversight for the Paycheck Protection Program and make sure those loans are going to small business as we originally intended and not to wealthy hedge fund operators. We ought to be working to shore up the U.S. Postal Service, an essential public service created under the Constitution. What a reminder it has been to all of us staying at home, watching that letter carrier come by every single day. It is a bright spot, with his big smile, greeted by everybody on my street with gratitude for his continuing work day in and day out. That is what our Postal Service is. For them to be degraded and insulted by the critics is totally unfair-- totally unfair.

We ought to be making plans to ensure that every American voter can vote by mail in the November election, given the likelihood that this lethal virus will still be threatening us. If this Senate is going to gather as a body in this pandemic against the medical advice of some and the sound judgment of others, let's make sure our work is essential. We are still waiting for a report from our Republican majority leader about the agenda that brought us to Washington and that brings us here this week, ready to work, ready to address the COVID-19 crisis that faces our country.

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Mr. DURBIN. Stabenow), the Senator from New Mexico (Mr. Udall), and the Senator from Rhode Island (Mr. Whitehouse) are necessarily absent.

The result was announced--yeas 87, nays 0, as follows: [Rollcall Vote No. 81 Ex.] YEAS--87 Alexander Baldwin Barrasso Bennet Blackburn Blumenthal Blunt Booker Boozman Braun Burr Cantwell Capito Cardin Carper Casey Cassidy Collins Coons Cornyn Cortez Masto Cotton Crapo Cruz Daines Duckworth Durbin Enzi Ernst Feinstein Fischer Gardner Gillibrand Graham Grassley Harris Hassan Hawley Hirono Hoeven Hyde-Smith Inhofe Johnson Jones Kaine Kennedy King Klobuchar Lankford Loeffler Manchin Markey McConnell McSally Menendez Merkley Murkowski Murphy Paul Perdue Peters Portman Reed Risch Roberts Romney Rosen Rounds Sasse Schumer Scott (FL) Scott (SC) Shaheen Shelby Sinema Smith Sullivan Tester Thune Tillis Toomey Van Hollen Warner Warren Wicker Wyden Young NOT VOTING--13 Brown Cramer Heinrich Leahy Lee Moran Murray Rubio Sanders Schatz Stabenow Udall Whitehouse

The nomination was confirmed.

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