{"database": "openregs", "table": "congressional_record", "rows": [["CREC-2020-12-30-pt1-PgS7972", "2020-12-30", 116, 2, null, null, "LEGISLATIVE SESSION", "SENATE", "SENATE", "SLEGISLATIVE", "S7972", "S7973", "[{\"name\": \"Mitch McConnell\", \"role\": \"speaking\"}, {\"name\": \"Charles E. Schumer\", \"role\": \"speaking\"}]", "[{\"congress\": \"116\", \"type\": \"S\", \"number\": \"3985\"}, {\"congress\": \"116\", \"type\": \"S\", \"number\": \"5085\"}, {\"congress\": \"116\", \"type\": \"S\", \"number\": \"5085\"}, {\"congress\": \"116\", \"type\": \"HR\", \"number\": \"9051\"}, {\"congress\": \"116\", \"type\": \"HR\", \"number\": \"9051\"}]", "166 Cong. Rec. S7972", "Congressional Record, Volume 166 Issue 222 (Wednesday, December 30, 2020)\n\n[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 222 (Wednesday, December 30, 2020)]\n[Senate]\n[Pages S7972-S7973]\nFrom the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]\n\n                          LEGISLATIVE SESSION\n\n                                 ______\n\nJUST AND UNIFYING SOLUTIONS TO INVIGORATE COMMUNITIES EVERYWHERE ACT OF\n                        2020--MOTION TO PROCEED\n\n  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I move to proceed to Calendar No. 480,\nS. 3985.\n  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the motion.\n  The legislative clerk read as follows:\n\n       Motion to proceed to Calendar No. 480, S. 3985, a bill to\n     improve and reform policing practices, accountability and\n     transparency.\n\n         Measures Placed On The Calendar--S. 5085 and H.R. 9051\n\n  Mr. McCONNELL. I understand there are two bills at the desk due a\nsecond reading en bloc.\n\n =========================== NOTE ===========================\n\n  On page S7972, December 30, 2020, third column, the following\nappears: Motion to proceed to Calendar No. 480, S. 3985, a bill to\nimprove and reform policing practices, accountability and\ntransparency. MEASURES PLACED ON THE CALENDAR--S. 3985 AND H.R.\n9051 Mr. McCONNELL. I understand there are two bills at the desk\ndue a second reading en bloc.\n\n  The online version has been corrected to read: Motion to proceed\nto Calendar No. 480, S. 3985, a bill to improve and reform\npolicing practices, accountability and transparency. MEASURES\nPLACED ON THE CALENDAR--S. 5085 AND H.R. 9051 Mr. McCONNELL. I\nunderstand there are two bills at the desk due a second reading en\nbloc.\n\n ========================= END NOTE =========================\n\n  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will read the bills by title for the\nsecond time.\n  The legislative clerk read as follows:\n\n       A bill (S. 5085) to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986\n     to increase the additional 2020 recovery rebates, to repeal\n     section 230 of the Communications Act of 1934, and for other\n     purposes;\n       A bill (H.R. 9051), to amend the Internal Revenue Code of\n     1986 to increase recovery rebate amounts to $2,000 for\n     individuals, and for other purposes.\n\n  Mr. McCONNELL. In order to place the bills on the calendar under\nprovision of rule XIV, I object to further proceedings en bloc.\n  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection having been heard, the bills will be\nplaced on the calendar.\n\n                   Recognition Of The Minority Leader\n\n  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Democratic leader is recognized.\n\n                           Electoral College\n\n  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I was prepared this afternoon to speak\nabout the business the Senate must address, and I will do that, but,\nfirst, I must respond to the recent announcement by the junior Senator\nof Missouri that he intends to contest the certified votes of the\nelectrical college when Congress meets to count those votes next week.\nThe process for electing American Presidents is provided in our\nConstitution and laws.\n  The process has been followed fully, fairly. The results have been\nduly certified by the Governors of the States, and they have been\nreviewed and confirmed by the courts many times over. The result is\nthat Joe Biden and Kamala Harris won the election by overwhelming\nmargins in both the popular vote and the electoral vote.\n  The Biden-Harris ticket received more than 81 million votes, more\nthan any ticket in American history. That was over 7 million more votes\nthan Trump-Pence. The Biden-Harris ticket won the electoral college 306\nto 232, the very same total that President Trump called a landslide for\nhimself then just 4 years ago.\n  Since the election process, President Trump and his acolytes have\nlost more than 50 lawsuits, falsely claiming fraud or other\nirregularities in the conduct of the 2020 election, including the\nunanimous decision by the Supreme Court to dismiss a lawsuit brought by\nthe attorney general of Texas and more than half the Republican Members\nof the House.\n  Today, we heard from the junior Senator from Missouri that he intends\nto object to the election results, particularly in Pennsylvania--a\nState where\n\n[[Page S7973]]\n\nthe Trump campaign and its allies have brought no fewer than 13\nlawsuits and lost every single one, many with Republican judges ruling.\nThere have been only three individuals--three--charged with voter fraud\nin Pennsylvania, and in each case, the person voted for Trump.\n  The effort by the sitting President of the United States to overturn\nthe results is patently undemocratic. The effort by others to amplify\nand burnish his ludicrous claims of fraud is equally revolting. This is\nAmerica. We have elections. We have results. We make arguments based on\nfact and reason, not conspiracy and fantasy.\n  On January 6, Congress will meet to formally recognize the electoral\ncollege result. There is a very clear process to handle and dispense\nwith the objections of Members of Congress to the counting of the\nresult, and that is just what we will do--dispense with them. On\nJanuary 6, Congress will ratify the electoral college's decision that\nJoe Biden will be President and Kamala Harris will be Vice President.\nMake no mistake about it--Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will be sworn in\nas President and Vice President on January 20.\n\n                   National Defense Authorization Act\n\n  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, now let me return to the matters at hand.\n  Today, the Senate will begin the process of overriding the\nPresident's veto on the annual Defense bill. The House has already\noverridden the veto by a comfortable margin. I expect the Senate to\nfollow suit and enact the NDAA into law over President Trump's evolving\nand ridiculous objections. Congress has passed the annual Defense bill\nfor 59 years in a row. It is an important opportunity to ensure our\ndefense and security policies reflect the evolving challenges of our\nworld and provide our servicemembers and their families, as well as\nDefense Department civilians, the support, resources, and training they\nneed. The particular legislation includes a pay raise for troops and\nprovisions that will allow the executive branch to be better postured\nto identify and deter breaches to America's cyber security. In the wake\nof the SolarWinds hack, that might be a good policy to enact.\n  Nonetheless, President Trump vetoed this legislation because it\nprovides for renaming military installations that honor Confederate\nmilitary leaders or, maybe, because it doesn't address an unrelated\nsocial media issue. Think about it for a moment. The President vetoed a\npay raise to living American soldiers in order to defend the honor of\ndead Confederate traitors. Well, the Senate will soon have an\nopportunity to override the President's objection and do right by those\nbrave Americans who wear the uniform.\n  As I said yesterday, there are two major issues before the Senate\nright now--the annual Defense bill and the vital and important effort\nto send $2,000 stimulus checks to American families. There are only a\nfew days left in this session, and the Senate should consider both\nissues before adjourning.\n  There is a very simple solution to this dilemma: Leader McConnell\nshould bring both measures up for a vote and let the chips fall where\nthey may. I believe both measures--the defense override and the $2,000\nchecks to American families--will pass, but at the very least, the\nSenate deserves the opportunity for an up-or-down vote on increasing\nthe individual payments to the American people.\n  At the end of my remarks, I will ask the Senate to set a time tonight\nfor a vote on the House bill to provide $2,000 checks. The Republican\nleader objected to a similar request I made yesterday, and it appears\nhe may be considering a different bill that packages stimulus checks\nwith other unrelated and partisan policies.\n  I want to be very clear about one thing: There is no other game in\ntown besides the House bill. The only way to get the American people\nthe $2,000 checks they deserve and need is to pass the House bill and\npass it now. The House has recessed for the year. Any modification or\naddition to the House bill cannot become law before the end of this\nCongress. It is a way to kill the bill. Make no mistake about it:\nEither the Senate takes up and passes the House bill or struggling\nAmerican families will not get $2,000 checks during the worst economic\ncrisis in 75 years.\n  Over the past few days, the idea of increasing direct payments to the\nAmerican people has united folks from all points of the political\nspectrum. I salute the Senator from Vermont for the good job he has\ndone in bringing this forward to the American people's attention. An\noverwhelming bipartisan majority in the House supports the $2,000\nchecks. Senate Democrats strongly support these $2,000 checks, and our\nunlikely ally, President Trump, this morning, tweeted: ``$2000 ASAP!''\nFor once, the Democrats agree with something on President Trump's\nTwitter feed. Let's send $2,000 ASAP to working Americans who are\nfacing the hardest and darkest days of the pandemic.\n  After all of the insanity that the Senate Republicans have tolerated\nfrom President Trump--his attacks on the rule of law, an independent\njudiciary, the conduct that led to his impeachment--is this where the\nSenate Republicans are going to draw the line--with $2,000 checks to\nthe American people? That is a bridge too far? Please.\n  For the awareness of my colleagues, we can have this vote tonight and\nsend the bill directly to the President's desk for his signature. We\ncan vote on the NDAA bill tonight and finish the Senate's business\nbefore the end of the year. All it takes is our Republican colleagues\nto consent to a simple vote on the House bill to provide $2,000 checks\nto the American people. Yes or no, up or down, do you support sending\n$2,000 to the American people or not? Let's have the vote\n\n                  Unanimous Consent Request--H.R. 9051\n\n  I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate\nconsideration of H.R. 9051, a bill received from the House, to increase\nrecovery rebate amounts to $2,000 for individuals; that the bill be\nread a third time and passed; and that the motion to reconsider be\nconsidered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or\ndebate.\n  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?\n  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I object.\n  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.\n\n                       Reservation Of Leader Time\n\n  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the leadership time\nis reserved.\n\n                          ____________________"]], "columns": ["granule_id", "date", "congress", "session", "volume", "issue", "title", "chamber", "granule_class", "sub_granule_class", "page_start", "page_end", "speakers", "bills", "citation", "full_text"], "primary_keys": ["granule_id"], "primary_key_values": ["CREC-2020-12-30-pt1-PgS7972"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.34179515205323696, "source": "Federal Register API & Regulations.gov API", "source_url": "https://www.federalregister.gov/developers/api/v1", "license": "Public Domain (U.S. Government data)", "license_url": "https://www.regulations.gov/faq"}