"Good to see you back."-Sinema presiding over the Senate to Graham, who returned today from his COVID-19 quarintine. "Good to back."-Graham responded. "Thank you for the inquires about my well-being."
Graham from Senate floor:"To all my colleagues, I appreciate the good wishes, and the phone calls, and the food. I made it. I think the worst is behind me.I want to re-enforce a simple message:if you haven't been vaccinated regarding the COVID problem,you need to get vaccinated."
Graham: "I've been vaccinated and I got COVID any way. A couple of really bad days, but I'm doing better. And I feel on the mend and I'm confident if I hadn't had the vaccine, it would have been a lot worse."
Graham (R-SC): "So in my state about 50 percent of the people are still unvaccinated. Just for your own good and the good of our state, I would urge you to get vaccinated. I think the vaccine is safe and it works. I'm glad I had it."
Graham: "The sooner we can get to herd immunity through vaccinations and other means, the better off we'll be."
Budget Ranking Mbr Graham ahead of $3.5T budget resolution #votearama: "We're gonna have one hell of a fight. I don't know how long we're gonna be here, but as long as it takes. America is worth fighting for. And America as we know her is at risk through this budget resolution."
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13th term Wisconsin Democratic Rep. Ron Kind's retirement from Congress is front page news in his #WI03 district this morning.
Kind D-WI:"Representing the people at home has been the honor of my life,but I never intended it to be the honor of my entire life. For 26yrs,I’ve flown to & from Washington,DC & traveled the 18 counties of the most beautiful Congressional District in the Nation almost every wk."
Kind D-WI: "But 26 years is enough--it’s time for me to step back. My wife, Tawni, and I are looking forward to entering the next chapter of our lives."
Manchin voted Yes for $3.5T budget resolution "because I believe it is important to discuss the fiscal policy future of this country.However,I have serious concerns abt the grave consequences facing W.Virginians & every American family if Congress decides to spend another $3.5T."
Manchin: “Over the past year, Congress has injected more than $5 trillion of stimulus into the American economy – more than any time since World War II – to respond to the pandemic."
Manchin: "The challenge we now face is different: millions of jobs remain unfilled across the country and rising inflation rates are now an unavoidable tax on the wages and income of every American."
Schumer filed cloture on proceeding to a voting rights bill & several nominations,setting up votes after Aug break:James Kvaal as Ed UnderSec,David Estudillo as US District judge for West WA,Angel Kelly to be US District judge for MA & Veronica Rossman to serve on 10th Circuit Ct
Schumer from Senate floor on voting rights legislation: "Republicans refusing to support anything on voting rights is not an excuse for Democrats to do nothing."
Schumer: "In recent weeks, I have met with a number of Democratic Senators, Senators Klobuchar and Merkley, Manchin and Warnock and Padilla, Kaine, King, and Tester to discuss a compromise voting rights bill. We have made a great deal of progress on that legislation."
1:40pm Tuesday: Vote-a-rama on the Senate Democrats' $3.5T budget resolution begins with a vote on Barrasso (R-WY) amdt on the Green New Deal.
99-0: Senate unanimously adopts Barrasso (R-WY) amdt on the Green New Deal to the Democrats' $3.5T budget resolution, the first vote in the #votearama which lasted 30 minutes.
First Democratic amendment, the second one of the day, is by EPW Chair Carper (DE) on climate change funding.
Yellen on Senate-passed infrastructure bill:"With this morning’s vote,Senate has not only begun largest modernization of American infrastructure since Eisenhower built the Interstate System;it has also taken important step twds correcting decades-long pattern of underinvestment."
Yellen: "I applaud the leadership and bipartisanship of President Biden and all the senators who supported this critical legislation."
Yellen: "It's important to understand what this bill is and what it isn’t. It is not a stimulus package like the American Rescue Plan, intended to help people weather a crisis."
McConnell on voting Yes for the $1.2T bipartisan infrastructure bill: "I was proud to support today’s historic bipartisan infrastructure deal and prove that both sides of the political aisle can still come together around commonsense solutions."
McConnell (R-KY): "By promoting sensible, collaborative legislation, we have shown that the Senate still works as an institution. This is an important achievement for Kentucky and the American people."
McConnell: "Communities all across the Commonwealth will benefit from this bill, which will provide critical federal resources to assist the state in updating our highways, bridges, airports, broadband, and clean drinking water."