>> monday said majority leader mcconnell welcome back senator chuck grassley who recently self quarantine after testing positive for covid-19. he talked about the need to reach agreement on extending federal spending past december 11 and work on the defense authorization bill. >> first, mr. president, the senate reconveneser this afternn i am especially happy welcome back our president pro tem, senator grassley quarantined, work from home following his positive covid test two weeks ago. we all predicted if any member of the body had the stamina and the spirit to t kick the virus o the curb, it would certainly be him. and sure enough our gallic reports that he experienced no symptoms. as doctors have cleared him to come back to work and we're sure glad to have him back.

chairman grassley had put his epic streak of consecutive votes temporarily on hold for the sake of other people. of course leadership and example setting are nothing newpl for te senior senator from iowa. i'm confident our colleague will pick up exactly where he left off, resuming both his perfect attendance record and the tireless work for iowans that he represents. we all benefit so very much from his leadership. so the senate is back in session to finishe up 2020. 2020. the american people are counting on us to finish strong. we need to reach on federal government funding to avoid a lapse in basic programs and services. we need to finish the annual defense authorization to shore up the u.s. militaries competitive advantage over our adversaries. andd we need to continue processing well-qualified nominees for vacancies throughout the government

especially, especially on the federal bench. these are important assignments but they are not the only assignments congress should not depend for the end of the year. there is no reason, , none, whie we should not deliver another major pandemic relief package to help the american people through what seems poised to be the last chapters of this battle. this morning wef got yet another major sign of hope, more data appear to confirm the vaccine developed by moderna is more than 94% effective. they are going ahead and ask the fda for emergency use authorization. experts are calling t this news absolutely remarkable. alongside other promising vaccinesi development from pfizr come astrazeneca, johnson & johnson, and others is continued cause to suspect that victory over this pandemic is not far off. but a huge amount of work

remains for us if operation warp speed remained t on this historc trajectory we need to continue investing in the system that will distribute these vaccines around our country. we want small businesses that have already hung on for most of the year to survive a few more months. we need a second round of the job saving paycheck protection program for the workers at the hardest hit the establishments. some major parts of your story cares act of s already run dry committee others are set to expire at years end. we republicans have spent months trying to renew important help and provide even more. we tried to send more than $100 million to help schools and and welcome students and teachers safely to the classroom. we tried to implement commonsense legal protections that universities and charities have been clamoring for. we have tried to pass all of this over and over again.

speaker pelosi in the senate democratic leader have blocked it. they have been very transparent about all this with their political strategies, lady right out there, speaker of the house spent the entire summer in the entire autumn literally gambling with the health and welfare of the american people. she gambled that if american families didn't get any more relief before the election, her party would expand its majority in the house and democrats could continue to demand the right to remake all of society along far left lines in exchange for passing anymore covid relief whatsoever. but they're all or nothing abstraction backfired. democrat did not pick up seats in the house but instead appeared to have lost seats. they have not gained any leverage. instead, they had lost leverage. and in the meantime with the coronavirus searching from coast

to coast, the american people have gone entirely, entirely without any additional aid, even the list controversial, , most bipartisan program -- the least -- because the democrats say no. here's a summary from one news outlet, quote, pelosi's seems to have overplayed her hand as she held out for 2 trillion plus right up until the election. the results of the election we saw democrats lose seats in the house appeared to have significantly undercut her position. by now, it is abundantly clear to everyone that the speaker will not be getting to transform american society in a socialist direction in exchange for more bipartisan relief. the hostagetaking is never going to work. there's only one remaining question for the speaker and the democratic leader, choose one question, one question, mr.

president. will they finally, finally let congress passed hundreds of billions of dollars of relief on all subjects where we agree? where we agree. or will they continue to insist that either they get their entire ideological wish list or the american people get nothing at all? even their fellow democrats are increasingly seeing this as not a terribly difficult question to answer. for example, over the weekend professor austan goolsbee who chaired the council of economic advisers under president obama called on democrats to finally play ball. quote from here's what he said. there a lot of people really hurting. i hope congress can agree on something soon. if you have to accept half a loaf that you have to accept half a loaf.

>> pelosi's number two, house democratic majority leader feels the same way quote i just hope we can get agreement. may not be everything that everybody wants but at least some significant relief to people. are distinguished colleague from illinois, the democratic whip said the same thing, , quote, gt something done that is significant. do what we can achieve now. now. here's the headline from "newsweek", democrats are exposed to accept smaller stimulus package to ensure relief by the end of the year. even the speakers on the democratic members are now openly campaigning for our republican approach. here's one of the democratic congressman who nearly lost his reelection after speaker pelosi stonewalling. quote, we absolutely have to get something done. mitch mcconnell is talking

about the bill we can actually pass. we should negotiate that to the senate. that's a house democrat saying that the senate republican proposal is the template that can pass. rank-and-file democrats in both chambers are telling speaker pelosi and the democratic leader to stop stonewalling and move forward with the approach republicans have been urging for months. the american people need more help and they need it right now. right now. democratic leaders have already burned through three months, three months, and they didn't even get the political results that their cynical strategy was supposed to deliver. so, mr. president, let's hope our colleagues at the top of the democratic party can finally hear their o