World has infections. We have hundreds of thousands of people that have had contact with this virus, and normal and normal weve lost unfortunately weve lost thousands of people worldwide. In the United States the numbers continue to increase. The vast majority of the people who get this virus have little to no symptoms. Its a cold, its a mild flu to them. But for a vulnerable population, our elderly populations, those with heart issues and lung issues, smokers, diabetics, this can be a very, very serious thing. The challenge we face in our health care is that for every person that walks in to get tested, theyre facetoface with one of our Health Care Workers especially in rural areas of our state that may be the only Health Care Professional for that entire county. And if that person who has not been vaccinated as well, because there is no vaccine yet, if that person is not able to serve the rest of the population, a bad Health Situation becomes even worse because of diminishing care. We as americans have taken this seriously, as we should. Were paying attention. This younger population is spending time trying to be able to gelt away from other individuals, to be able to selfisolate, selfquarantine, to be able to get social distancing, the new term. To be able to find a way to not get close to someone else so you dont accidentally pass the virus on because if the virus may be in them and they are not affected much, the effect to someone else can be pretty dramatic so out of respect to others try to maintain distance. There has been multiple action tion from the federal government in the past several months. Travel bans we know about, starting with china and now multiple areas of the world. Lots of encouragement to be able to limit gatherings. First to 250 and then to 50 and now to 10. Now a series of keep social distancing. Theres been emergency declarations that have been done. C. M. S. Changed coverage yesterday on dealing with issues like telehealth, making sure that individuals that may have other care needs dont have to actually go into a Health Care Professional for their fear of who else is sitti in the waiting room. But they can get academies get access to telehealth. The f. D. A. Has been aggressive in giving access to different states to be able to do their own testing regiments. C. D. C. Has been active to get to a point where they can get a testing system that can get out to the entire country. The challenge was early on many other countries did tests and developed tests with a high false positive rate. C. D. C. Was very focused on trying to get as accurate as they could. It meant they took longer and we dont have the tests out. The tests are mott accurate but more accurate but we dont have the testing numbers that we need when we needed it which was last week. So now were still struggling to be able to catch up on testing all over the country. Multiple labs, multiple universities are also coming on board. Its interesting, multiple other countries are also developing their own testing processes. In the days ahead we will be able to catch up on the testing that any american could be able to get testing but for now its limited. In states like my state, in oklahoma where the virus is beginning acceleration, we were late to get the virus coming to oklahoma but now the virus is there, it starts to accelerate, and testing is exceptionally important to us as it is to everyone else. The department of transportation is en engaged on hours of service to allow for movement of goods all over the country dealing with livestock and food. There has been a move from just about every retailer in the country doing hours early in the morning for those in the most vulnerable population so theyre not shopping with people that may have the virus and dont know. Theres been a shift around the country to encourage people to telework or to be able to find ways to be able to separate out in their place of work. All of these things have occurred just in the last few months, beginning again to say three months ago none of us knew this term or this virus existed. All this is happening extremely rapidly. Three weeks ago congress and the president agreed on a proposal that was a wide bipartisan proposal to be able to deal with additional funding for testing, additional funding for the vaccine development, additional funding for state and local departments of health to be able to make sure theyre taking care of that. In my own state of oklahoma, has already received along with 7 million to be able to help with whats happening in our county and we are in desperate need of those dollars to be able to get that done. Vaccine development is already in human trials now. Its in phase one. It will take multiple months to be able to get that done, but we have already begun that process. And thats important to us. The bill that was on the floor today dealt in multiple helpful things. It expands snap, food nutrition, an expansion of that. It also deals with Unemployment Insurance benefits to be able to make sure those are staying consistent and get extended out to people that are going to need it because in the past week unemployment has dramatically increased all over the country. In the days ahead when were able to see the numbers well see the difference of what happened this week versus the week before versus the week before that. The struggle is my phones have been filled with one other element thats in that bill, and that deals with a mandate on Small Businesses for sick leave. Small businesses in my state are closed. Many retailers and restaurants, many Small Businesses are really struggling with how theyre going to pay for this when they have no income coming in right now. Theyre hearing the promise of a federal reimbursement coming to them but they dont know when thats coming and theyre literally teetering on the edge right now and their struggle is please dont do something that pushes us over the edge. We need help. But we dont need a bureaucracy thats going to be slow to respond or a way thats actually going to get us some help but help that comes to us too late. In these terrifying words that ive heard from multiple employers, i cannot make it with that structure. Im going to to have to lay people off and hope to be able to hire them back when this all ends. For those families that are laid off and on unemployment now, this is a very different day for them. And my fear is some of what pushed some of those individuals over the edge into unemployment was a nudge to say were going to add one more mandate to you at your worst possible economic moment. The first principle that we should have as a congress is do no harm. We need to step in and help those folks that need help. Theres lots of ideas being bantered around in the senate and the house from both sides of the aisle to try to figure out how we can get help as rapidly as we can to as many people as we can. This is a moment unlike what we have seen before. Its not that the economy is crashing because of some Economic Foundation thats not there. It is fear and panic thats global, that literally were struggling with what if and the c. D. C. And our own governments saying to employers it would be best if you closed for a season. And they being good citizens and good neighbors, quite frankly, are complying with that for fear of their own business and of their own employees. I finished my day yesterday late last night talking to a Small Business owner in oklahoma. Who relayed to me what hes going through right now. And the struggles that hes having keeping the doors open. And quite frankly, he was fairly blunt with me to say the things that are being passed in the bill tomorrow will affect me but my competitors that are big companies, it doesnt affect them. And so its already hard enough for me as a Small Business to compete with them. Now i have a new mandate on me thats not a mandate on them. And it makes it even harder, and i dont think ill have the cash flow to be able to make this work. Towards the end of the conversation he paused and literally began to cry, and he pulled himself together and said im having to call people and tell them i dont have hours for you next week. And these are people i care about. We need to take action, but we need to take action that helps people keep their jobs, helps people stay employed and helps us deal with the dip in the economy right now to help them pull back out. My fear is we didnt do that just now. We might have just made it worse. There are important things for us to do and many of those things were working on this week e. We have got to get help to as many people as we can as fast as we can. And it is my hope the senate will continue to stay in session as the leader has already said and promised that it would, until we actually come to some proposals where we have wide bipartisan agreement that could help rapidly to people that need the help the most those workers, those individuals that are struggling, those folks that are hourly, folks that are waiters and waitresses, folks that work in the coffee shop and own the coffee shop, folks in Retail Locations that are shut down. They need us to stand with them, and this is our moment to do it. Lets do it together. With that, i yield the floor. The presiding officer the senator from massachusetts. Mr. Markey thank you, madam president. Madam president , i want to start my remarks by saying to the people of massachusetts and families all across the country country, many of you are making big sacrifices, quarantining yourself, postponing or canceling major events, dealing with closed schools and day care. We are grateful. Right now our primary goal needs to be to slow the spread of this virus, and we all share in that responsibility. And so we thank you for everything you are doing to keep your loved ones and everyone elses loved ones safe at this time. We are at war with the coronavirus, and we need a massive wartime manufacturing mobilization for coronavirus testing kits and personal protective equipment for medical personnel and emergency responders. That is why last weekend i was the first to call on President Trump to immediately use existing authorities under the defense production act to bring all of the power of the federal government to bear in mobilizing industry to meet this crisis. Its why i had authored the Senate Resolution calling on him to do so and its why i spoke directly to Vice President pence yesterday to urge the administration to take this critical action. And i am glad that they are doing so. The defense production act allows the federal government to direct supplies of Critical Materials and equipment that our hospitals and First Responders need. It allows us to mobilize industry top expand production and gives us the power to coordinate industry to respond to this crisis. We need to fully use all of those powers that are provided under this law, and that is why i am so glad that President Trump has today invoked the power of the defense production act to respond to the coronavirus crisis. Im glad that he is exercising it and im glad that after my conversation yesterday with Vice President pence, that they decided to put this on the agenda for our country. We need to massively increase private production of the lifesaving personal protective equipment, medical supplies and devices and diagnostic testing supplies we need to combat this viral enemy. We need to activate our capable and talented domestic industry and bring the full weight of the federal government behind this effort. We are talking about gowns and gloves and face shields and surgical masks and n95 respirators, ventilators, disinfectant wipes and hand sanitizers and we do not have nearly enough of this lifesaving equipment. For instance, the United States department of health and Human Services estimates that the United States could need up to 3. 5 billion respirator masks. Let me say that again. Our own department of health and Human Services says that we could need upwards of 3. 5 billion respirator masks but our Strategic National stockpile, the countrys emergency medical supply bank, holds only a tiny fraction of that. Just 12 million respirator masks. Not 3. 5 billion. 12 million. The medical Community Calls this personal protective equipment, p. P. E. , but p. P. E. Also stands for a promise to protect everyone. And this is the promise we should make and keep for our hospital personnel, First Responders, and patients. Invoking the powers of the defense production act will help ensure that we can keep this promise to our american heroes who are on the front lines of battling this epidemic. I have been in regular contact with the Massachusetts Health and Hospital Association and the massachusetts nurses association, and both have issued a terrible alarm. There is insufficient medical equipment and supplies to test and treat affected individuals and protect Health Care Workers and First Responders. For example, the berkshire hospital told me that they required 3,500 respirator masks a day. Thats 35,000 in just 10 days for the berkshire hospital out in the least populated part of our state. But just that one smaller hospital. Yet the entire state of massachusetts recently received only 70,000 of these respirator masks. That is not nearly enough. We do not want our nurses and our doctors reusing or rationing masks. Additionally, hospitals and labs across the nation are trying to ramp up Testing Capacity but face shortages in test kits and supplies, but we need to dramatically scale up testing and ensure our continued ability to test. Our nation must be able to conduct tens or hundreds of thousands of tests daily, ultimately testing millions of people over the course of our response. That means producing swabs which we are now running short of and other testing materials. We have used a defense production act before during the korean war to mobilize defense infrastructure and during the cold war. And make no mistake. We are facing an equally deadly enemy in this virus, and we need to bring all of our authority and resources to bear to defeat it. All of us owe a debt of gratitude to our Frontline Health and medical care workers. They dont have a road map for what is happening right now. Its unprecedented. They just have skills, a commitment in the hearts of heroes, and we owe them the resources they need to be protected in order to do their jobs. Sadly, this pandemic is going to get worse before it gets better. I had been calling upon the president to declare a national emergency, which he finally did last week. Now that he has done so, we need massachusetts to get all of the funding that is due. I have been in regular contact with governor baker and mayor walsh, and i will support his request, their requests for federal resources. As the senate works on an Economic Relief package that matches the scale of this crisis, we need to ensure that we put people and family first. No half measures, no hidden bailouts and giveaways, just to big corporations. Paid sick time for all workers, Unemployment Insurance for all workers, including for tip workers, gig workers, contractors, home workers, expansion of snap and w. I. C. And School Lunches and other Food Security programs. No evictions, no cutting off of utilities, no cutting off of wifi, halting all deportations and releasing of detained immigrants who pose no threat to public safety. Provide free wifi to lowincome households with students who cannot afford it but are going to be at home because of School Closures so that we dont have a huge homework gap that now explodes in our country as poorer children dont have access to the Wifi Technology at home so that they can learn at the same pace that kids who just happen to live in wealthier families will have. We cannot allow that to happen. These kids should be able to learn at home, regardless of their income. We need free wifi for those kids. We have to reimburse our states and cities and tribes. They are bearing the brunt of this crisis, and they need resources immediately. My commitment to protecting the Health Professionals to ensuring the consumers and workers and families of massachusetts get relief from the impacts of the coronavirus is my number one priority. We have to protect the Small Businesses in our country. We have to make sure that they receive the resources which they need. Millions and millions of Small Businesses right now are feeling enormous stress. We have to make it possible for them to be able to receive the relief which they need, the help which they need in order to survive, and we have to put up front whatever the capacity is to make sure that they get the resources which they need. Because if that system in our country with 48 of all workers are employed, Small Businesses in our country, and they are living on the margin, then we are going to have an economic catastrophe by august or september where millions of these Small Businesses will just declare bankruptcy. Thats just the bottom line economic fact of the matter. We have to give them the help. We have to make sure we have the resources inside of the federal government, the personnel that will ensure that we can deliver that relief to them. So to the people of massachusetts, i want you to know that i am here for you and i will help any of you individually who need any assistance during this emergency. This current moment may call for distancing and isolation, but we cannot and should not sever our basic human reks to one another because we are all in this together. And i want to end with the most important reminder. We must continue to listen to the guidance of scientists and medical professionals. This pandemic is unprecedented. It will require an unprecedented mobilization and response at every level of society. We can get through this, but it will require a commitment from every single one of us. We are one big family in the United States. Many families are going to be suffering. And its going to be our job to make sure that we protect those families. And its the job of this institution to do so. We are the legislative First Responders. We are the ones that have to provide the resources that then allows the First Responders, the families in every Community Across our country to have the resources to help everyone in our society. Thats our goal. A pandemic should know no partisanship. Let us come together and produce the big package that our country right now so desperately needs. Madam president , with that, i yield back. A senator madam president. The presiding officer the senator from kansas. Mr. Moran madam president , thank you very much. This has been a trying and difficult time in our country and my home state of kansas. Lots of conversation, care and compassion going on. We cant give anybody a hug these days, we cant extend a hand, at least literally, but we are extending a hand to all of our friends and our neighbors, those across our community, those across our state and across the country. Im troubled, of course, by what circumstances americans find themselves in. And there are those who are poorly in a poor circumstance in which they can recover from the circumstances that we face. I want to make sure that kansans know we hear their cries, we know of their problems, and that work is afoot to try to make a difference. Just a couple of examples, things that perhaps in the overall scale of where we are perhaps dont seem significant enough but can make a difference in individual lives and families wellbeing. We have been successful to this point in getting the School Lunch Program available to students whose schools are no longer in session, who dont go to the classroom and therefore arent in the school clutch room, and usda and the School Food Program are now available for those who are at home because their School Classes have been canceled as a result of the virus. We pay a lot of attention, as i hope kansans know, americans know, to the veteran and the veteran community, and weve had success in passing legislation on the senate floor, waiting for house consideration that allowed those veterans who are no longer in the classroom in a university or in a Technical College and are now learning by distance education, by technology, to be able to continue to receive their g. I. Educational benefits, that required a change in the law, and its in the works so that those benefits continue, even though the student is not, as now required, in a classroom itself. Were trying to make certain the department of Veterans Affairs has the resources necessary to meet the needs of our veterans. It is a vulnerable population because of age and existing condition of many of our veterans, and we are in Constant Contact not only with the department of Veterans Affairs but with veterans themselves and with our veteran hospitals and clinics and other Health Care Providers in kansas. Today we are dealing with Economic Relief for those who are losing their job, fearful of losing their job or have already lost their job. Lifes much of lifes meaning comes from our employment, from what we do, and a job is certainly something that helps put food on a familys table and provides some security for an individual, but it also provides meaning. No one can understand unless they are without a job how devastating that can be. Im pleased by the number of business men and women who have called me to tell me the last thing they want to do is lay off anyone who works in their business. The circumstances at home in kansas, we have been through economic difficulties before. Weve seen the cycle of the city, the ups and downs, the normal flows, that this is something totally different than that. Oil and gas, the price of oil is such that keeping oil and Gas Producers in kansas in business is a real challenge. Aviation conserving is an important component of the kansas city. Today Textron Industries which manufactures cessna aircraft and beach aircraft announced they are furloughing 7,000 of their 9,000 workers. Thats on top of other challenges in the Aviation Industry in which spirit arrow systems, headquartered in kansas, has already laid off 2,800 employees. So from the oil and gas industry of western and South Central and eastern kansas to the manufacturing hub of wichita and South Central kansas, the cans of the coronavirus are real and felt in the pocketbook. Felt in the brain and felt in the heart. Our restaurants, hotels, our car rental agencies, those who serve others have been in circumstances this week and visiting with a person who workers at who works, the people who work at a cafe, the people who work here in washington, d. C. At the cafeteria where i had breakfast this morning. Those who have jobs wonder if theyre going to have jobs tomorrow. Those that have already lost their jobs wonder how they are going to pay the bills. This morning, a conversation with a with an optometrist, telling me the circumstances of no longer being able to care for patients except in the emergency setting, which means that the business in the optometrists office, an Important Health care provider, the business in the dental office, that that has been curtailed and the necessity of considering laying off the clinical workers there is front and center in that conversation. Its a troublesome situation across kansas. It doesnt matter what city or town you live in. If youre a farmer, the cattle prices today significantly depressed, despite the fact that its still pretty expensive at the grocery store. I think about my hometown and the loss of a business. There arent many businesses in Rural Communities of kansas, and many businesses dont really earn much of a living or a profit. It could be a family circumstance. It could be this is what they did, this is what their parents did. This could be a service to the community, and they live on a lot less because that business is important. Important to a small community, but this kind of challenge is such that if that business closes, the chances are that it doesnt reopen. The financial circumstances of smalltown america are such that there is little likelihood of recovery and reopening. I hope that the legislation that we passed today, is now on its way to the president , it included a few things that i was troubled by and think will create significant difficulties for some. We need to continue to work to change those provisions that are troublesome and cause problems, but it was important in my view to make certain that the things that were wrong in that bill didnt prevent us from passing something to help those with the things that are right. None of our economic efforts that we make to make certain that people feel more secure economically will work until they feel more secure in the health and wellbeing of themselves and their families. So even though you may get some assistance, a person may get some assistance, a family may be relieved of some of the Financial Burdens that they now face, a laidoff worker may get unemployment benefits, but your mind is always going to be on the issue of your health and the wellbeing of your children and your parents and your grandparents. Those we know in the nursing home and those we know in the nursery. And as long as we are troubled by what may happen to us and our health, no amount of economic stimulus can overcome the fear of ones wellbeing, and particularly the wellbeing of their spouse, their children, and their parents. So clearly Economic Relief in and of itself, in my view, is insufficient. We need to make certain that our Health Care Providers have the necessary tools to meet the Health Care Needs of american citizens. And front and center in that regard is testing, and we are woefully inadequate and undersupplied in what we need to test the necessary number of kansans and americans to know what they face and to know what are their circumstances are and to respond in the medically required way. We are working to make sure there are more tests across the country and working to make certain that those tests are distributed in a way that kansans, their Health Care Providers can access them. And most recently we were successful in getting c. D. C. To undo a problem that kept tests from being transferred to the Kansas Department of health and environment in my home state. Were pleased to see that the p f. D. A. , for example, has modified the necessary steps it takes for a manufacturer of these test kits to be certified, to be qualified to manufacture them. And the amount of test kits that are being produced, the amount of manufacturing has increased, and were expecting significant improvements in the next couple of weeks. Yes, i wish they were here earlier, but we fix the problem we face now and get them here soon, immediately. I said in the desk i sit in the desk of senator bob dole, predecessor of mine, the senator from kansas. He is now held for his bipartisanship. I stand at the desk that is here in the place of senator john mccain, two people who demonstrated the desire to Work Together. And while i outlined a few things that i think are important, and i wanted kansans to know, my mission and my remarks today may be the most important is to ask my republican colleagues and my democrat colleagues to set aside the usual bickering and political posturing that takes place in the United States congress. No american can feel well, no american can feel that things are going to be okay if they dont see leadership and Cooperation Among us. And so while we today are preparing for the presentation of new legislation dealing with the challenges that businesses, employers, and employees face, trying to relieve the economic and financial burden that Many Americans are experiencing and more will experience in the future, could americans please see that me and my colleagues are taking every step not to make this a political exercise, but to demonstrate our care and concern for those we represent. I mentioned a moment ago about veterans. This is the point in time in which if you take a walk on the national mall, as ive often done, to walk to the lincoln memorial, i will walk by now the world war ii memorial, i will walk by the vietnam wall, and on my return i will walk by the korean war memorial. We should hold those veterans, those military men and women who are honored in those settings as our role models. We should do that every day. But could we please do it over the next few weeks, the next few months and into the next year as we try to address the challenges that america faces today. No person memorialized in those settings fought and sacrificed their life for a republican or for a democrat. They sacrificed because they believed they could make life better for the folks back home. Their own family members, their neighbors, the people they didnt know. They sacrificed because they believed they could make the world a more safe and secure place. I pledge myself in every way possible to see that i do the things today, tomorrow, and into the future that mean that this congress has come together on behalf of the American People just like those who served our country did and now rest in peace. To the democratic colleagues here in the senate, please consider me open to their suggestions. And to my republican colleagues, please know that im an ally in the things that we believe in. But we all may need to give a little so that america can return, americans can be safe, americans can be secure, our health is protected, and our economy flourishing. I would ask god in this circumstances to bless this country, to bring us together, hold us in his arms in a way that we cant do today, and to make certain that this congress represents the will of the people, not the will of any political party. Madam president , i yield the floor. A senator madam president. The presiding officer the senator from tennessee. Mr. Alexander thank you, madam president. I ask consent to speak for as much time as i may require. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Alexander thank you, madam president. I want to thank the senator from kansas on his eloquent remarks expressing the feelings of certainly mine and those i feel of virtually every member of this body that we are here not as democrats or republicans, but to Work Together to do whatever we can to address the concerns that are literally unprecedented. This is an unprecedented time in our country. I cannot remember a time in my life or in our history when we, when the government has literally closed down the country in order to contain a disease. Thats literally what were doing, whether its the federal government by its travel restrictions or whether its the state governments suggesting that schools be closed, or whether its mayors saying that restaurants must be closed, we are closing down the country to contain a disease. Madam president , because the government is doing that on behalf of all of the people, were going to have to pay the cost of closing down the country to contain this disease. Today the news is that the Auto Industry across the country is closing down, at least temporarily. There are layoffs. Ive watched over the last 40 years as tennessee has gone from almost no auto jobs to probably calling itself in many ways the numberone auto state. 140,000 tennesseans work in auto jobs in tennessee. Thats onethird of all of our manufacturing jobs. Theyre spread through 88 counties, and over these 40 years as textiles and other industries move away from the United States and out of our state, the Auto Companies moved in, virtually into every county, and our family incomes went up. So if we are in many ways the numberone auto state, then we are the numberone state to be hurt when the auto plants begin to close. We are also hurt as our citizens in every state when the restaurants shut down. 15 million americans work in restaurants. One of our largest industries, if not our largest industry, almost all of those workers are being laid off in tennessee and in many other places in the country, and even more will be. And not all those affected are working for big Auto Companies or medium sized restaurants. I received an email yesterday from friends in tennessee who run a kennel. Well, you may say thats not so important. Well, it is important to a lot of us. They say were suffering a massive dropoff in our business as a result of the coronavirus. I fear we may have to close our doors for a month or two hopefully not that long as our wonderful customers are forced to curtail travel. Im currently trying to secure around 50,000 in loans to supplement our dwindling reserves to see us through until may or june. Im currently applying for an s. B. A. Disaster relief. This precipitous drop in business comes on the heels of a major flood damage to our fencing caused by the recent floods. Our Flood Insurance refuses to cover that. Were not seeking charity, just a Business Loan for 350,000 to for 30,000 to 50,000 to secure our business until it passes. We always pay our way. This couple has two Young Children and maybe a couple of employees in their kennel. Theyre awfully good people. Theyre salt of the earth tennesseans. They are like Many Americans who are suddenly confronted with this disease that just came out of the blue and has caused our government to shut our country down. Now what shall we do about it . Well, a couple of weeks ago congress reacted and the president with 8. 3 billion to help beef up our Public Health system. We have the best public hejt Health System in the world and we wanted to help it get started. Today weve passed a bill that some people have estimated at 100 billion which includes a whole variety of other steps from democrats and republicans that includes encouraging more testing, that encourages that creates a new system of paid leave for businesses of less than 500 employees and family leave. And as senator mcconnell said, were going to stay here this week until we take step three. And step three, according to the president s proposal, would include direct financial payments to americans. It would include support for essential businesses that need stabilization, like the airlines, and it would include loans to Small Businesses so that they could keep their employees working. Perhaps that proposal would be good for that small kennel that i talked about. That is said perhaps to cost another 1 trillion. 1 trillion is a lot of money, even in the United States. Our Gross Domestic Product is about 22. 3 trillion. We have 25 of all the money in the world in this country just for 5 of the people, but the idea that we would have to spend 1 trillion or more to contain a disease would be unthinkable a few weeks ago. But what weve learned very quickly is were going to have to pay the cost of containing the disease because the way were containing it is that the government is shutting down major parts of hour our economy. And i dont believe that what we do today or what we propose to do later in the week will be enough, because as i look at the number of people being laid off in this country, our state unemployment agencies are not going to able to deal with that. In tennessee, for example, where unemployment has been very low and where people have been, found it easy to find a job, there were only 2,000 applications for Unemployment Insurance last week. But already this week by 2 00 p. M. On wednesday in the middle of the week there were four times that many applications 9,177. And if youre successful in Unemployment Compensation in our state, you get 275 per week for 26 weeks. So were going to have to do iran more than the congress were going to have to do more than the congress has done, even more than the president has done. And i think we have to recognize that the president was wise on january 31 when we only had six cases of coronavirus detected in the United States to impose the strictest travel bans on people coming into our country in 50 years. Dr. Fauci, who all of us respect, said fehbp hadnt donee that we would have had many more cases today, but still we have a disease thats causing the government, this one, the federal, the state government, to shut major parts of our country down. Thats why i voted today for the legislation that was phase two in our effort to respond to that. Even though i have significant issues with the sick leave and family leave proposals that are part of it, i believe those provisions, while well intended, by the administration, by the house of representatives, will hurt Many Employers and will shortchange many employees. First, to be fair, i want to try to make sure that what the treasury intends to do is on the record. Ive had several conversations with the secretary of the treasury and with other officials to ask them just what they intended to do and to list the problems that i had. Heres what they say and what im doing is characterizing the conversations and writings that they had. They pointed out that what many businesses have read is in this bill, was what was in the draft of it that the house passed on friday before technical corrections were made over the weekend, and that the technical corrections greatly improved the bill from the point of view of employers. This is what the Treasury Department says, under the legislation employers receive a dollar for dollar refundable tax payment for the covid19 payments made to their employees. As amended, they made technical corrections over the weekend, the care is carefully cal braitd, in the fresh fresh as treasurys words. There are explicit grants to both the secretary of labor and the secretary of treasury to ensure consistency between the leave requirements and the credit provisions. In addition, and this is what the treasury officials have been saying to us over the last few days, the legislation now provides that the sick and family leave payments are not considered wages for employment tax purposes. The legislation now extends the employer credit to include costs for maintenance of Health Benefits paid by the employer while employees are on leave. Lastly, the treasury and the Internal Revenue service are considering options to provide an advanced payment for the refundable credit to ease any tax flow burden that employers may experience. I will have more to say on that this in a minute. In plain english, they are considering a way to make sure that before the employer has to pay this required family leave to an employee, that the federal government has given the money to the employer. Besides this, the legislation now includes explicit ground of authority, treasury says, to the secretary of labor to exempt Small Businesses from the only longterm leave requirements that contains where those requirements would result until financial hardship. And then the treasury, in their conversations with me and in the writings that they sent out, make the argument that far from imposing special burdens, the net effect of this legislation is to provide an important benefit given that many already provide sick leave and that many more will need to do so in response to the covid19 outbreak, moreover by structuring coverage as a credit. It will make sure that employers generally receive relief immediately rather than having to wait for a refun. In the event refund. In the event the amount of the credit exceeds the amount of the employers tax liability, it will ensure that the employer is fully compensated for all payments made under the leave requirements. The treasury goes on to say, treasury and r. S. Are working on option to have an advancement of payment to get money in the pockets of employees immediately. The intent of the legislation is to fully fund the payments employers make to their employees who experience employment interruptions related to covid19. In summary, the amended legislation does not require employers, according to the department of treasury, to make payments in excess of amounts eligible for the refundable tax credit nor does it require employers to pay employment taxes on those amounts. To the contrary. It provides an important and immediate benefit to Small Business and their employees for whom Financial Assistance is needed as quickly as possible. That is the argument of the secretary of the treasury and his subordinates in conversations with many of us over the last few days. That is their intention. Now, i read that in detail because in the dakotas and in tennessee and in many places all across this country, there are about, if my figures are right, about six million businesses that could be affected by this mandate that employ 51 million employees, or at least that did employ 51 million employees, until all of the problems created by this virus. Now, having been try to be fair and given you what i understand the treasurys intention will be, which i think will be beneficial to the Business Owners and accountants. Here are my problems with it. Number one, im not sure that treasury can live up to its promise to make sure that the employer has the money from the federal government before the employer has to pay the sick leave to the employee. Heres my principle. I believe i think sick leave and family leave in these circumstances is a good idea. And if someone is quarantineed for two weeks i think all of us should have to pay the cost of that and for another ten weeks some of the cost of the medical and family leave. I buy that. I can support that. But i believe if washington, d. C. , is going to require it, washington, d. C. , should pay for it. If washington, d. C. , is going to require a Small Business, many of which are struggling, many of which are going out of business, to pay a new mandate, washington should pay for it. This is no time to be imposing on Small Businesses an expensive new mandate, unexpected new cost when they when they dont have money coming in to pay for the normal cost if they had. Now, i know it is the goal of the secretary to let it work this way because hes told me this, he told all of us this. He said it in public, he put out a statement. Under the sick leave proposal, every couple of weeks a businessman will put aside enough money for for with holding and Social Security taxes. That adds up to about 15 of salary of an employee. What the treasury is saying is that the employer can use that money, instead of setting it aside for the government, you can use it to pay sick leave. Well, there are two problems with that. One is i dont like the idea of the employer using the employees tax money. You usually get in trouble for that. If if i set aside the senator from the dakotas tax payment and then i use it for some purpose, you could go to jail for that in some cases. At least its inappropriate. So im uncomfortable with that which means the business may not only have 7. 5 of the samry a salary set aside for that purpose. Even if it is 15 , im not sure thats enough. The treasury said, well allow that and well allow advance payment. He hasnt promised that it would come in one day, but his objective, im sure if he were here on the senate floor, is to get it there the same day. Well, wanting to get it there the same day and getting it there are two different things. If im a Small Business are person in tennessee and i know that im going to have to cut a payroll check on monday and that i have no money coming in to pay for it and theres not enough money in my escrow amount to pay for it, i want my money from the federal government before i cut the check. And so, mr. President , i intend to try to amend the legislation that we passed this weekend to say that with sick leave and paid family leave, since washington is requiring it and washington is paying for it, then washington will need to make sure the employer has the money before the employer has to pay the check. Thats number one. Number two, ip want to make sure i want to make sure that the employer doesnt have to pay more on sick leave than the federal government cap. Theres a cap, i think its about 132,000 analyzed pay on sick leave and if an employee makes more than that, that employee will have to take a pay cut or he or she might use the right of action to pay the gap queen 1 between 132,000 and whatever i make. You might say im not too sympathetic to the employee that makes that much money, im not talking about the employee, im talking about the employer who may not have the money. Now, the Treasury Department has amended through technical changes, they said so in the information i just read, they amended the bill to try to make that clear, and i hope that is successful. Third, layoffs. I mentioned the Restaurant Industry. There are 15 Million People who work in the Restaurant Industry. If they are not laid off now, they are going to be mostly all laid off before very long, and, unfortunately, mr. President , none of those men and women who are laid off are eligible for this sick leave because youre going to have to youre going to have to work for 30 days for this Small Business, this company with less than 500 employees, in order to be eligible for the paid sick leave. So im afraid, as a result of this, Many Employers worried about this provision may have an incentive to lay off more of their employees. But the truth is they dont need much more incentive because if youre a restaurant and youve been told by the local health board to close down, you dont have any money coming in, you cant pay your employees anyway, and so you dont have any choice. But my point is this is a very limited benefit in the Restaurant Industry and probably in many other industries because it does not help the laidoff employee. And, finally, theres been a lot said that, well, for the smallest companies, those with less than 50 that you can apply the secretary of labor and hell make you exempt from the mandate. Well, i think thats a good idea because thats the small mom and pop diner, that might be the kennel that i talked about that might have three or four employees, they are not accustomed to dealing with all of this washington legalese and requirements and regulations. They are not geared up for that. But as i read the language in the law, its a much narrower exception than that. And so im going to attempt to amend the law that passed today to broaden the exception so the secretary of labor has more authority to waive the mandate for businesses with less than 50. So, as i said, mr. President , there are a number of important benefits in the bill we passed today, especially on testing. Weve seen a great increase in the number of available tests over the last few weeks. The governor of tennessee said yesterday we have sufficient testing. Well, thats for today, maybe not for tomorrow or the next day. One of the greatest steps forward has been to finally allow commercial testing to be used. I mean, why shouldnt the mayo clinic be able to go ahead or Cleveland Clinic be able to develop a test and move ahead with it . So now they can. While weve done a great deal, theres a great deal more that we must do. Im convinced that even if we do, as senator mcconnell has said, and pass our phase three legislation this weekend, which would include loans to Small Businesses, direct payments to individuals, stabilizing payments to automobiles to airlines, for example, and maybe other industries, that theres more to do, and my guess is the next step after that, phase four, lets call it, is to look to our state employment compensation systems and make sure they are able to handle the large number of people who are losing their job because the government is shutting down the economy in order to contain the disease. I voted for the Johnson Amendment today to the bill that i later voted for because i thought it was headed in the right direction. Rather than washington issuing mandates, i would rather washington work with the states in existing programs an existing program. Make sure that states have sufficient funding on top of their own funds to deal with a large number of autoworkers, restaurant workers and workers at the small kennel with two or three employees, make sure they have sufficient funds, and i believe in addition to that the figure in the weekly fund is going to have to be higher than the 327 that it is in tennessee. This is unprecedented. Were closing down the economy in order to contain the disease, and because were doing that, we governments at all levels, were going to have to pay the bill. I thank the president. I yield the floor. A senator mr. President. The presiding officer the senator from delaware. Mr. Coons mr. President , the president of the United States passed a roughly 104 billion package of assistance that is going out to american families, american workers, to our Health Care System, to our states and our communities. And i just wanted to take a few minutes and talk about this important step weve just taken and where we have to go next. The delawareans i heard from today and this week and this month are worried. Theyve anxious. Theyve been up all night. They are trying to figure out how they are going to care for their children and need support and education, how they are going to care for their parents who are vulnerable, elderly and sick and are concerned about our hospitals and our Health Care System and its capacity. They are anxious because their frontline workers, First Responders, volunteer firefighters and nurses and orderlies who are exposed every day and concerned, they are just average citizens, asking how can i get a test, and where . Ive heard from the the presides of our major universities, the head of our hospital system, our governor, my colleagues and our congressional delegation. We have talked repeatedly to our director of Public Health, our secretary of health and Human Services, and i have heard from Business Owners large and small who run everything from coffee shops and diners who restaurants and hotels in our state. There is a lot of anxiety and concern. The folks at my state want to know that we here in washington are going to put the partisan bickering aside, find answers and get resources out to deal with this significant Public Health emergency. And so i hope folks take some encouragement from todays action. It passed 908. Very little, mr. President , passes in this senate 908. And i have very rarely seen a bill of this size, scope, and magnitude that goes from an idea to bill text to enactment in such a short period of time, but this moment demands it. Let me talk through also the priorities that are reflected in the Families FirstCoronavirus Response act because the name reflects the priorities. Hubert humphrey was a former leader in the United States in our Political Community and system and once said the moral test of our government is how it treats those who are in the dawn of life, children, those who are in the twilight of life, the elderly, and those who are in the shadows of life, the sick, the needy, and the disabled. And im pleased that the package just passed here in the senate takes important strides to take care of exactly those folks. Children home from school who need support for learning remotely and those in particular who rely on School Lunch Programs for their one good, stable, healthy meal a day will be able to continue to get School Lunches delivered, either through their schools or at home, there are significant resources in this bill for that. Those who are on the front lines of this crisis, the individuals who are cleaning offices and cleaning hospital rooms and cleaning amtrak cars and public buses, those who are putting themselves directly at risk by cleaning the spaces we all count on for our society. Frontline workers. People who are in our First Responder community, people who are working in our hospital emergency rooms. This provides support for them. And for anyone who is concerned about the cost of access to testing, this bill makes clear that testing for covid19, for this dreaded disease caused by the novel coronavirus, will have a test for free, including those without health insurance. There are some big pieces in this bill i will briefly mention. Paid emergency leave for workers at companies below 500 employees for two weeks of sick leave and up to ten weeks of additional paid family and medical leave. We just had a disagreement over exactly how thats going to get paid for and how its going to get compensated and on what timeline, and we are going to work out those details. My offices website will have an accessible, readable summary of whats in this bill up later tonight. The larger point was that we thought it essential that folks who we want to stay home but who may be living paycheck to paycheck know that they will get paid sick leave so they can stay home and we can slow the spread of this disease. Theres also an increase in funds for the federal government to states for medicaid because a lot of our states are going to see increased costs as folks move to medicaid as the place they get health care as they move to unemployment. 100 million in Additional Resources will go to the state of delaware alone to provide support for those who may be newly dependent on medicaid. And then last is an expansion of unemployment benefits, 26 weeks of unemployment benefits, including temporary unemployment caused because of covid19. Theres more details to how this temporary Unemployment Insurance will work, but it will last longer and have a higher level of benefit and be more flexible than previous versions of federal Unemployment Insurance, and its being delivered in partnership with states. So thats the biggest pieces of this bill. Its just 104 billion. But the bill we are already hard at work on will be an order of magnitude greater, likely more than a trillion dollars. And if what we have seen in terms of anxiety and concern from families up and down my state and all over our country is any indication, we must take this up quickly and enact it. Small Business Owners who i have heard from today who want to keep employing the folks who work for them but have lost half their business, since our governor took the bold and necessary step of closing our restaurants and bars to all except drivethrough and delivery service. Thats 10 of the folks who work in delaware work in restaurants and hospitality. Folks who want to keep their people on payroll but have no work for them to do face a very hard choice, and we need to find ways that we can both defer the payments that are necessary for students, for homeowners, for businesses, those who have outstanding payments on s. B. A. Loans or on federally guaranteed mortgages or on bank loans where we can work out some way to provide temporary relief, and then individual payments that will help students, that will help heads of households, that will help individuals. So there is a lot of different pieces that are being debated and discussed here in the senate. Support for amtrak, a priority for me because i commute by amtrak and it is one of the biggest modes of transportation on the east coast. Support for the airline and Hospitality Industries because they employ hundreds of thousands of people and have seen their business drop off sharply. Support for longterm structural changes to how we provide access to health care, access to skills and training for our workforce, access to higher education. I have heard very concerning stories from the folks who lead some of the most important nonprofit and faith and educational institutions in my state, and they are looking to us for bold and decisive leadership. Last, we must not forget those on the margins of our society. People who are homeless, people who are incarcerated, people who are uninsured, people who are undocumented. We want to make sure that we make our country safe. We need to practice not just good hygiene, not just social distancing, but we need to refrain from moral distancing. We need to remember the words of hubert humphrey, and we need to be reminded that exactly why people look to this federal government for prompt action and for significant resources is because they look for us to be able to make sure that we see all americans and that we know that we are all in this together. Thank you, mr. P tw members of congresso have no tested positive for the coronavirus. One from lord and one from utah. Florida and one from utah. They urged americans to follow cdc recommendations and say they remained working while under some quarantine. Next senators marco rubio and Susan Collins outline their economic proposals to help Small Businesses din