Democratic leader, who said this is a highly partisan bill, that is just not the case. Lets put the partisanship aside. Lets do what is best for the American People. Ill tell you that for the past several days, through a bipartisan process, we sat down, democrat and republican, in four Different Task and put together this legislation. As a result, the bill before you tonight reflects republican priority and democratic priorities. And i am going to take the time to walk through it and to talk about some of those so people understand what is in this legislation. I was pleased to see the democratic leader say at the end he believes we can figure this out over the next several hours. He said 24 hours, i hope it is not 24 hours. We cannot wait that long. We need to move quickly. We know what the markets are going to do. We have seen with the futures are. More important, we see the impact in our states, among our citizens. The leader said more money needs to be put for hospitals and states and workers. Theres an unprecedented amount of money for all three of those in this legislation. Unprecedented. And necessary, by the way, because we are in a crisis. But to say there is nothing here that helps, helps hospitals, oh my gosh. 100 billion . April he could start. A pretty good start. 75 billion of dollars of which goes to hospitals. To say theres nothing the coast workers, the unemployment provisions in here come from the democratic side of the aisle. It is the most generous Unemployment Insurance by far any history of our country. It adds more money to Unemployment Insurance than the Current System has. By the way, it adds eight times more funding into the unemployment system for the rest of this year than is currently being spent. Think about that. That is not generous. . By the way, we republicans also agree that those who lose their jobs for no fault of their own should get a generous unemployment check while we work through this coronavirus and get our economy up and going again. So let me walk through some of this. This coronavirus is something that is urgent for us to address. It as close to businesses, it has closed schools, it has changed every aspect of our daily lives. It has left us uncertain. And for many americans, it has left them isolated, literally self isolated. Put tremendous strain on our Health Care System, and that is why this legislation addresses that. Are amazing officers are doing their part, as well as our physicians, nurses, other medical professionals who are on the front lines combating this disease. God bless them. It has also done great damage to what was a strong and growing economy. Only a few weeks ago we had unemployment numbers that were at a 50 year low. We had 19 straight months of employment increases and over 3 wage growth every month. But now, now we see businesses shuttering. We see thousands and now millions of americans unemployed, through no fault of their own. The purpose of this legislation is to allow people to get back on their feet, to allow us to get back to normalcy. Extraordinary times like this require us to unify as a country, and i see it in my home state of ohio and around the country, everybody has a role to play, Everybody Needs to be practicing social distancing, as they call it. Be safe, wash her hands frequently, using hansen at kaiser. Part of washing your hands frequently, using hand sanitizer. We need to reduce our overall risk for exposure so we do not overwhelm our nations Public Health system. We can all play a role in this, and in the end that will help save lives. Of our family members, of our neighbors, of people we may never meet but come into contact with, and the most vulnerable in our society. If we follow the guidelines put out by the cdc, we are going to be safer. We going to save lives. It all depends on us. All of us, doing that. But it also depends on what we do here in the United States congress, both in slowing the spread through the legislative efforts im talking about tonight, but also in getting this economy back on its feet so people can get back to work and get a paycheck and begin to make ends meet. In ohio we have been taking the lead on this. We have been pretty aggressive, saying people need to social distance, that restaurants and bars needed to close. We were one of the first states to say that. Schools need to be closed. Governor mike dewine, the department of health, the director, i think they have done a good job in responding to this unprecedented crisis. As of this morning, we have 247 confirmed cases and three dess. By the deaths. By the way, the first person to die in ohio was a man i know. I knew him and i respected him. From toledo, ohio. He contracted this disease and succumbed to it. Unfortunately we are going to see more cases, more deaths. We are doing the things to contain this, to slow the spread, and that needs to happen at every level, including here. That is why this legislation is so important to pass tonight. Starteds ago congress this effort by passing the first major relief effort called phase one, which was 8. 3 billion to address the Health Care Needs associated with this pandemic. Ohio has already received 15. 5 million from that first phase one legislation. But of course much more needed to be done. By the way, one way we can find out what needs to be done is to listen to the people who are most affected by it, and we have been doing by doing it. I was joined by an Infectious Disease expert on a Facebook Live town hall last week so we could answer questions from ohioans about the crisis. He told us what the Health Care System needs. We know what it needs, and we are responding in this legislation. Last week i hosted Conference Calls when i was here in washington with a number of heavily impacted groups, including the hospitals back in ohio and other people, health care providers, with our food banks, Small Business owners, workers, nonprofits, the charities out on the front lines doing all they can to help. We spoke to employers of all sizes, we had Conference Calls with hotels, restaurants and more, hearing directly from those Key Stakeholders helps us to understand what the needs are and is legislation reflects with the needs are in our communities. We have got to continue to listen to people, because things are changing. And as there is an evolving threat out there, Congress Needs to be needs to be evolving as well. Last week we passed the second major bill called the phase two package, which provides federal funds to individuals exposed to the virus to get healthy. As an example, if you want to get tested for the virus, that is now free. Our hospitals needed more resources to combat the health crisis, so we provided more care and funding for our health care networks. Im glad the president signed that bill immediately into law. We also provided Additional Resources to state Medicaid Programs to ensure hospitals concerned with living rep revenue would know elective surgeries anymore, and being overwhelmed by individuals suffering from the virus. Phase ii two also provided needed help in terms of more masks, more gowns, and other protective dear. Gear. And more funding for antiviral therapies that are coming. That is incredibly important. People know if they get this virus, that they can have a loting that gives them of reinsurance and comfort, and is necessary to protect the health of our citizens. That phase two legislation also puts more money into getting a vaccine going as quickly as possible. It will not be here soon. It takes a while to get a vaccine going. But it will be done at unprecedented speed because of the funding we put into it. It also provides funding for emergency food assistance, including children getting free or reduced lunch. It also provided paid sick leave and family leave benefits to someone who has to leave work because of the coronavirus, now they know they can still pay the bills. Most important this paid leave is provided 100 from the federal government dollar for dollar. That is really important. Larger businesses have paid leave, but now we have a way for everybody, era under 500 employees, to be able to get that paid leave under federal reimbursement. But it is clearly not enough. Things have not gotten better in the meantime, in the last few days. They have gotten worse. A lot more has to be done to contain this virus to help people weather the storm in the meantime. The crisis is unprecedented. In the best interest of Public Health, we have effectively chosen to pump the brakes on our economy. We had decided to do that as a country, because that is in the best interest of our Public Health. Unfortunately that means businesses of all sizes, small, medium, large, are having to either shudder their doors, or slow down their production, letting people go, in so many parts of our economy now are feeling the pain of this rapid slowdown. Applications for unemployment in ohio this week compared to last week increased 20 fold. That means there was a 2000 increase in ohio on claims run employment. Obviously that is overwhelming the system. I have worked with my colleagues nonstop for the past three days to to the millions of American Workers and Small Businesses who made our country and our economy the strongest in the world. Our goals are simple. First, slow the spread of the virus. Again, if that doesnt happen, Peoples Health is at risk and the negative Economic Impact that is hurting so many families will continue. So slowing the spread of the virus is also about our economy. Second, we need to help employers continue paying their employees through this crisis. Our objective should be to keep people at work, keep them connected to their employer as much as possible. Thats where they get their health care. Thats where they get their retirement for the most part. That enables us to be able to assure that as we ramp up our economy, it can ramp up more quickly because people will be there at work. They wont be in the process of hiring and retraining. One of our objectives in this legislation is not just us to slow the spread of the virus but also keep people at work to the extent possible. Third, recognizing that not every employer is going to be able to keep employees. Even though you have some businesses going that dont have enough business, we want to be sure we are providing the resources to help those who are falling between the crocs. Their work no longer has any revenue previewed we need to assist those people. Ohios unemployment claims have skyrocketed but so have unemployment claims around the country. The bottom line is that our country is not going to be up to come back until we slow the spread of this virus. The package we have negotiated accomplishes all three of those objectives. For majorhrough policy areas, now, right away, to bring relief to the people we represent. Which is why we have to pass this legislation now. In terms of helping people, the package provide direct payment, checks to individuals. 1200 per person. If you are a couple, it is 2400. Then it is 500 per child. Give people some extra dollars to make the difference in being able to pay bills, paying a car payment, rent, putting food on the table, give people some comfort to know there is at least a little help coming directly and quickly. For those out of work, these checks also serve as a bridge to getting into the new Unemployment Insurance system i will talk about now. Because the checks will be necessary in most cases will take a couple of weeks, a few weeks, in some states several will several weeks. In ohio, they say two weeks. Its a most significant expansion of our employment system by far. Broadens those who qualify for Unemployment Insurance. Never beenave covered by Unemployment Insurance before. It provides a flat increase of 600 per week per person in the Unemployment Insurance system. This means that for low and low medium income folks, 40,00050,000 dollars a year, they will essentially have wage replacement through Unemployment Insurance. This is a big difference. In ohio, unemployment is one third. Now it will be topped up. To the point that this is a highly partisan bill, i am sorry. This legislation reflects the priorities of democrats and republicans. This is an example of that. We have to acknowledge it. Is the bill perfect . No, no bill is perfect, certainly not when we are trying to respond to a crisis such as this. When you add up phase onephase three. This is a bill that represents ideas from both sides of the aisle. Are there some things that might need to be adjusted by the democrats in order to support it . Whatss so, because that is we heard tonight from the democratic leader. Folks. Cannot start over, this legislation does exactly what so Many Democrats and republicans have call for to help people, to have the Financial Security to pay the bills and stay afloat. As we shift to this dramatically for people that is directly. Second come the stimulus package will provide relief for Small Businesses trying to stay afloat by ensuring they have access to credit and liquidity needed to adapt and retool their businesses to weather the storm. We can accomplish this in a couple of ways. Is the sevenday loan program. This will go through businesses that are currently providing funding to Small Businesses. It is a community bank. It is a savings and long. Savings and loan. Wherever people are banking they can get these loans directly. Providing hundreds of billions of dollars in loans to small and mediumsize businesses they can use for a of expenses, including payroll, including paying rent, mortgages, and if they use it for that, the loan is forgiven. He converts into a grant. If they use it for payroll, to keep workers, because that is one of the objectives, if they use it for rent or mortgage payments, the loan is written off. Entirely. It essentially is a grant to those Small Businesses. They want to keep their employees. On the edge ofg their seats, seeing what we do tonight and tomorrow. I have talked to many businesses who are saying i can wait until monday but i cannot wait any longer. I am bleeding cash. I have no revenue. I want to try to keep the doors open. Youve got to give us some help. Before, the best way to protect workers is enable employers to keep paying employees. This program does that. For businesses that might not be eligible for these loans, phase three stimulus helps provide immediate the quiddity through a number of different ways. These are larger businesses, over 500 employees. Our bill includes provisions that allow businesses to print cash in the hands of Companies Put cash in the hands of companies so they can be back up and running when the crisis is over. Things like not having to pay the employer side of the payroll tax. That is incredibly important. Theyve told us that, give us a break on that for this year and we can keep our doors open. That is probably the biggest single one here. But guess what, and 20212022, theyve got to pay that back. The majority of them are simply timing changes. Of the reduction will be paid back in coming years. Based on the rough estimates, it could provide up to 500 movie dollars in immediate cash for increases with more than half of that paid back to the federal government during the budget window. Phase three package takes precise and targeted measures to relieve Distressed Industries at risk of hemorrhaging jobs and closing down if we dont. I know the democratic leader said he doesnt think help should go to businesses. Guess they will pick and choose the businesses, but in this case, these are the businesses we all know. , we are facing the possibility of shutting down unless we do something. Think of the airline industries, the airlines that have seen their passengers reduced by some say 90 . Think of the airports that are closing. Think of the hotel businesses. Andk of the other travel tourism businesses. Entertainment businesses. These folks will be able to access what is called the stage Stabilization Fund to be able to get alone. And by the way, they will have to pay back that loan, but it is the federal government stepping in and providing a backup so they can get that loan and be able to stay in business. Thats the three aspects that businesses, small and help with regard to all businesses, and finally and i think most importantly in this legislation is funding and policy changes to slow the spread of the virus. Frankly, as i view this, this is to buy time for us to be able to increase the capacity of her Health Care System. This phase three package ensures that the men and women on the front lines of this epidemic every day get more support. It increases funding which has already increased once, but an additional four point 5 billion for the centers for Disease Control. Billion of it has to go to the states. To continue to monitor and respond to this virus as the pandemic continues. This is incredibly important. It sends more money out to ensure that we can get these antiviral therapies going. Think of tamiflu for influenza, key to dealing with the crisis as we begin to turn things around. To keep people healthier should they contract the virus. The most important parts of the legislation, because i believe in order to get our great country back on track and get people back to work, we need to have some sort of metrics in place. Maybe the most important part is to get better data on the true Public Health risk that is out there. This legislation does that. It enables us to know now that we have more and faster testing out there finally and we need more testing earlier but now that we have that, how many new infections are there . Thats probably the best measurement we have out there. This legislation provides the funding and direction to support the Public Health officials at every level to get better and more acceptable results every day reported to the cdc from your local health authority, from your state department of health. Those should be reported publicly every single day but also, all that data needs to come to the National Centers for Disease Control every day so that we can know truly what is going on out there because we dont have that data now. To have that data is going to give us a better understanding to be able to measure both the crisis as it stands and the Health Care Risk we all face but also measure success that will start to happen because we need to be able to measure that success to get people back to work, vector their families, back on track in their lives. This bill provides an increase in funding for health care, a major increase, in addition to what i just talked about. About 100 billion dollars for hospital daughters hospital and all health care providers. 30 billion in medicare payment increases for hospitals directly treating patients with coronavirus. This is what they are asking for. Finally, we have a couple of key proposals we have championed to support people with disabilities in institutional settings that are in at increased risk. We have a program that supports transitioning medicaid beneficiaries from dangerous settings, which some of them are in, where there is a lot of homebasedto longterm care. That is important, too. As i said earlier, these are exceptional times. Not since the influence epidemic of 1918, 102 years ago, has the United States been so swept up by a Health Care Crisis like this. Im pleased with some of the steps we have taken so far at the federal level to respond. We talked about them tonight. Beginning the process of helping workers and helping people get back to work, now phase three which is an unprecedented amount of support from american taxpayers to ensure that we can get people through this, help them weather the storm. Republican and democratic ideas through a process where we had taskforces that were bipartisan. We worked long hours. I was part of one of those taskforces. Now we need to get this legislation passed. The American People deserve it. They deserve a congress that does everything in his power to minimize the damage caused by the coronavirus. Thats put the partisanship aside and get to a vote on this package as soon as possible, not 24 hours. Lets do it now. Lets do it now. We owe that to the people we represent. I yield back my time. Thank you very much, mr. President. I would like to know one issue he did not raise which we have in common. Of voting onssue the floor of the u. S. Senate in times of national emergency. Senator portman and i have cosponsored legislation to address this issue, acknowledging a few days ago that we would face something as we did this evening where five of our Senate Colleagues were unable to come to the for the senate and vote because they are in selfquarantine at this moment. , lets be very honest about it. The numbers could grow to the point it could reach an extreme where there is a question of a quorum on the floor of the senate. An effort to establish a verifiable procedure so that members can vote and not be physically present on the floor of the senate. Some came to the floor quickly and left. They are genuinely concerned about social distance and about contagion, and i understand that and share their concern. We are certainly not going to call this measure tonight, but i hope we call it soon. Its time to have this conversation about how to protect members and their families, staff and their families in the way we vote in the Florida Senate when facing the Public Health crisis such as the one we have at this moment. My question is really a comment to thank you for your support of this on the others out of the isle. This is a bipartisan effort to ensure that we can be able to do our duty as the legislative branch, we have responsibilities here. This is our duty station. Yet if we cannot be here, we still need to be able to do it remotely. We have the ability to do that as my colleague said, in a safe and secure way. I think of for his advocacy of this my hope is that we can have this as a possibility should we not be able to gather and i think what has happened in the last several hours as we learned about our colleagues who are selfquarantining, its important that we have that ability. I go back. This is a bipartisan measure as it should be. If we can find a practical solution which respects the integrity of the voting process of the u. S. Senate, lets do it. It has to be agreed to by both leaders democrat and republican to go forward and do it for 30 days, renewable for another 30 days with three fits of the members to go forward and additional 30 days. This is not a permanent change but a change that may be necessary if we face a Public Health emergency or terrorist threat or something of that nature. Want to thank him not only for his remarks but the torn of his remarks. Senatorensed in the from ohio was in june feeling that we can achieve this goal of coming up with critical third piece of legislation and do it with both sides of the eye working together. The American Public has a very low opinion of those of us who serve in congress, as much respect the institutions and many of us have given so many years of our lives too. I think they worshiped were pleasantly surprised on the first two measures we passed on a timely and bipartisan basis. We address the issue of resources to fight this covid19. When we talked about providing andesting and medical leave Unemployment Insurance being accelerated and medicaid reimbursement to states, it was done quickly and with both house and senate together on a bipartisan basis. I think that should be the standard. I am sorry today we stumble. I wish that the senator from kentucky, the majority leader, would have withheld polling this evening because there are serious negotiations underway even as we meet on this floor in another part of this building, those conversations are taking place. If you listen carefully to the comments of the democratic leaders, senator schumer, they were positive, and i felt he gave me the impression that even in the last several hours there have been some steps forward. There were key elements as still need to be resolved that i feel confident we can reach a point, and we must. The highest priority from our side of the aisle, we share. Weve got to slow down and stop the spread of covid19 in the United States of america. Unless and until we do that, theres nothing we can do to repair and restore this economy that has any promise. We have two crest and see the decline so we can envision the moment when we can get back in business as america. That moment could not come any time too soon for me or all of us across the United States. A Marshall Plan for health and hospitals was our highest priority. For my part of you just listening to my hospital administrators in illinois, is not enough and is not going to be enough. We will quickly see our Health Care System overwhelmed if we dont invest now and dramatically. Many hospitals have said publicly that their revenue asides have been pushed because so many patients are coming through the emergency room door complaining of symptoms that are consistent with covid19. They have to take them as a priority and they cannot schedule elective surgeries. So the revenues coming to many of these hospitals have been compromised. From the financial viewpoint, lets make sure the third bill we are debating puts an adequate amount of money and for these hospitals. They are our first line of defense against the spread of this virus across america. I think we all agree that should be done. I continue to be frustrated and i know my governor shares this frustration that all of the promises in all of the press conferences at the white house and other places about the testing kits and equipment headed our way have not borne fruit. We just dont see it. We are waiting for evidence of it. We are not testing nearly enough people in our state. 17. 7stimate of 1. 7 million, its a state that needs more than 350 tests a month. We need to ensure we have the kits available so we can map the increase or decrease of infections and chart the spread of the disease in our state which i hope is very soon. The protective equipment, we have people volunteering to make masks at home, we are so desperate to supply needs for protective equipment at all levels. Is not nearly enough that needs to be done. I listen to the republicans speak in questionable terms to be kind about the role of Speaker Pelosi in this conversation about this third bill. It is pretty obvious if we are going to pass this measure and do it with dispatch, we need to have cooperation on both sides of the book kinda, not just a bill acceptable to the senate but to the house as well. When Speaker Pelosi comes to the table it is important that she be there along with the House Republican leadership so that all corners are represented. Senator schumer suggested we have the four corners of leadership come together with representatives in the white house and reach a truly bipartisan agreement that way, so the fact that Speaker Pelosi is interested, she should be. She should be more than interested, she should be at the table and involved in making the decision on this. Cash payments are important. We have never oppose them. We have said we want to extend employment insurance. There is a proposal for that, the duration of this extension is important, it is a critical element which i hope we can quickly Reach Agreement on. Loans for Small Businesses, senator rubio and cardin have worked on this for a long time. Theyre close to a bipartisan measure we can agree on. It takes into account organizations with more than 500 employees. Beginning understand the reservation some of us have. We want to make certain the money going to these corporations is not paid out in dividends or stock buybacks. We can have restrictions so that these moneys are not misused and i hope that we can do that as part of this agreement. I dont know that it can be done tonight. If it is truly bipartisan, i believe it can get this done. Thats restore confidence in the American People of this congress that we can act in a bipartisan and timely basis to respond quickly to one of the greatest challenges i have ever live through in the station. The American People across america approving every day they have the courage and determination to see their way through this challenge. First and foremost our health care workers, god bless them, at every level. The doctors, nurses, Laboratory Technicians and those working with our elderly, they are risking their lives every day in their mission to deal with this crisis. We should do no less when it comes to our responsibility in the u. S. Senate. Responders, they are doing their job regardless of threat to them personally. In that spirit we should resolve this matter quickly. I believe we can do it. I believe there is a feeling of goodwill and determination on both sides of the aisle here in the United States senate. I stand by what senator schumer said earlier. There is a light at the end of this tunnel. Lets try to pursue it and get it done as quickly as possible. The senior senator from south dakota. President , the people concede unfolding in front of them, weve got Small Businesses shutting down which of course affects the people who work there. Workers onealth care the front lines of fighting coronavirus. Continue to try make progress areece of legislation . E going to get on the bill as the leader pointed out, once youre off the bill you have 30 hours if you choose to use it in which to continue to discuss, certainly they could have the opportunity to continue to work on it. The vote today which is all the democrats oppose was simply whether or not were going to get on the bill that is desperately needed by our country right now. I would argue that the American People are looking to us for action and frankly as i said, we just dont have the luxury of time. The democratic leader got up early and said this is a partisan bill. That is just false. That is just flatly untrue, mr. President. This has been negotiated for the past few days now between democrats and republicans. Theyve been negotiating elements of the bill for the past two days and frankly what you see the legislation in front of us reflects that work. There is a tremendous amount of bipartisan content in this bill. The democrats had ample opportunities to make their case and try to get things included that they said they wanted. Highlight what the democrats said their priorities were in this legislation phase three, if you will, it was about workers, about Small Businesses, about Unemployment Insurance, it was about hospitals. I have to say that ive seen this piece of legislation, all of that, with edges voted to even debate includes all of those elements. If you look at what this bill includes, if youre talking about providing help to families who really needed in this country immediately, 1200 checks to individual taxpayers, 2400 to a couple who file jointly, and that runs through income levels all the way up to 75 thousand dollars, it phases out at about 99,000 dollars for 100les filing jointly, 50,000, and then 500 for each child in this country. That was a priority for both sides. Its something the president supported. Prioritya bipartisan that ended up in this legislation. Then you had a priority from democrats which was the socalled Unemployment Insurance program on steroids. A colleague from ohio did terrific job of laying out all the elements of this legislation but as he mentioned, Unemployment Insurance was a big priority for the democrats. There is a big commitment to topping off the unemployment accounts that the states maintain 600 per week for three months into those unemployment accounts. If you are unemployed it in this country, what you would normally see even terms of it benefit would be increased by 600 per week, per person, for three months. That was a huge priority for democrats and one that republicans as well believe is important. We have not only checks going out immediately to benefit families, we have Unemployment Insurance program delivered through the states it will provide assistance to those who have lost jobs. Then of course we had another priority or democrats won to provide much needed assistance to Small Businesses. If you look at what is in this bill for Small Businesses, there is basically a loan program operated under the Small Business which participating where Small Businesses can go to get loans, 100 percent guaranteed, which it used to pay payroll, to keep their employees employed over this period, would be forgiven at the end, to the total tune of about 350 billion dollars total as part of this package. That is what it adds up to. That is a benefit that would go out for the next eight weeks to they businesses, and if keep employees connected to their job in hopes that when this thing passes that their job checks wouldhere, go out to families and 250 billion to close up the Unemployment Insurance account the states maintain. All benefits that go up to workers in the country to keep people afloat if you will until we get to a better time, hopefully not too far ahead of us. Thats what democrats voted against. As you saw shortly after that, significant drop in the futures market and i think that the markets in addition to the American People are looking to us to provide confidence, a shot in the arm to suggest we get what is at stake and how important it is and we respond not only swiftly but in a bold and big way. Those are just a few of the thats that were included are democrat priorities and represent the work of a Bipartisan Task worse. The democrats have argued that perhaps theres too much in here in the form of payoffs. There is the provisioning here through the Federal Reserve that would allow lawns to be made to companies who need cash flow, who need liquidity, and obviously those are loans that would be paid back. So i dont know how you can argue something is a bailout and people are getting loans that ultimately have to be paid back. But that is a provision of the bill. If you dont have that in there, a lot of those businesses have been shuttered are asked to close down. The airlines basically are not operating. They are going to have huge hits to their balance sheets. Like thoseompanies across this country right now who are feeding a tremendous amount of economic harm and the reason that is important is because those people, those companies, those businesses, thousands, millions of workers across this country and if we want to keep people employed in this country, we have to keep those businesses functioning and operating in a way that will enable them to continue to make payroll. So there is a provision that helps businesses get liquidity to bridge to hopefully a better time but those loans eventually would be paid back. So the democrats were insistent there not be any corporate bailouts for big businesses and i dont know how you can argue that what this includes is a bailout for big businesses. Mechanism that a would enable businesses to have access to loans that they can use to keep their businesses up and operating. Those are just a few of the features in the legislation that was just voted down or whether by the democrats. Thing that the democrats also voted against, even debating when they came out here and all voted against this is a significant amount of money going to those entities that we know are on the front lines fighting this virus. Best way tosaid the ,et the economy back on track the best way to see things restored to normal in this country is to defeat the virus. There are significant resources in this legislation that are designed just to do that. Hospitalsn going to and another 20 moons dollars up go to hospitals through mandatory spending through the appropriations bill. About 100 million in there for hospitals. 12 meal and for Veterans Health care. Veterans hospitals and Health Care Facilities are really critical to caring for Critical Group of people in this country, those who defended info for our freedoms. 11 million for vaccines, therapeutic, diagnostics and other preparedness needs. All the things we are here talking about in addition to gloves and masks and ventilators and those thorpe those sorts of things. Weve got to have a vaccine, mr. President. Four point 5 billion for the centers for Disease Control, which was also plus tuppence significantly in the past two bills we passed. 12 billion for americas military which i think we all agree is a priority, National Security is always in issue that we pay a lot of attention to in times of crisis. To billion for block grants states, 12 lien dollars for k12 education. Over 6 billion for higher , five boom dollars for fema Disaster Relief fund, 10 billion for airports and obviously airports are very much impacted by this complete dropoff when it comes to air traffic in this country, 20 billion for Public Transportation emergency relief. 240 2 billion on top of all the things that i just mentioned, going to think that we think or strategic when it comes to defeating this virus and combating it and making sure those resources are available to those on the front lines in doing that. 75 ort 242 billion, 186 billion goes through the states. The democrats say we need more money for the state. This is a pretty significant 180 6 billion out of 242 billion i just described runs through the states. There is a tremendous amount of support for those on the front lines trying to fight and defeat this coronavirus, mr. President. Just point all that out to say that it is a complete misnomer to say as a democratic leader did earlier, that this was a partisan bill, this is a bipartisan bill, and i have participated in one of those working groups, and i sat across from my democratic counterparts and at times, more than one, and we came to the table with a set of priorities and what this represents is not everything they wanted, probably not everything we wanted, but the things we could find that we could agree upon. So this was a very bipartisan process that incorporated the ideas of both republicans and democrats. It is truly unfortunate and frankly, said, here in the u. S. Senate, for our country, that the democrats opted just a moment ago to vote not even to proceed to this bill to give us the opportunity to continue that discussion and debate. They indicated there are still discussions going on. I hope that is the case because we dont have the luxury of time , mr. President. We need action now, not later. The American People need to see relief. They need to see confidence in their elected leaders and a willingness to work in a ,ipartisan way on a solution perhaps Many Solutions to the challenges they are facing in their everyday lives. It is unfortunate we are not going to be on this bill right now. I hope and pray for the sake of our country and the people not only suffering from coronavirus, those who are caring for them, but also for every Small Business in this country that the democrats will reconsider and allow us to get on this legislation and move forward in a bipartisan way, on a bipartisan bill which they helped craft, that is critical to the challenges we are facing in the days and weeks ahead. I yield the floor. The senior senator from mississippi. Comewicker i just want to down here today to echo that we misstatementsny made by people on the others of the isle this afternoon and this evening. I just think it cries out for explanations. Thune is correct, this is a bipartisan bill that we are seeing for consideration. We are asking that a vote be then so that we can have final 30 hours of debate and get to it tomorrow. Financial markets are watching us and our economy is teetering on the brink. We need to get this done. We had equal numbers of democratic and republican senators in his work and clean it with their staffs with their laptops, and much of what is in the bill was hammered out with the input of democratic and republican members of this working group and there were a few issues that we cannot toolve, so we kicked it up the democratic leader and the majority leader to be hammered out in consultation with the administration but far and away, most of this legislation is bipartisan in nature and it just pains me for somehow the accusation to be made that this is nothing but a partisan bill written by the republican leader. What is this about . The American People need to understand this, mr. President. Is about giving money to average workers so they can pay their bills so they can stay employed. It involves enhanced Unemployment Insurance and it is andovision designed conceived by our democratic friends. We felt it was worth doing and we put it in the bill. Also as the distinguished gentleman from south dakota said, there is 350 billion to Small Businesses to keep workers from ever being unemployed in the first place, to keep them on the job. AnSmall Businesses will have opportunity to receive a cash infusion and this could happen as early as this coming week. And they would be able to use this money to pay the salaries and most people would never have to go on Unemployment Insurance because it was deal be on the job. That is what is in this bill. That is what we need to get to a conclusion about and send over to the house of representatives tomorrow morning. Course involves checks from the government, massive checks, a massive amount of checks to middle income put a littlejust something in their counsel they can pay the bills in response to this economic downturn we have had. And then it involves laws to keep americans working. This is something i was working on with my republican colleagues in this working group. The Airline Business in this country is about to shut down. Passenger rates are single digits. They cannot staff low with this. Hear ourns me to solution to this problem to keep Airline Workers working. It pains me to hear this described as a bailout. Thats what would happen if we were just going to hand over cash to the airlines to keep them afloat. But that is not what we are doing. What we are doing is offering to to the Airline Company so they can continue to pay their employees and keep them on the job and not put them on the employment roles. These loans would be made at market rates. There would be no loan forgiveness. Bailout, its just offensive to me to hear some of my friends that perhaps avenue not read the bill and are not as thoroughly versed on its as we actually wrote the bill to describe this as a bailout for corporate america. Nothing could be further from the truth. We rejected it on a bipartisan basis, mr. President. Once the airlines get back on their feet and once this coronavirus outbreak has subsided, they will be in good shape again. And they will be able to pay it back just like any other business that has to take out a long, but weve got to get this money to them in a hurry. So i just object and have to come down here and say that perhaps they are confused, perhaps they havent read the bill as i have. But it makes available loans to the Airline Industry into other related industries that are critical to National Security. If i might, let me just read a , the secretary may enter into an agreement to make loans or Loan Guarantees. It must be a business for which credit is not reasonably available. Our airlines are going to need more money than that and this. Ays they must be paid back im reading from the bill. Anguage , ifriend from illinois that he andhe town my friend from ohio used in their Exchange Just a few moments ago. I do think there is a real possibility that minds of goodwill can come to an agreement tonight. The realities on the ground in our country demanded. Issue with mytake friend from illinois saying there are no restrictions on the loans that we are giving to the Airline Industry. He mentioned specifically we need to prohibit stop buybacks. Stock buybacks. We need a provision in the law that prohibits stock buybacks. As a matter fact, that is in the bill that we wanted to take up and we were unable to get a vote to get the requisite number of votes just an hour or so ago. Prohibit loans from being used by the company to buy back their stock. Except to the extent required under contractual obligation as of the date of the enactment of this act, it would prohibit the business from repurchasing any outstanding equity interests while the loan or Loan Guarantee is outstanding. So no corporate buybacks. We have answered one of the concerns that the democratic whip mentioned in his remarks. None of this money can go to increase executive salaries. It must be repaid and with interest. Our bill has explicit prohibitions against any loan loanseness or any of the in this entire section. This is hardly a bailout, mr. President. ,e are offering a lifeline again this bipartisan language hammered out by republicans and democrats offers a life under critical companies who would wouldly not survive and do it by providing carefully crafted and restricted loans to protect the taxpayers. Without these loans being available in the next few days, some of these companies will file bankruptcy. Meaning thousands of these employees will lose their jobs. And were trying to pass this deal to keep that from happening. 128,000 workers in one company. 79,000 workers in another. Friends,ust say to my lets negotiate these last few details and get this done. But dont misrepresent this as a big giveaway to corporate america. Designed to help average americans who are suffering and threatening the loss of their jobs. The majority whip mentioned the appropriations portion of this, and again, this is money that is needed. Need to know what is in the discretionary appropriated part of this bill. So let me just tell you, more , 186 boone it dollars of the total will go to state and local governments to top them 186 billion help them get over the hump in this terrible crisis. I have been contacted by officials from state and local government and i told him that this bill has 186 billion dollars to help them get through this crisis. I thought i was going to be able to tell them that this would be enacted in the next day or two. Unfortunately, i was a little overoptimistic on that. Hospitals. For clearly they needed. 20 billion for the veterans administration. Vaccines. N for this is a generous bill. The centers for Disease Control. 12 billion to assist the military in addressing this coronavirus. Boone dollars for k12 foration 12 billion k12 education. Theres 10 billion in it for airports. 20 billion for Public Transportation. This is an injection of appropriated money to keep this economy going. It is an injection of loan money and an opportunity for the Federal Reserve within their discretion under a program that has been established for decades and decades to loan money not only to be companies but mediumsized and Small Companies under the Federal Reserve asgram commonly known section 13, subparagraph three. So i would just say to my president , mr. Before we come down here and make inaccurate statements, read the bill. Understand what we are doing, that this is to get money to workers who need to stay on the job. This is the bill to get Unemployment Benefits to workers who are already off the job and injection meant and injection of cash into our economy. And to keep the airlines and related businesses afloat. I know americans are hoping and praying for this tonight, and perhaps by the early light of morning we will have good news on this. Thank you, mr. President. Right now the Senate Remains in session. They gaveled in this afternoon to work on an Economic Relief bill for the coronavirus pandemic. At about 7 00 p. M. Eastern, they took a vote that failed to move the legislation forward. Negotiations are continuing on the multipart package. Mitch mcconnell has said there will be another vote tomorrow morning at nine eastern. Here is his reaction to the vote earlier