Now, im joined by senators wyden, stabbed now, and brown. Americans today are on the precipice of, and in some cases, have already gone over several cliffs, for one reason and one reason alone. The white house and city republicans could not get their act together, wasting precious time. They still dont have their act gather. In my many years and serving in this chamber, i have never seen , thisrity of any type republican majority, respond to a National Emergency in such a disorganized and disoriented fashion. Its hurting americans. Its not like they didnt know the deadlines were coming up. Democrats in the house passed the heroes act two and a half months ago. Instead of coming up with a single, comprehensive bill, divisions within their own party forced republicans to release several separate bills, with all the infighting, they cannot even agree on one bill. They cannot even get 51 votes for anything that is comprehensive. That deals with the very real problems the American People face. Paying the rent, putting food on the table. And when republicans release their puzzle, it was like christmas in july, for defense contractors, wealthy ceos, and the trump organization. It is as if their lobbyists were allowed to write the bill and give their fatcat clients a lot of their dreampresents. Just look what is in and what is left out of their plan. In, Tax Deductions for three corporatenches, immunity, billions for defense contractors and 2 billion for an fbi headquarters that helps the trump hotels. Those all made it in. State and local governments, nutrition assistance for families, rental and mortgage assistance to keep people from losing their homes. Not in the republican plan. It was summed up when new yorkers and americans think in one of my hometown papers, the daily news. For Mitch Mcconnell, let them eat cake. Let them eat cake. So people cant feed their kids, people are losing their homes, they are getting kicked out of their apartments, Small Businesses going under, and the republican response let the meat cake. I have a suggestion let them eat cake. I have a suggestion to mcconnell. Instead of calling our plan a socialist manifesto, how about Senate Republicans and Mitch Mcconnell get their act together, roll up their sleeves and get to real work in helping us solve these problems. We want to get something done. See the urgency of this crisis. With so many Small Business people who struggled for years losing their businesses, of hardworking people being thrown off the job through no fault of their own. People cant feed their kids. People getting evicted from their homes, and so much more. We want to get something done. Americans cannot afford anymore republicand right ideology. We are going to keep negotiating, meeting today with speaker pelosi, secretary mnuchin, and mr. Meadows. Mcconnell doesnt want to be at these meetings, i guess, because his caucus is so divided, but were going to meet and continue to work. Enator stabenow sen. Stabenow hunger has been on the rise for millions of americans. Theres the 85 euros Senior Citizen who is isolated in her apartment right now, which is difficult enough, who is being forced to choose between buying her food and getting her medicine. And right now, for her and millions of seniors who are on snap, the minimum, they receive the minimum benefit, which is 16 a month. Not a day, a month. The house heroes act would raise that minimum to 60 a month, which we strongly support. Then theres a laidoff worker sitting in a food bank line for hours, who never before in his life thought he would have to ask for help, and there he is, waiting for some groceries. There is a single mom with two kids who is skipping meals herself to make sure her kids arent going to bed at night hungry. Thats a reality every day in america. In fact, right now, one out of six households with children dont have enough to eat. The average person on snap receives 127 a month. Thats about 1. 40 per meal. Increase we are requesting is less than an additional one dollar per day per person. That is what they are objecting to right now. At this point, its clear we are not only facing a Public Health crisis, we are not only facing an economic crisis, we are facing a hunger crisis in america. However, you wouldnt know it by looking at the Senate Republican proposal. After months of delay, the republican plan is stunningly silent on Food Assistance for families. It also fails to address the challenges schools are facing to feed children in the fall as they are trying to figure out whats going to happen in terms of going back to school. Its also really important to stress that for every one dollar of snap benefits, you can return 1. 70 to the economy, the most efficient way to help people buy food is to give the money to go to the grocery store, and every dollar they buy in food goes to the grocery store, to the processor and the farmer. Losing snap benefits is a triedandtrue way to strike using snap benefits is a triedandtrue way to help laidoff workers, veterans, seniors, those with children put food on the table. Senate republicans might be able to ignore the hunger crisis in our country, right now, there are two any americans who can ignore the pain of an empty stomach. The republican agriculture proposal is a nonstarter unless it boosts food help for our families. Senator wyden. Sen. Wyden thank you, senator schumer, and particularly for doing this in such a timely way to read finance committee has been looking at the republican upposal, and if i can sum it in a sentence, the republican ofposal is a textbook case total indifference to human suffering. And with respect to the unemployment issue, which, of course, has been a lifeline for millions of americans, the americans who walk this economic tight rope, always trying to balance the rent bill against the grocery bill, the grocery bill against the cost of their reality, heres the those people face. Say you were a server in a restaurant that, for years, has done pretty well. Thegot laid off, but then restaurant said, you know, we are going to try to make it, and you got called back to work, but you got laid off the second time when virus cases exploded. Said, we areaurant closing for good. Seeing Small Business after Small Business across america closing their doors for good. Thatis republican argument all these workers, they just dont want to work, and of course its essentially against the rules to turn down a job if you are physically capable of fact is, work, the this is not about the workers, because as senator brown talked about, the workers have a tremendous work ethic. They believe deeply in the dignity of work. Its not about them. Its about the scarcity of jobs. Now, i want to just take a minute to tell you how this plan unfolds. The republican plan in all its benefits,ashes the calling them supercharged benefits. They flash them from 600 to 200. That happens overnight, but then it actually gets worse. Would ber, states required to calculate the supplement on an individual basis to ensure that no one gets more than 70 of their prior wages through unemployment. Scully a, theean secretary of labor, said in the finance room for days on end was unworkable. He said it was unworkable, and in fact, the reason that we went to 600 more per week, and he said it was unworkable, he folded his arms, is clear he didnt want to do anything for workers. And i said, mike, youre not going to tell your workers were going to settle for an average, which is what we did, and senator schumer and i and others come of that was our position, we held to it strongly, and i think it is fair to say, and i feel, having been involved in public service, one of the most important things ive ever been involved with, because i think it has kept the economy afloat, and for millions of people, they wouldnt have been able to feed their kids and they could have well been on the street. October, it actually gets worse. States would have two months to review their entire system. If they cant do it in two months, which they tell us that wont be able to do, they can request a waiver from the department of labor. Even if they get the waiver, they will have just two more months to redo their system. Now, lets say that there is a miracle and states can come up with a brandnew system by december. If they get to that point, they have pulled off this herculean task, it will be just in time for the federal boost to expire all together. And that is why a republican , whoistrator in georgia actually runs these programs, describes this this is not senator schumer or i, its the republican administrator and i will just quote him here, calling it the dumbest idea ever. That is a republican administrators characterization of this cruel, heartless, unworkable opposable. Weve made it clear for weeks and weeks that we were ready to negotiate on this issue, and i will tell you, my own senses that Mitch Mcconnell never had any interest, none, in preventing a lapse in benefits that these workers depend on. And im just very pleased that weve made it clear that we are going to hang in there for these families and workers. We arent going to turn our back on them. We understand that so many of them are people who were laid off and thought maybe there was a shot for a future. They were right back, theyve been laid off again, and this is happening from sea to shining sea. So thank you, senator schumer. I know my friends on the others of the aisle dont get out a lot, dont really listen to the suffering, dont feel the suffering that so Many Americans and the anxiety they face. One of my favorite Abraham Lincoln quotes, he said i have to get out of the white house and get my Public Opinion bath. Is pretty clear that senator mcconnell and the leaders on their side have not really thought about the anxiety. Think about a worker in albany or a worker in eugene, oregon, or mansfield, ohio, who gets laid off, she doesnt pay a lot of attention to what is going on in congress, but she does know that her unemployment is going to run out food 600 a week which has kept her afloat, capture able to pay her rent and feed her kids, capture able to do just the thing she needs to do to get along in life. She knows thats about to run. Ut if you think about this perfect storm, unemployment is about to run out, the moratoria on evictions around the country is evictionexpire, an courts all over the country are opening. He few follow the republican logic, 600 a week becomes 200 a week. Think of the anxiety for these families that just simply dont know what they are going to do to feed their kids, what they are going to do to be able to make their rent payment. Thats why its so important that we act. The republican plan has no assistance for renters or homeowners that will help people pay those bills. Extension of the eviction moratorium, and it has a reduction from 600 to 200 in Unemployment Insurance. What are people going to do . They are going to be forced to choose between their utility bills and rent them a between food and prescriptions. At the same time the corporate bureaus of the consumer the director at the same time as weakening tough rules about payday lenders. They are going to lose their homes, its pretty simple. We have a choice to make. This republican plan has turned a Public Health crisis into an economic crisis, into a housing crisis, and we simply cant let them do that. If you love your country, you fight for the people who make it work. In the people who make it work need unemployment if they cant find jobs. They need rental assistance if they can afford their rent, and they need an expansion of food stamp benefits when they simply cannot do it any other way. Thats the importance of what we are about to do. Things,umer two more Peter Mcconnell said his liability plan is not for business. In the white paper sheet they gave out, it mentions business 10 times. Second, they said they want to help working families. Well, its not a way to help working families to cut their benefits. Once again, i want to hold this nice thing up. Let them eat cake. Thats the republican plan. Let them eat cake. Questions . [indiscernible] to suggest that 600 was negotiable. We dont believe that. I dont know what speaker hoyer said, but 600, we believe in the heroes bill extended until january 31. That 600 has kept millions of people out of poverty billion poverty. Millions of people feeding their families. It, along with ppe, is because the economy is beginning to creep back up, thats because of money and peoples pockets. We believe we keep it. Would it be a priority to restore the Voting Rights act [indiscernible] sen. Schumer absolutely, its one of our highest priorities. What they did in the shelby case, what the supreme court, including justice roberts, did in the shelby case was despicable. They undid the preclearance of the federal governments ability to stop states, localities from preventing people of color and poor people from voting. Robert said something to the effect, theres no more bigotry, we dont need this anymore, and the 19 states changed their laws and made it much worse for people to vote. Can you talk about how seriously you see the Republican Opposition to the republican proposal . Sen. Schumer theres a lot of Republican Opposition. Its estimated not just by Lindsay Graham but by others who said they dont think half their caucus would vote for any more funding. They are in never never land. Their view is let the private sector do everything. The private sector cannot solve the health crisis, the economic crisis. Need to act. But republicans ideology is tying them in a straitjacket so they cant move, and its hurting america badly. They are united on is their disdain for public assistance. One amendment was allowed on the senate floor. That is to strip away the provisions from the 600 Unemployment Insurance. It is clear they are hostile to helping workers. Let me follow that up bro quickly. After we got this past, eugene scalia, the labor secretary, made one appearance. He went over he said the big challenge with this Unemployment Insurance bill was not about the outdated technology, at that workers were too dependent on government. What senator brown is talking about, this is a timehonored public in principle, blame the worker. Sen. Schumer did you have a followup . If senator mcconnell saying that its too much, does it potentially positive challenge to you when you when it gets out to negotiation . Sen. Schumer the past three bills come the republicans have said they want to do much less than needed. We held firm, and they moved in our direction, because the times demanded it, the people demanded it, so if we stay strong, i have good hope and realistic chance that republicans, decent chance that republicans will move in our direction, and we will get much of what we want. Because the choice of doing nothing is just appalling. All they talk about it, i dont know if they can actually look at in the face. The bill doesnt seem to include any funding for elections. Sen. Schumer its one of our most important provisions to get all 3. 6 billion. Covid has made it harder to vote. Voting is a sacred right. We democrats are going to defend that right with everything we have. Think you, everybody. Thank you, everyone. Also this afternoon, Senate Minority leader schumer and House Speaker nancy pelosi to reporters following a meeting with treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin and white house chief of staff mark meadows on additional coronavirus