Transcripts For CSPAN2 U.S. Senate U.S. Senate 20240713

The president pro tempore the senate will come to order. The chaplain, dr. Black, will lead the senate in prayer. The chaplain let us pray. Eternal father, answer us speedily. When we dont know which way to turn, guide us with your light. When we cannot see the way. Do not hide your face from our lawmakers, as they seek to do your will. For in the time of trouble, you continue to hide us in your pavilion. Lord, teach our senators how to live in a way that will honor you. We magnify your name for the way you have preserved our nation through the seasons of its existence. You have made us glad, for you are our light and salvation. We pray in your glorious name. Amen. The president pro tempore please join me in the pledge of allegiance to the flag. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of america, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Mr. Grassley mr. President . The presiding officer the senator from iowa. Mr. Grassley i ask to speak in morning business for one minute. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Grassley im leading negotiations on tax and Health Care Issues as part of the third phase of Economic Relief to help workers and families, Small Businesses. Weve been working through tough issues and we must do it in short order. The American People need congress to put partisan politics aside and provide the American People relief as quickly as possible to get the economy turned around. And we must demand this of ourselves as well. Our multifaceted approach includes recovery checks to americans, enhanced Unemployment Insurance, and much needed resources for health care system. And this is just one piece of the senates comprehensive package. In other words, theres a lot of other senators that are working in separate arenas to accomplish in that area what im trying to accomplish through what the finance committee can do. I hope that democrats and my colleagues in the house of representatives will work with us to pass our relief package as quickly as possible. This requires all hands on deck and with what i just said, you might draw the conclusion that fighting this virus pandemic is going to be just a role for the congress of the United States as important as that role is, but also as you read how people are responding, we have to thank a lot of private large and Small Businesses that we read about that are stepping in to this abyss that we call the pandemic. While were wringing our hands and we all out to be wringing our hands, you read about manufacturing plants of different varieties all over the country converting production to badly needed hospital supplies and testing supplies. You not only read that in the United States of america but you also read about president macron of france saying were in a warlike environment all joining together to to produce these badly needed hospital supplies and testing supplies. You read about the german chancellor calling Unemployed People out to help with harvest because they people cant cross borders there for workers that would normally come in. So we here in washington might think the only reaction to the pandemic were in is something we can do in congress, as important as that is, but it also is very important that we recognize that theres a lot of people out there in our private sector doing what entrepreneurs normally do, coming to the rescue and they need to be thanked as well and recognized as well. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Mr. Schumer mr. President . The presiding officer the democratic leader. Mr. Schumer i ask unanimous consent the quorum be dispensed with. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Schumer now, mr. President , negotiations on the third phase of the coronavirus legislation went late into the night last night and continues through the day today. Ive spoken to Speaker Pelosi and secretary mnuchin several times and President Trump to keep them apprised as we continue to work through a number of issues. In fact, i just had a very good, very detailed phone call before secretary mnuchin or stephen chuck as we prefers to call it. We discussed many of the outstanding issues, and we are making very good progress. I have every expectation that this progress will continue throughout the day. Democratic negotiators will meet with their republican counterparts throughout the day to continuing hammering out the details. The senate is here. We are working. And we are all eager to come to a bipartisan agreement as soon as humanly possible. There is still a number of priorities that democrats continue to fight for in the package that is now being assembled. As ive made clear, democrats have two primary goals broadly defined in this next phase of coronavirus legislation. One is to address the impending Public Health crisis headon with a massive infusion of resources to our hospitals, our medical facilities, our other Public Health infrastructure. And the second priority is put workers first. In fact, our proposal, which we laid out as early as monday, is entitled workers first. Democrats want to do as much as possible to prepare our health care system, and we want to give americans who are most immediately affected by the economic slowdown ample relief so they can weather the storm over the long haul. So on health care, democrats are fighting for a Marshall Plan for our Public Health infrastructure. We need hundreds of billions of dollars for ventilators, testing equipment, gloves, masks, i. C. U. Beds, and p. P. E. , personal protective equipment, for our frontline medical workers. I spokes to the head of the nurses union in new york yesterday. Theyre short of masks. These brave nurses are going to work, doing their job. They dont have the right equipment that they need. Money must go to our hospitals and our nursing homes, our Community Health centers, our state and local governments. This cannot wait for a future bill, nor a supplemental package. We need it right now, not two weeks from now. A senior doctor at mimonites hospital in brooklyn wrote to me. Heres what the doctor said. Quote, im writing to you in a of mo of desperation. In at that move of desperation. Currently we have shortages in the basic necessities he needed to fight the disease. Disposable masks and government shutdowns are disposable masks and government shutdowns are in short supply. Critical care doctors and nurses are also needed. We need a National Response to this disease. I urge my colleagues to hear the urgency and strain in this brave doctors voice, the desperation in his warning. If we dont provide these resorrieses right now, what is already a dire situation will not could become catastrophic. It will affect hospitals everywhere, bigcity hospitals, mediumsized suburban hospitals, small rural hospitals. Many of them will go under in a short period of time. So we need a Marshall Plan for our Public Health infrastructure. And it must be in this legislation, in the opinion of the democratic caucus. And, as weve made clear from the beginning, we must also put workers first. That means a dramatic expansion and reform of Unemployment Insurance. We need Unemployment Insurance on steroids. Some are calling it employment insurance. It must be easier to access. It must cover many more americans during this crisis, including americans who have nontraditional employment. And it must provide more generous benefits. Workers who are laid off should receive a paycheck equal to what they were receiving while employed. Workers must be protected whether they work for businesses, small, medium, or large. The plan we have would allow them to get Unemployment Insurance quickly. They would be furloughed, so they would stay as employees, even though they werent working, of their employer, so, when god willing, this crisis ends, they can go back to their employer and the businesses that are now closed and decimated can start running again. We propose that this be not just a oneshot deal, but a paycheck every work period. And it should go for as long as the crisis lasts. We want to fund it for at least four months, maybe six. If the crisis ends more quickly, of course, we might be able to terminate it. But we need to give the workers of america the assurance that they will have paychecks, the same amount of resources that they had before this crisis, that they have now. And it will occur ongoing until we beat this horrible disease. And there are other things we must do for American Families as well. We should greatly expand paid sick leave and family leave. We need to expand Food Assistance. The kids who go to school get their best meals, many of them, at the school lurching or school breakfast. They need to be fed. And others who lose work may need food help right away. I believe our students are under strain. Many of their colleges are gone. Those who have just gotten out of school have difficult employment possibilities. We should cancel student loan payments during the course of the crisis, both principal and interest. I spoke to the president about this yesterday. He said he was sympathetic. He said at the podium yesterday Interest Payments he would cancel. But i think we need to do more. We also must rescue small and mediumsized businesses with a generous loan program, as long as they protect their workers. They have other expenses. We will take care of their workers on the expanded Unemployment Program and on the Small Business program. But they have other expenses. Weight dont want them going we dont want them going under when they did nothing wrong. Theyve got to come back. So Small Business really needs help. And if were going to bail out any industry, particularly the big companies, we have to include strict conditions that put workers first. No layoffs, no salary cuts for workers or salary increases for corporate executives, guarantees that workers be rehired at their previous wages once the crisis abates, and no stock buybacks. I heard the president mention he is against stock buybacks in the past. So when i called him yesterday, i said, make it chievement it is not in the bill thats been put before us. But democrats will insist that it be in any proposal once we come together in a bipartisan way, as we are doing now. Democrats have several other priorities as well. And we are working through each of them with our republican colleagues, even as we speak. As i said, i had a wonderful well, i had a very good conversation dont want to go too far. But i had a very good conversation with secretary mnuchin and we we are making god progress on many of the issues that we democrats feel are important. One other need, by the way because we do have other needs and that is, i want to emphasize that one of the issues thats quickly emerging is that state and local governments are running out of cash and they soon will be broke. Governors, mayors, county executives, county officials, town officials democrat and republican alike are clamoring for help. We must provide it. They are on the frons lines. They are on the front lines. So,mr. President , in conclusion, i have no illusions about the difficulty of putting together legislation this momentous in this short a period of time. But all parties are working in good faith and as fast as possible to see that we accomplish the task at hand. Of course, far greater than our challenge here in congress are the challenges that now confront the American People. Working families are at home without a paycheck without knowledge of when the next one might arrive. Small businesses are watching the labor of their lives teeter on the brink of collapse. I spoke to a Small Business owner. He had spent eight years getting his business to be successful. It just had begun to be that way, and now his doors are closed, his employees are furloughed. We have to help people like that. Our Health Care Workers, men and women who perform extraordinarily difficult jobs, even in ordinary times, are now asked to bear additional burdens. But know this the, Health Care Workers you are our heroes. Democrats are fighting to help every one of the emergency workers during this crisis. To our Health Care Workers and to every american out there finding their way through these challenging times, stay strong. We are working to provide you the relief to see you through the crisis. We will get it done democrats, republicans, together. And once the scourge of this virus has passed, welcome back stronger and even more resilient president franklin d. Roosevelt told a generation facing its own National Crisis that, quote, this great nation will endure as it always has endured. It will revive and it will prosper because there is no unsolvable problem if we face it wisely and courageously. With wisdom, with courage, we will endeavor to finish the job here in congress, whatever it takes. I yield the floor. Mr. Mcconnell mr. President . The presiding officer the majority leader. Mr. Mcconnell senators bipartisan discussions continued all day yesterday and through the night. Both sides negotiators, with the administration, are continuing to work toward a bipartisan agreement on major legislation to support American Workers and families, protect Small Businesses, help stabilize our economy, and put more resources on the front lines of our Health Care Battle against the coronavirus. As of now, an agreement has yet to be finalized, but the our committee chairs, their democratic counterparts, and President Trumps representatives are making important progress. Yesterday i took action on the floor to keep the process moving along with the urgency that it demands. By rule, it set up our first procedural vote for tomorrow. And then on monday, the senate will vote on passage. Its only been two days since Senate Republicans introduced the coronavirus aid, relief, and Economic Security act to give shape and structure to these urgent discussions. We put forward four objectives. First, put emergency cash in the hands of individuals and families as quickly as possible. Second, deliver the major relief that american Small Businesses need at this unprecedented time and deliver it fast. Three, help bring some stability to our economy and prevent as many layoffs as possible. And, four, continue to rush resources to the frontline Health Care Workers and providers who are actually treating patients. And perhaps most important of all, we looked specifically for policies that could do all of the above as quickly as humanly possible. Small businesses all across the country have made it clear, if theyre going to keep their lights on and keep their employees on payroll, they need help, and they need it now. Americans who have already been laid off due to this crisis have made it clear, they need help, and they need it now. Key National Industries who are hemorrhaging business through no fault of their own but due to the governments own Public Health guidance have made it clear in order to retain their workers, they need help, and they need it now. And, in particular, every single american whos opened a newspaper or turned on the television in the last week have heard from our brave nurses, doctors, First Responders, and Public Health experts. If our nation is going to punch back and beat this virus, the people on the medical frontline need our help and they need it now. Senate republicans put out our starting proposal as fast as we could. Then i created a structure of bipartisan discussions to begin as fast as they could. No legislation will move through the senate that does not contain ideas from both parties. Thats the way this body is designed. So these bipartisan talks have been essential, and theyre ongoing. But what we need to do now is move forward. Now, two days ago the press reported that a Senior Member of the House Democratic leadership told his colleagues, quote, this is a tremendous opportunity to restructure things to fit our vision. A Senior Member of the House Democratic leadership. Well, mr. President , let me suggest, that is exactly exactly the wrong approach right now. That is the kind of thinking that could bog down these urgent discussions. That is the kind of mindset that the American People cannot afford for their elected representatives to adopt. I hope it does not describe the view of our own Senate Democratic colleagues as we try to close out these talks. More americans are being laid off every day. More Small Businesses are being forced to shed payroll every day. Our nurses and doctors are running lower on key supplies every day. This is not a political opportunity. This is not a political opportunity. This is a national emergency. Its time to come together, finalize the results of our bipartisan discussions, and then close this out. Earlier this week, i had the senate move quickly to pass the more modest bill that came over from the Democratic House of representatives. I didnt believe it was perfect. Far from it. But Senate Republicans did not delay it needlessly. We did not try to deliver our own version and burn several more days trying to fit them together. Instead, we treated the bail with the bipartisanship and urgency that the crisis requires. Since then, the situation has only grown more dire, so i hope that our Senate Democratic colleagues and the Democratic House will bring equal bipartisanship and equal urgency to this legislation as well. So in closing, mr. President , i think all of us could take a lesson from our constituents. As we finish negotiating and finalize this bold legislation, we should look to the American People. Everywhere you look, these past days, individuals, families, and organizations are stepping up to the plate and finding creative ways to serve those in need. One of my fellow kentuckians is a woman named erin henson. Erin lives in louisville. She is someone whom doctors have told to be particularly careful these past few days so her opportunities to pitch in were somewhat limited, but she determined to do her part. Heres what she said. I may never have the capacity to develop a vaccine or a magic pill to get rid of covid19, but i can master a spread sheet. Erin created a website, louisville covid19 match. Com. There is one sign up signup sheet for neighbors who are older and need help and another signup sheet for those who are young and healthy. Erin is performing a kind of matchmaking service. If someone needs a prescription picked up or some groceries delivered or even a friendly phone call, she helps make the connection. With a little help from local media, erin is already tracking more than 400 volunteers, 400 volunteers from her louisville zip code. Its the perfect manifestation of the kentucky state motto united we stand, divided we fall. United we stand, mr. President , even if we have to stand six feet apart for a few weeks, and divided we fall. Brave and generous and creative americans all across our nation get it. They just need congress to get it, too. Im impressed and heartened by the speed and bipartisan spirit that has characterized the past days discussions, but we need to keep it up. We absolutely cannot let up now. We need to finish these negotiations and move forward. The presiding officer under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved. Morning business is closed. Under the previous order, the senate will resume consideration of the motion to proceed to h. R. 748, which the clerk will report. The clerk motion to proceed to h. R. 748, an act to amend the Internal Revenue code of 1986 to repeal the excise tax on highcost employersponsored health coverage. Mr. Mcconnell i suggest the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call a senator mr. President . The presiding officer the assistant democratic leader. Mr. Durbin i ask the quorum call be suspended. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Durbin thank you, mr. President. Mr. President , each of us receives a report almost on an hourly basis from our home states and at the end of the day, my state of illinois sends a report on the latest situation involving this covid19 virus. 163 new infections were announced yesterday. Thats the biggest oneday jump that weve had and one additional death. Governor pritzker has issued a stay at home order for the state of illinois today beginning saturday, today, at 5 00 p. M. Until april 7. The city of chicago is closing its parks and libraries as well starting today. The Veterans Administration has reported one confirmed veterans case with the virus in the chicago area. That person is now under home quarantine. We had an exceptional situation at Midway Airport where two faa tower employees tested positive for the virus several days ago. We of course have to have an abundance of care and caution for the remaining employees there and so the f. A. A. Together with the city of chicago has been involved in screening the other employees and also determining whether the workplace has been cleaned properly before anyone goes back to work. The net result of it has been Southwest Airlines suspending announced suspending its flights into Midway Airport because of this tower situation. When i spoke to the head of the federal aviation administration, he told me there was a similar challenge at another major airport. Im afraid we havent heard the last of it. Its an indication of what happens when someone tests positive in a work atmosphere that is a critical part of our economy and the safety of our nation. So our hope is fingers crossed that this tower may resume its activities in the early part of next week. But we want to make sure when we do that all the employees are going to be safe in their workplace. We are also laboring in illinois as many states are with the problem of not adequate testing. We just dont know the extent of the infection. I mentioned the numbers reported yesterday but that is based on a very small sample of tests that are being taken. We still have not received the test kits and those that we have, some of them cannot be used because they dont have the necessary reagent or chemical that is part of the collection process. It turns out we are dependent on a foreign source for that chemical. In ordinary times it was never a problem but in extraordinary times it is. Ive joined with senator alexander, senator blunt and senator murray asking the National Academy of sciences in the midst of this crisis to step back, get to altitude and look down on the United States dependence on foreignmade medicines, medical equipment and medical devices and to determine whether or not we need to reassess that dependence. In the ordinary course of business, theres no problem. Things traveling back and forth between the United States and foreign countries. But in this situation where theres a Public Health crisis thats interrupted, ordinary trade patterns or in the future if we anticipate a similar challenge because of terrorism, we have to think ahead. I hope the National Academy of science will give us their analysis of the situation as it currently exists and some guidance about how to look to these issues in the future. It is critical that we do. We also know that we have problems relating to our hospitals. One of the things which we have urged senator mcconnell to consider and senator schumer has used the term a Marshall Plan for our hospitals i think is absolutely essential. Yesterday i had a Conference Call with 30 or 40, maybe more hospital administrators in the state of illinois. I want to just share some of the thoughts that they gave me yesterday in the course of this conversation. This is with the through the illinois hospital association. What we need they said is a direct and immediate infusion of funds. We need access to critical supplies. We need a surge capacity. There are 300,000 hospital workers in illinois. Is lacking in so many areas. It turns out that our federal stockpile, whatever its worth was either not large enough or cannot be distributed fast enough to meet the needs of these hospitals. One of the hospital administrators, im not going to name one of the hospitals but one of the hospital administrators of a Major Hospital in chicago said were worried about a shortage in ventilators and i heard that over and over again. They also want to let us know that these hospitals are taking huge financial hits today. We know about the Restaurant Industry because we see the closed restaurants and we can imagine all the workers inside not reporting to work and trying to make things work for their families and the circumstances. But we dont appreciate the fact that because of this covid19 many of these hospitals have seen a significant reduction in their revenue streams. As one of the hospital administrators told me they said our Outpatient Clinic work is down to a minimum and ewhrective surgery elective surgeries are being put off for obvious reasons. That is 350 of our 50 of our revenue at the hospital. So we have a revenue issue going into this. They urged me through medicare and medicaid to increase reimbursements and based on preliminary bipartisan discussions yesterday, i believe that that is being considered, that both medicaid and medicare would increase the d. R. G. s, for example, which is the reimbursement mechanism for those treating covid19 patients. Their concern and they told me this over and over again is that at a moment when we need our hospitals more than ever, many of the hospitals are facing closure because they just dont have the funds necessary to keep the doors open. The ordinary sources of revenue and profit have been pushed back and reduced. There are a variety of proposals that came to us in terms of making these federal funds available, but they urged me over and over again to do this as quickly as possible and not to establish some long, involved bureaucratic process for applying for these funds. We also talked about the money flowing directly to the hospitals rather than through state governments or through some federal agencies. I know that this is Risky Business when it comes to accounting, but at a time of a National Economic and Public Health crisis, i personally agree with them. I think we have no choice. I went through the hospitals and they talked about their liquidity and cash problems and they said you need to treat this like a fema emergency. The response using hospitals and those emergencies that cut through the red tape and get the money to the places needed as quickly as possible. We have to do exactly the same thing. They talked about the number of infections growing exponentially and theyve also talked to me about one rural hospital which literally said they were within days of closing. And i can tell you in that area of the state, a rural part of the state of illinois, it means that patients facing any medical challenges will have long distances to travel to find a place to be treated. So we cant let that happen if its at all hospital to save these hospitals. The overseas supplies they understand are coming in. Many of them are desperately needed. Theyve asked if theres any way to expedite that but the use of cargo air that may not be utilized in the ordinary course of business because of our economic situation. We are looking into that. I could give more information but i wont. Its pretty obvious. The first line of defense for us in this Public Health crisis will be our hospitals. We are hoping that patients through telemedicine can be at least counseled and diagnosed and we can avoid people coming to Emergency Rooms unless it is really necessary. I understand the impulse we all have. Someone we love feels sick and appears to have the symptoms. We want them tested immediately, treated immediately, but we have to take care and heed to advice, even when it is hard. Telehealth is a way for us to have a better diagnosis of those in long distances and perhaps to counsel them that an immediate trip to the emergency room is not necessary. I hope we can reach that point. Were also concerned about extension of facilities. Currently the Major Hospitals in my state are looking to the expansion through tents, the kind of emergency shelters that might be available so that people can be separated from one another. Yesterday i spoke to the secretary of the army mr. Mccarthy about the availability of department of defense expertise. The department of defense can step into a situation and very quickly convert hotels into hospital type arrangements. They can take closed hospitals and put them up and running in a very quick order. I think that expertise is desperately needed. Ive encouraged the secretary of the army and the secretary of defense to make that expertise available. Were connecting up right now between our state and the experts at the department of defense. These are men and women who do this and are prepared to do it at a moments notice if our military men and women are in peril. I would say at this point america is in danger because of this and we should turn to their responses and help as quickly as possible. Mr. President , i want to say one thing about a statement made earlier today by both senator schumer and by senator mcconnell. We have before us an opportunity and i hope we seize it to show that we can continue the bipartisanship that leads us to this moment. The first two bills that addressed this covid19 or coronavirus threat to america were handled in an extraordinary way and perhaps to the surprise of Many Americans. They were done on a bipartisan basis and on a timely basis. Now, we have only had the republican proposal for a little over 24 hours, but i can tell you that as soon as it was received, active negotiations were undertaken at all levels. I sat through many of them yesterday. And they were done in good faith. There are differences clearly in policy. We are really writing these bills as we travel down this path, this dangerous path. So its important that we do it in a timely way butle exercise good but also exercise good judgment. My concern is now we get this done and done this weekend because if we can finish this bill in a satisfactory way to both republicans and democrats and report it to the house when they return next week, theyll be able to take it up and move on it quickly. There are so Many Americans who are desperately waiting for word from washington as to what their future will be first in terms of medical care but second in terms of keeping their Families Together in difficult times. I am not opposed nor have i heard anyone opposed to providing Financial Assistance to individuals and families that really need it. We want to do that. I know the presiding officer has been a leader on this issue as well. But we also are hoping that we can include in this some guarantee that it wont be one and done, that it isnt just a matter of providing this one check and stepping back and waiting for the consequences. We know that many people are facing longterm challenges and need a medium to longterm commitment from us to make sure that their families can Stay Together during this difficult time. I believe we can. We should. Let me close, mr. President , by saying that this is an exceptional time. We are isolated in one respect but closer in another. I think we all have come together in ways unanticipated. Ive been in to face times and zoom apps this morning with members of my family and were doing this now almost on a daily basis. I feel more connected now in one respect than usual than usually the case. And its because we all care for one another. And it goes beyond families. I really believe that that sentiment is shared across america. Weve got to keep it alive despite our political differences, despite all the things that separate us. There is so much more that brings us together and so much that unites this country. Weve got to depend on that strength now more than ever. This is a challenge the likes of which we have never seen in our modern history. We can rise to this challenge as we have so often in the past that i know we can do it in a unified way bringing this nation together. Mr. President , i yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call quorum call mr. Durbin mr. President . The presiding officer the assistant minority leader. Mr. Durbin i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be suspend thed. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Durbin i want to clarify a statement i made he willier. I stayed that because of a problem at the control tower, Southwest Airlines had suspended their flights. It turns out that they have substantially curtailed their the flights but have not suspended all their flights. The earlier press report has been amended by the papers. And i wanted to make my statement on the floor clear. Thank you, mr. President. I yield the floor and i suggest the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call quorum call a senator mr. President. The presiding officer the senator from maryland. Mr. Van hollen thank you, mr. President. At this moment of extreme challenge the presiding officer were in a rock. Mr. Van hollen mr. President , i ask unanimous consent that we lift the quorum that the quorum call be lifted. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Van hollen thank you, mr. President. Thank you for presiding today and to all who are here at this moment of extreme challenge for our country and for the world, and we must rise to the occasion and unite to fight a common enemy, covid19, also known as the coronavirus, and what were witnessing, mr. President , is americans from all backgrounds and all walks of life doing that around the country, coming together and uniting not physically close but spiritually close to one another as we work our way through this crisis. In my state of maryland, people are doing exactly that. Our Health Care Workers on the front lines, whether they be nurses, whether they be people working in clinics in the hospitals, whether they be doctors, theyre all pulling together to get the job done. Elected officials from the federal, state, and local governments are working together, as are nonprofits and businesses. Three nights ago, i held a telephone town hall meeting on covid19, and more than 5,000 marylanders joined that call. They called in to share their hopes, their concerns, and their determination. Mr. President , yesterday in maryland, we lost a second life to covid19, and our medical services are being stretched thin. But people are coming together to get the job done. And as we address the health care challenges, we must also deal with the financial and economic pain that is arising from that and spreading quickly. Most of all, marylanders, like other americans, told us they want clear guidance from Public Health officials and a united and Effective Response to both the Health Care Crisis and the economic fallout. Since marylanders are united and americans are united, we, too, in Congress Must unite to do our job, and to date, to date we have risen to meet the moment. The question is what comes next . Over a few weeks ago, we did unite to pass legislation, emergency legislation to provide 8. 3 billion to provide funding to our Public Health systems and to direct more dollars towards developing a vaccine and therapeutics. Last week, we passed a measure to ensure that tests for the coronavirus are free because it makes no sense to have any american discouraged from getting a test because they cant pay for it. That hurts them. That hurts the entire community. That was an important provision. As was the emergency Food Assistance for people in need. We have lots of students in states that have closed schools who are now home. Many of those students get one of their best meals at school during lunch, and so that emergency Food Assistance has been absolutely vital. In maryland, we have about 350 schools that are now being used for families to pick up food for their kids and for others in the community. We help provide more resources to state insurance systems which are being stressed more and more as we speak, and we need to do a lot more on that front. We passed emergency sick leave measures because we do not want to have anybody feeling that they have got to go to work in order to get the paycheck to pay the bills if they are feeling sick. Thats bad for them and obviously its bad for their coworkers who would risk getting the virus. So we took an important measure there, although there as well, there were big gaps in the paid sick leave provisions which we must close as we work on round three of this legislation. And so that brings me to what were going to face now in the coming 12 to 24 hours, which is coming up with an economic package, a package that deals with the economic fallout. I want to address what i think should be our priorities there, mr. President , but before i do that, i do want to take a moment to talk about the Health Care Situation that were witnessing right now, because, of course, to the extent that we can stop the spread of the virus, to the extent we stop the contagion from the virus, that is also the fastest way to try to get our economy back on track, because what were seeing is so many businesses going under and being threatened because of precautions people are taking, understandable precautions to make sure that we dont spread the virus. So in that fight on the health care front, i want to salute, i want to salute and thank all those Health Care Workers who are on the front lines. The nurses, the hospital and clinic staffs, the doctors who are doing heroic work and putting their lives and their health at risk to help others and save the lives of others. And we, we here in this chamber must do everything in our power to support them in that important work, to support them as they support others. And that begins with making sure that they have all the equipment they need to protect themselves. Mr. President , that is not happening. That is not happening as we gather here. There are severe shortages in the supply of masks, shortages in supplies of simple but essential items like gloves and gowns. It took far too long, but the president finally invoked his authority under the defense production act which helped spur Domestic Production of some of these supplies, but even as we gather now, its not clear whether thats really up and running, as it should be. In fact, its suggested from reports that were not were falling short. At the same time, we know others in the world are experiencing these shortages. They are also being hit hard by the coronavirus. So here in the United States, we cannot continue to expect to get these necessary supplies from overseas when theyre going to need them and keep them in their own countries, and thats why its essential that we ramp up efforts yesterday to make sure that we have these supply chains here at home. Testing. Testing of the coronavirus. Mr. President , its clear that the coronavirus got an eight to tenweek head start in this country, and we were woefully unprepared, especially with respect to tests to try to identify the spread of the virus and where it was and how fast it was moving. Also unprepared on our testing infrastructure. And while we are now ramping up, we are still far behind, still far too many bottlenecks in the system. At Johns Hopkins university in baltimore, theyre doing their own testing, but their testing has been limited by shortages in reagents. That was true a week ago. It continues to be true today. And the university of maryland medical system, another Major Research Hospital System in our state, has not yet begun to do their testing because of continued shortages of reagents. That is absolutely unacceptable. Were also hearing of shortages in swabs, simple swabs simply to take the test. We need to ramp up the testing supply. We also need to knock down the barriers to getting tests. We need to adopt the south korean model many of us have been calling for this for a long time. We see states and governors moving forward with this, but the federal government needs to take a much more active role in establishing that infrastructure. Ventilators. We have more and more sick patients, and if the trajectories continue, it is clear we will face a shortage in ventilators. We have to ramp this up much faster than were doing right now because otherwise were going to have a lifesaving treatment intervention that will not be available for those who need it. Mr. President , we are witnessing shortages in hospital beds overall and shortages of beds in i. C. U. s. We need the army corps of engineers to be working and building out this necessary emergency infrastructure. And as we take these emergency measures, we also need to continue to do the urgent work of developing therapeutics and a vaccine. I visited the National Institutes of health about three to four weeks ago. Its a national treasure. Were proud to have it located in the state of maryland along with the f. D. A. And at n. I. H. , i met with scientists who are on the front lines of developing the vaccine. And they are working 24 7. Mr. President , i do think this moment, its appropriate to salute all the men and women who work at n. I. H. For the good work they do, and i hope i never see another Budget Proposal coming down that cuts the vital medical research that is conducted there and around the country. Theyre working on a vaccine and theyre working on therapeutics. Theyre in the process of conducting Clinical Trials on both. As weve heard reported, theyre conducting Clinical Trials on some offlabel drugs. These are drugs that have been developed to try to address other diseases. They may not have worked against other diseases. They may work as a therapeutic in this case of the coronavirus. They may work but as dr. Fauci has cautioned us, we wont know until we do the Clinical Trials. And nobodys hope should be unrealistically raised until the evidence is in. On the vaccine front, weve been told by the scientists, by dr. Fauci and others at his lab that it will probably take a minimum of 12 to 18 months to develop a vaccine, and thats much faster than the usual timetable to develop a vaccine. People are working overtime to get this done. Clinical trials have already begun on a vaccine as well. But 12 to 18 months while fast for developing a new vaccine is a long time given the immediate crisis that we face now. So what do we do now on the health care front . First, no more mixed messages. Lets let the Health Care Authorities speak and provide the guidance that the American People need at this time. For far too long the president of the United States downplayed the crisis, even calling it a hoax at one point. Mr. President , we know its not a hoax. We know that death toll and the number of sick continues to rise, and we must pull together in a factbased way to address it. Weve got to listen to people like dr. Fauci and others who have called for dramatic social distancing measures. One of those measures we must take is teleworking wherever we can do it. We have seen offices here in the senate and the house rapidly move toward teleworking and make changes in their offices to facilitate teleworking. Just a few days ago the president finally said to the country that employers should facilitate telework. A little late but it was the right message. Unfortunately, mr. President , theres been a lot of foot dragging in the executive branch itself when it comes to teleworking. I and a number of our colleagues have asked the president to issue an executive order on teleworking. The president has not done that yet. The head of the office of Personnel Management resigned a few days ago. So this is the person who is in charge of all the federal government personnel from an operational standpoint resigned in the middle of this crisis. We dont know why. Finally omb, the office of management and budget issued a directive to agencies saying maximize telework but i represent a lot of federal employees, and im hearing from lots of them that their agencies apparently havent gotten the message. The president needs to issue that executive order and he needs to do it today. Too many federal employees are being put at risk because agencies have not taken the time to expand telework opportuniti opportunities. We need to lead by example, not from behind. Many governors are leading by example and states are doing that as are local officials. Theyre directing the necessary social distancing measures. In my state of maryland, Governor Hogan has closed schools to prevent the spread of the virus. Restaurants are closed. Bars are closed. Gyms are closed. Many other gathering places are closed. And all those social distancing steps being taken whether by government directive or voluntarily by our constituents heeding the calls to take these precautionary measures, all of those necessary steps have resulted in a huge and escalating economic fallout. Thousands, thousands of workers have already been furloughed or laid off around the country. Small businesses are being crushed. No customers in the door. No sales. No income. That means you cant pay your employees. It means you cant pay your bills whether there are mortgages on your restaurant or mortgages on your home. Those bills are still due and coming. So what do we do . What do we do as we approach round three here in the United States senate and house having successfully worked on a bipartisan basis to address rounds one and rounds two . First of all, mr. President , Unemployment Insurance. Because of rapidly escalating layoffs around the country, claims are rising and we need to rise to the occasion. We need a far more robust system and certainly during this emergency period, we should provide 100 wage replacement to workers who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own as a result of this crisis. We also need to address the totally antiquated aspects of our Unemployment Insurance system. Now, some of take will have to some of that will have to wait until after the crisis, but on an emergency basis, we need to address the needs of people who are working as selfemployed, individual contractors. Lets say youre an event planner. All your events got canceled. Youre not currently in the unemployment system in most states probably. But youre no longer getting any income. We need to make sure the unemployment system in this emergency addresses those workers and then we need to work on a longterm fix. The gig economy. We all know the gig economy is a larger and larger share of our economy. A lot of those workers are not covered. If youre a worker who is in the taxi business or, you know, working for one of the other one of the other transportation agencies, youre not able to pick up folks at the airport anymore because people arent going to the airport, but youre not covered by most unemployment systems. So whether its uber or others, we need to address those workers and make sure that they have wage replacement during this terrible shutdown of parts of our economy. So we need to really focus on that. Senator wyden has introduced a bill. Im proud to cosponsor it with him that addresses many of these issues but we need to tackle it as part of the bill that were dealing with right now because these people are losing their jobs right now. Second, no foreclosures or evictions during this period of time. You lose your job, you got no money. Were working on wage replacement but we havent done this yet. In the meantime the bills are coming due. Someone is demanding a mortgage payment. Someone is demanding a rent payment. We need to freeze collections of these payments and defer payments until after the emergency. Now, this is easier said than done because when we say to a landlord you cant collect the rent, we also need to say to the bank who loaned money to the owner of the building that youve got to exercise forebea forebearance on that loan. The head are the regulatory agency, the fed, the o. C. C. , f. D. I. C. Asking them to use the full extent of their powers to address this issue in a way that deals with the entire economic food chain from the lenders at the top of the chain to the borrowers at the bottom of the chain. Because theyre the ones in a position to do it. I just got a letter back last night from the fdic. I hope to hear from the others quickly but we dont have time to wait. We should address that issue to the maximum extent in our powers in round three that were working on right now. So third, Small Businesses and medium size businesses crushed. No customers in the door. No revenue, bills mounting. Trying to make payroll. Many of them of course have already had to lay off some of their employees because their bills are coming due and theyve got to try to figure out how to simply stay afloat. Now, a lot of people have said, well, lets give these Small Businesses emergency loans. Well, if you think about it, if youre a small mom and pop operation, another loan at this point when there are no customers coming in the door is simply going to saddle you with more and more debts at the end of this emergency. And so extending a loan is in some ways for these Small Businesses throwing them an anchor because theyre never going to be able to recover. Theyre only going to have more and more debts to pay off at the end of the day when theyre trying to restart their businesses, get people back in the door. I have a wonderful local example. Her name is julie veratta. Shes the coowner of a brewery and restaurant in maryland called denso den dennisons. Its family business. She wrote to me a number of days ago. Shes undergoing exactly the kind of stresses and pressures. She says Small Businesses need a bailout right now and without delay. The number one thing we need is cash retention and cash infusion. Heres some specific actions that would help make this happen. Number one, an immediate moratorium on all commercial debt payment, loans, and credit cards, mortgages and rents. If you have to choose to focus, focus on s. B. A. Loans because Small Businesses are the ones that are really going to get are backed by the s. B. A. Route. She also says an immediate moratorium on all evictions and foreclosures. We of course got to work on that front. I talked about that. But we also have to attach attack this from all angles. Thats why this Small Business relief is so essential and it must take the form of grants so long as the businesses use that money for the prescribed purposes. Maintaining payroll, whatever payroll may be left and paying their ongoing debts and obligations. Loans as julie says here will not fix this for Small Businesses. It must be in the form of grants again so long as the recipient complies with the terms of that grant. And Small Businesses like mom and pop operations who have already had to lay off employees should not be penalized. They should still be eligible for the grants to pay their mortgages to keep themselves afloat. Mr. President , many midsize businesses are in this position as well. And we need to address that because they are in many cases laying off employees in large numbers. Just another local example. People who live in this area may be familiar with the silver diner. So unlike Dunkin Donuts that works on a franchise model, the silver diner owns its different silver diners throughout the region. They have 1,800 employees. Their employees in many cases in most cases have had to be furloughed or laid off because no money in the door. But the silver diner is too big an operation to meet the strict requirements of the Small Business administration. And so in this emergency situation, we need to provide flexibility that allows us to help some of these middlesize businesses that are undergoing incredible stress because we want to make sure we help their workers and help them retain as many workers as they can, but also to make sure they can pay their bills when no customers are coming in the door because they need to pay the bills so that when this is over, they can open up operations and rehire those employee and thats why senators murphy and merkley and i introduced a proposal yesterday to address these stresses on small and mediumsized businesses, not with emergency loans that theyre not going to be able to afford to repay later but with emergency grants, as long so los those grants are used for the purposes indicated. And that would put these small and midsized businesses in a position to rehire their employees once this economic storm passes through. There are, of course, other Major Industries that have been hardhit, and we should consider what kind of relief is appropriate for them. Like the airlines. But, mr. President , we have to be very careful that we dont repeat some of the things that went wrong in the past. When it came to helping big businesses. Yes, wed like to help their workers through this storm, but we need to make sure that any funds that go to the airlines, for example, are not used for more stock buybacks that simply help their stockholders and executives and c. E. O. s. The airlines have engaged in a huge amount of stock buybacks in the last year, including after the 2 trillion tax cut that was provided. Instead of using a lot of that revenue to invest in their workers and plant equipment, a lot of it went out the door in the form of stock buybacks, and it would be unacceptable for any relief moneys nor that kind of purpose or to go for any kind of bonuses. In fact, in the taxpayers are going to be making some investments to keep some of these Big Industries afloat, we should look what the we did in some of the earlier cases, later in the game, with respect to preferred stock, so that taxpayers get fully fully repaid. And that we also have a stake in the future success of that investment. Mr. President , one other big area that has not gotten as much attention in discussions here on capitol hill until the last few days has been the huge needs being faced by state and local governments. States like my state of maryland, cities like baltimore city, and other cities and towns in maryland, they are on the front lines in many respects, and theyre facing huge pressures, which is why we received a letter, an emergency plea, from the National Governors Association Just the other day, and this is a bipartisan plea from governors larry hogan and cuomo. They point out that medicaid is a major source of federal help that they use to provide for the medical needs of people in their states, and theyre asking for an increase in fmap. We provided some increase in fmap in one of the earlier bills we passed, but they desperately need more, as the Health Impact of the virus continues to spread. As you can imagine, transit systems, whether paid for by states or local jurisdictions, are essentially seeing all her to revenues dry up as people, understandably, dont get on those crowded systems. And so no revenue means that theyre in a world of hurt. So we need to provide emergency help. The National League of cities has also sent us a letter talking about similar kinds of needs. And we need to address those needs in this bill, round three, and not do, as some are suggesting, postpone that to some future date. We dont know when that would be, because the emergency is now and the need is now. Finally, mr. President , this Health Care Crisis has exposed some huge fissures in our society and the kind of safety net that we provide, and im not going to go into the entire list because its too exhaustive to go through, but i want to highlight a couple things. We had in the first instance the question of whether people are going to have to pay for the coronavirus tests, and we all recognize that as a Public Health imperative, it would be a mistake to have people have to pay for tests because, if you cant afford it and therefore dont get it, then it only not only hurts you, but it hurts other people. But theres been a lot of discussion about the vaccine, and when we develop a vaccine and we hope we will that that also needs to be available to all americans without cost. Thats something that we need to address. Now, senator scott from florida and i have pointed out that a lot of the drugs that are developed by pharmaceutical companies are drugs that benefited from the research at the National Institutes of health. And who pays for the research at the National Institutes of health, at n. I. H. . Well, the taxpayer, to the tune of about 40 billion a year. So it makes no sense at all for the taxpayers who made this big investment in research and development of a drug to then be pricegouged by the pharmaceutical companies that take the benefits of that good work and then add a big, big price tag. And so our proposal would make sure that where you have that kind of Public Investment in research and development, you essentially have a process to make sure that theres a reasonable price. And ultimately when it comes to a Public Health vaccine, we need to make sure it is available to everybody and that nobody cannot afford that. Second, as our schools have been shut in many states, were seeing the results of the digital divide. Just one piece of that the. Because there are a lot of students, a lot of students who dont have access to the internet. And, therefore, theyre not going to be able to engage in distance learning, if this crisis continues and schools decide to expand distance learning. Why . Because they dont theyre not connected to the internet or they are they dont have a computer at home. So many of us have introduced proposals on this. Ive introduced a bill to close the digital homework gap. Were asking the f. C. C. To use emergency authorities to direct funds to buy devices, simple devices that a student whos not equity canned to the internet whos not connected to the internet could use to do their homework. We should do that right now. But then p of course weve got the longer but then of course weve got the longerterm challenge of building out the broadband and infrastructure to deal with the digital divide. And then there are things that we should do to make sure were better prepared. And theres a long list of those. But one of them is pretty simple, and senator angus king and i have sent a letter to the folks who are finalizing and putting this bill together to require that the office at the white house that had previously existed under the obama administration, the office that was set up specifically to be an Early Warning system for a pandemic response, like the one that were witnessing, that that be a Permanent Office within the white house and that no future president would be able to dismantle that office. And we are learning now the hard way what happens when you dont have that Early Warning system and Strategic Response at the highest levels of the u. S. Government. So those are some of the things we should be doing. As we gather here, americas best minds, our top scientists around the world are looking to answer questions about the virus and help develop a vaccine. Brave Health Care Workers are treating the sick and preparing for many more patients. The people who produce and deliver our food and other essentials, who keep our water, power, and internet on, they are all at work, whether in their work spaces or teleworking. First responders are on duty and our military continues to defend the nation. Marylanders and americans are doing their part, staying at home, social distancing, finding ways to be together while apart, and perhaps most challenging for kids, staying busy and not going completely stir crazy. Teachers and students are embracing distance learning, families are marking birthdays and other special occasions with ecards and video chats. Those at the lowest risk are doing what they can to protect the most vulnerable among us. Mr. President , the fundamental decency of all these americans is shining through. I draw strength and faith from their actions, and i know that together, if not physically together, working together, we will succeed. We will succeed if we come together here in the house and the senate, like americans are working together around the country. If we can do that at this moment, as we approach round three of our actions, then i am absolutely confident that the country will have the resources and direction it needs. Let us be as united and determined as the American People. Mr. President , i thank the body for the time and thank you for presiding. I suggest the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call quorum call quorum call mr. Cornyn mr. President . The presiding officer the senator from texas. Mr. Cornyn mr. President , i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be dispensed with. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Cornyn mr. President , were here on a saturday which is not typical for the United States senate, but these are not typical times. More than a month before cases popped up in every state across the country, some of the first coronavirus patients who were evacuated from china arrived in san antonio, texas. They were quarantined at Lackland Air Force base and treated by the dedicated Health Professionals there. At that point things looked a lot different. Outside of those evacuees, known texans were known to have acquired the coronavirus and for the most port the virus didnt impact peoples daily lives. Theyd see updates on the news about the growing number of cases in china, read about the people being evacuated from cruise ships and other countries. But there was no evidence the disease was spreading through our communities. Schools were filled with children, restaurants with customers, and arenas with sports fans. But as we know now, it didnt take long before the situation took a quick turn. Once new cases began popping up, it was clear that our communities were exposed. Over the last few weeks, the virus has spread across the country and our Health Officials and Community Leaders have taken every precaution to keep their people safe. Theyve canceled inperson classes, emptied office buildings, called off large events, and encouraged folks to stay home and avoid close contact with others. On thursday in texas, Governor Abbott issued an executive order adopting the standards set out by the president and the center for Disease Control to further slow the spread across the entire state. Among other measures, this executive order closed schools, required all restaurants, bars, and food courts to put a stop to dinein options. They have to move to drive through or carryout Delivery Service only. I believe these precautions are in the best interest of the Public Health. Certainly we hope they dont have to last long but they are necessary now, and i want to thank the governor for taking these steps in the interest of public safety. As cities across the state and across the country have taken similar precautions, weve seen the economic consequences that these difficult decisions have brought about. Our local restaurants, hardware stores, gyms dont have the money to keep paying their employees wages and expenses without anything coming in the front door. Through no fault of their own, many of these businesses suddenly find themselves without customers to serve. But the bills are still coming in. Expenses continue to pile up, things like rent, utilities, other things you cant avoid even if youre not paying payroll. And then there are the employees wondering how long theyre going to have to be off the job and how long before theyre able to apply for Unemployment Compensation or otherwise pay for their expenses. This is different from any crisis since ive been in the senate. I got here shortly after 9 11. We know what that was like. About a trillion dollar hit to our economy. Obviously it was a National Security incident. 3,000 americans killed here in the United States. And that started the war on terror which weve been fighting ever since. 2008, the great economic meltdown on wall street because of all of these exotic mortgage products that the banking and mortgage industry had created. We remember what happened there. Unfortunately it became necessary for us to take extraordinary measures to help the very same industry that caused the problem back in 2008 as distasteful as that was, i believe it was in the best interest of the country and our ability to recover from that disaster. This is different. Nobody in in country caused this problem. We were we are all equally victims of this virus. And so i think as we look at how we should respond to this epidemic or pandemic as now its been called because its global in nature, i think we need to look at how we can target the help to the people who need it the most in order to bridge this gap between a lack of paycheck, unavailability of Unemployment Insurance, ho how do businesses small and large burn through their cash or reserves but still stay alive so that they can rehire the same people theyve laid off once this crisis passes. Because what im hoping happens is that after this crisis passes that we learn some important lessons, things about the supply chain for our medication, supply chain for medical equipment and the like. And what we need to do to protect ourselves and the rest of the globe against pandemics like this. Because there has been in my lifetime nothing quite like this in terms of the fear its enjenner engendered and the reaction of both the markets and economy and Public Health concerns. So we need to learn the important lessons from that. In the interim, we need to do everything we can to lend a helping hand to those who need our help. The senate has already passed two bills as part of what we all know will be a long recovery process. The first focused primarily on our Public Health system by sending vital funding to health care providers, investing in the development of vaccines, possible treatments, and more diagnostic tests. Something i hear from my governor and our local officials, something they need the most, they ask me about the most is testing. So most people who develop symptoms, they can figure out is this the seasonal flu, allergies, something else, or is this the covid19 virus . Because if its the covid19 virus, they need to be isolated either at home under the watchful eye of their Health Care Professional or in some cases if they become seriously ill, if their breathing becomes compromised, they need to go to the hospital. So the first bill focused primarily on the health care aspects. The second bill that we passed signed by the president just a few days ago i think it was on thursday focused more on the Small Businesses and individual workers who have been impacted. And of course as we all know, were now working on the third installment. We dont know how many installments will be required, how many chapters are in this book that were in the process of writing. But we know that this is important and its important we act with effectiveness but speed at the same time. This is the largest of the bills so far. Were talking about amounts of money that stagger my imagination. But i believe this emergency requires bold action to address this pandemic from every angle possible. As i said, once this passes, we need to learn the lessons that this virus is trying to teach us and to make sure we never find ourselves in this sort of vulnerable position again. But in the meantime weve got other work to do. As the leader has previously outlined, the coronavirus aid relief and Economic Security act, acronym is cares act, will take action on four major priorities. Well see for people through no fault of their own dont have any money coming in, direct financial aid, something many of us never would have contemplated under nonemergency circumstances. Of course, relief for the Small Businesses i mentioned, people like the restaurants, hotels and others. They have no customers because their business is shut. Again, not through any fault of their own but because by order of their governor or local government official, for Public Health purposes, they are shut down so we need to find a way to throw a life line to those Small Businesses. Then i believe for those large employers that hire tens, maybe hundreds of thousands, probably millions of americans, we need to find a way to help them obtain loans that they will pay back with interest but will bridge this period of time while theyre burning cash and wondering will i still be around, will i still be viable as a business once this crisis passes. Because what we need to happen is once we defeat this virus, we need to make sure that america goes back to work and our economy which was incredibly strong until this virus hit is restored. And im hopeful that some of the projections that weve seen by people like j. P. Morgan and others which unfortunately show a dramatically negative impact of the virus during the first and Second Quarter, Second Quarter probably be the worst, we need to make sure this is a vshape recovery. In other words, when we hit bottom, we need to make sure our economy bounces back and that means these businesses need to remain intact and they need to be prepared to rehire their employees if theyve laid them off. And we need to make sure that our economy is restored by a rapid recovery. Thats why i think this bill is so important. And of course the fourth is more support for our Health Care Professionals. On the first point direct aid, we know many workers have lost their jobs or had their hours seriously cut down. As we all know, thats especially true for the service and Hospitality Industries which have been the hardest hit. Think about your local waiter, somebody working for tips, somebody working for hourly wa wage, bartenders, hairdressers, house keepers, the ones who only a few weeks ago had jobs and steady paychecks and are now without any income with which to sustain themselves or their families. Theyre wondering how theyre going to pay the rent before the first of the month, cover their electric bill, buy groceries to feed their family and keep things afloat until life returns to normal. Were working to get that money into the hands of texans and americans who need help now as fast and efficiently, effectively as possible. No paperwork to fill out, just direct aid from washington to middle class americans. Again something i never would have contemplated in a nonemergency situation, but i think under in situation under this situation, we need to act quickly and we need to act effectively to get money into the hands of those who through no fault of their own dont have any money coming in. This could help cover expenses while their income is short, perhaps provide a little extra stability and inject a little extra money into our economy when its desperately needed. On Small Businesses other than the ones ive mentioned, ive heard from a number of them who are worried they wont be able to weather the storm without significant and immediate Financial Assistance in some form. Well, with this legislation it would provide new Small Business interruption loans through their local financial institutions, the banks, their Credit Unions. These businesses can turn to those banks and Credit Unions and whoever their preferred lender might be for a federallybacked Small Business administration loan. Qualifying businesses can use this money to cover the rent and core expenses and payroll. In fact, thats what we want them to do. We want them to continue to keep their employees on the payroll if they can so as soon as people start showing up again to patronize their business, we can see the economy take off as these people are restored to their former jobs. Were hoping to minimize the disruption that this virus will have for our main street businesses and do as much as possible to avoid layoffs. But we also need Financial Assistance, i would call it Economic Stabilization for some of the largest employers in the country, including our airlines that our economy depends upon. Now, i said loans because this money will be repaid. Those people who claim that somehow we are bailing out large american corporations, thats not what were proposing here. Were not giving companies a free pass for their own bad decisions. Again nobody here in america contributed to this condition we find ourselves in. That was the virus that emanated in wuhan province in china. But if were going to have any chance of rebounding in the long term, weve got to ensure that these businesses can survive. No American Business from your local Sandwich Shop to a Major Airline asked for or expected this turmoil and needs our support now. Well, the final pillar of this bill will hit at the causes of this crisis, the virus itself. Supporting our Health Care Professionals and First Responders and ensuring they have the resources and equipment they need is priority number one. We also need to continue investing in the development of a vaccine, although we know that will take months. In the interim, possible treatments, including drugs that are already on the market that are being tested by the food and Drug Administration to see whether this new application combating the correspondent rowia had the 19 virus is safe and effective for people to take and of course more testing and diagnostics. One of the things that distinguishes america from the rest of the world is not only how resilient we are but how quickly we innovate our way out of problems. As the presiding officer knows, we were just a at a meeting where senator alexander from the health, education, labor, and pensions committee, the chairman, said that soon he anticipated that the a new f. D. A. Approved testing kit for the coronavirus will be widely available. And so people now who dont cant get access to the test will be able to use the test based on advice from their medical provider and gain the confidence of knowing, hey, im negative. I dont have anything to worry about personally. What i need to do is to continue to do what the center for Disease Control told us all we need to do, which is to maintain good personal hygiene and social distancing, a new phrase that weve all become acquainted with. But as long as youre negative and you do those things, then youre likely going to be healthy and not be affected directly by this virus. So thats one of the things that is happening in realtime now, development of the new test, the proliferation of these inexpensive and quick testing will allow for not only people who are positive to be identified so they can be treated either at home or in a health care facility, and the truth is, most of us, if youre otherwise healthy, if you get the coronavirus, you may experience some minor symptoms. One of the biggest concerns is people who got the virus and are asymptomatic or presymptomatic and whether theyre affecting other people. But for most of us youll be nine after you recover. But you need to be isolated so you dont infect others. And some people, particularly the elderly and people with comorbidities, underlying illnesses or medical conditions, who are the most vulnerable, some of them will have to be hospitalized for sure. So we this is one of those allhandsondeck moments, unlike ive ever experienced before in my service in the senate. But i appreciate the response from the administration and the president on down. I appreciate the Cooperation Among our colleagues here whove worked to prepare not only the initial proposal but who are working now on a bipartisan basis to come up with a package that we can vote on quickly. And i hope negotiations with our democratic colleagues will move smoothly and meet the majority leaders target of having a package that we can vote on on monday. Will this be the last bill we pass relative to this crisis . I doubt it. But we dont know for sure, because that, i think, is what is driving so much of the volatility in the markets and the uncertainty and fear that some people feel is its the unknown. So as we work our way through this, well be able to adapt additional legislation, if required, to meet with the needs at that time. As i said, this has been a moving target. But i appreciate the cooperation weve seen so far. I think, as we all realize, theres some things that transcend politics. Every time weve had a National Crisis, this one included, i think its all called the better angels of our nature and resulted in our ability to Work Together to produce our best efforts to help address the crisis, to solve the problem, and to help the American People. Each day we waste debating this bill further by talking about other ideological goals that people want to accomplish and take advantage of this emergency to try to pass things that are unrelated to dealing with the virus, every day we waste with those sorts is of things is a day that our health care providers, Small Businesses, and constituents are spending without the help they need and deserve. So, mr. President , the time to act is now. Theres no question that this pandemic will have a Lasting Impact on our country. I believe one of the things we need to do is figure out how we can prevent this sort of thing from happening ever again. But i believe a major investment by our government will now allow us to weather the storm together and to come out with the best possible result on the other side. Mr. President , i yield the floor, and i would note the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call the senate also plan to be in session tomorrow, with a vote to move the bill forward and a final vote is possible on monday. While the senate is in a quorum call, we will show you minority leader schumer and majority leader mcconnell from earlier today. Mr. Barrasso mr. President . The presiding officer the senator from wyoming. Mr. Barrasso thank you, mr. President. I ask that the quorum call be vitiated. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Barrasso thank you, mr. President. I come to the floor today to provide an update on the bold, bipartisan action that congress is now taking to respond to the pandemic that we have with the coronavirus. First, we are all deeply saddened by the loss of life due to the outbreak here in this country and globally. I know, mr. President , it has affected your state in terms of disease as well as death. In my state, disease not yet death and were hoping to prevent that. But all of us remain very concerned about the great loss of life and the suffering that is happening as a result of this. These are extraordinary times. We are fighting a world war to defeat a virus. We want to do it to save lives but also to keep people safe. This war has two fronts. I know, mr. President , you discussed these on television the other evening. I listened carefully about the impact on your state. And as you said, we are fighting on the front of Public Health as well as the health of our economy. The coronavirus right now is controlling our economy. Its taken a dominant role. And to stop this disease, the nation has largely shut down. These temporary restrictions on our daily activities are necessary in an effort to limit new cases, the spread of the disease. And yet, the economic fallout is devastating millions of hardworking American Families. Once we defeat the virus, we will rebuild. Our economy will bounce back. We are a strong and resilient nation, and we always bounce back, and we will again. First we need to make it through this medical crisis, and this is going to require big and bold and bipartisan action. The American People need help, and i would reassure the American People that congress is responding. This is a National Rescue operation as i see it, and help is on the way. President trump and congress in a bipartisan way are coming together to ease the pain of the American People. Its going to take time. Its going to happen. We are sending immediate relief, and we have done that. We are sending Financial Support plus medical support to people all across america. The bill being considered on the floor right now is called the cares act. It stands for coronavirus aid relief and Economic Security act. It will bolster our economy, and it will help working families. This bill allows for us to deliver direct Cash Payments to most americans to see people through this economic downturn. Small businesses, people who work in Small Business and people who own Small Business will receive federally guaranteed loans to help them stay viable, to keep the businesses viable, so they can keep their employees on the payroll. Until we get to a point where they are from a disease standpoint able to reopen the businesses. We want them to be viable when the day comes that businesses can reopen all across america. So the cares act is major legislation that will stabilize our economy and protect american jobs. It also includes critical new support for our Health Care Workers and for patients. Now, i have introduced bipartisan cares act language, along with senator Michael Bennet of colorado, with regard to health care. The goal is to provide immediate relief for rural hospitals, for Small Community hospitals, and for small Physician Practices. During this crisis, rural hospitals and Small Health Care Providers are on the front lines providing urgent care. They continue to work round the clock, keeping communities in wyoming and across the country safe. These providers are stretched like never before. I have talked with several of them in wyoming over the past 24 hours. Talked to one this morning, mr. President , whose coronavirus test has come back. It is negative, and he is back in the fight today in the hospital. Our bill provides rural hospitals with aid in the form of federal grants based on insurance payments. This will help make up for lost revenue due to the forced cancellation of elective surgeries. Of course, these are surgeries that have already been scheduled and planned. Patients needing surgeries. But in terms of providing to make sure that we have the resources needed at those hospitals, the beds available, and the personal protective equipment, elective surgeries have been canceled. So small physician hospitals, Rural Communities arent able to tolerate that sort of loss of flow, just as any business is not able to tolerate that sort of cash flow loss. The small Physician Practices will receive lowinterest loans based on the payroll of that practice, in terms of what were doing with this bill that Michael Bennet and i in a bipartisan way have introduced. Rural Health Care Workers need immediate shortterm Financial Relief to help them through this crisis time, so the cares act also includes a number of important Public Health provisions. Our bill eases the shortage of drugs and critical equipment including ventilators and medical masks. It expands testing, ensures testing is free for patients, and it speeds the development of new coronavirus vaccines and treatments. Since none have existed before the disease was made known worldwide as a new virus, and which it is. The cares act that were looking at today on the floor of the senate also protects patients with the expanded use of Health Savings accounts for telehealth and expands telehealth access for medicare patients. It increases medicare payments to hospitals treating coronavirus patients. The cares act will help the employers and workers weather the storm that we are facing because of coronavirus once the storm passes, mr. President , you know, as do i, that the American Economy will continue to recover. The cares act is the third coronavirus emergency bill considered in the senate. The first two have already been passed into law, signed by the president. Earlier this month, Congress Passed two major relief packages. The first, an 8 billion emergency funding bill for our health care system. The second, 100 billion bill to provide additional relief to affected families, to Small Businesses, and to workers. These three relief measures are only the beginning. More legislation will be coming to address this unprecedented economic and Public Health care crisis. Once we defeat the virus, the economy will recover, america will be back. The American People are strong, we are resilient, we are determined to get through this, and we will. Were all americans, were all in it together. Be assured, congress will stop at nothing to assure that america and americans survive and revive and thrive. Mr. President , this storm will pass. The people of the great nation will emerge stronger than ever. Americans will defeat the coronavirus together. Thank you, mr. President. I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call quorum call quorum call quorum call quorum call mr. Mcconnell mr. President. The presiding officer the majority leader. Mr. Mcconnell i ask that further proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed with. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Mcconnell i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to executive session for the en bloc consideration of executive calendar 596 through 599. That the nominations be confirmed en bloc, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate, and the president be immediately notified of the senates action, all en bloc. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Mcconnell i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the consideration of the following nomination executive calendar 595. The presiding officer the clerk will report. The clerk nomination, department of health and human services, sarah c. Arbes of virginia to be an assistant secretary. The presiding officer without objection, the senate will proceed to the nomination. Mr. Mcconnell i ask consent the senate vote on the nomination with no intervening action or debate, that if confirmed, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, and the president be immediately notified of the senates action. The presiding officer without objection. The question is on the nomination. All in favor say aye. All opposed no. The ayes appear to have it. The ayes do have it. The nomination is confirmed. Mr. Mcconnell i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to legislative business for a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak therein for up to ten minutes each. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Mcconnell i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 2 00 p. M. Sunday, march 22. Further, that following the prayer and pledge, the morning business be deemed expired, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and morning business be closed. Further, following leader remarks, the senate resume consideration of the motion to proceed to h. R. 748. Finally, i ask consent the cloture vote on the motion to proceed to h. R. 748 be a 30minute vote. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Mcconnell so for the information of our colleagues, the cloture vote on the motion to proceed to h. R. 748 will occur at 3 00 p. M. Tomorrow and will be held open for 30 minutes. If there is no further business to come before the senate, i ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order. The presiding officer the Senate Stands adjourned