86,000 people in the United States and that includes over 900 incredible and great coloradans, my home state. We certainly mourn with those families who have lost loved ones and well keep fighting for a path forward as we get through this together. I want to commend in the strongest terms possible our frontline workers, whether its been our First Responders, our health care professionals, or those that have allowed us to continue to enjoy a safe and secure food supply, people in essential businesses that each and every day dont complain but go to work to help make sure that our communities can get back to work. And the list of heroes in our communities, those who have i have goin so much, goes on and on and on. And i think its important to recognize that as we have addressed the coronavirus challenge in this country, the measures that we have taken, the steps that have been laid out by mayors and governors and the president , theyve been to comply with guidances and Health Directives and to comply with the best scientists and science that our country has, not out of fear of the coronavirus, not because people are afraid of covid19, but theyve done it out of love, love for their community, love for their parents and grandparents, whom they hope to keep safe and healthy, love for our country to stop the spread and flatten the curve. And so to all of our Incredible Health care workers, the frontline workers, grassry clerks, gas station workers, mechanics at Farm Equipment dealerships that have remained open to keep tractors running during spring planting, to our ranchers and farmers who have kept our food supply flowing, thank you. Emeverywhere across people everywhere across colorado are hurting because of this pandemic. Ive heard numerous stories across our great state. Ive held tell low phone town halls speaking directly with coloradans who have lost their jobs or who are unsure how to feet their families. Ive heard from restaurant workers in denver who were laid off when they are restaurant closed. Ive heard from Restaurant Owners whove done everything they can to keep their restaurant workers employed, preparing meals, providing them to the hungry and the homeless. A Small Business owner shared with me how difficult it was to lay off 35 dedicated staff workers but not having a choice. I have talked tobitions near Colorado Springs who used the last prepaid minute oz an cell to into participate in our town hall to try to figure out where they could get food. Ive talked to elderly coloradans who were afraid to go to the Grocery Store because they didnt know if they had special hours. They had an underlying condition and didnt know if they could go safely. Our staff was able to help this person get the groceries this they needed and the disinfectant that they had requested and leave information about the special hours for people who needed more space, more time, a safer environment to go out. But the effects of the coronavirus arent because somebody intentionally decided to hurt our economy, but theyre hurting because of the necessary Public Health actions their government has taken. Its in large part the governments responsibility to help get them through this because it was the government that said to them, stay at home, close your doors, dont go to work. It is our responsibility to provide the help that our economy needs to get moving again, to get people back to work because it was the advice of governments from the local levels to the federal level that said, these are the things you need to do to stop the spread and flatten the curve. Throughout this entire pandemic, i have approached it with a threeprong strategy. These are not steps that should be taken one at a time. You dont accomplish step one, then aattempt a accomplish step two. These are things that need to be done all at the same time. First we must obviously address the Immediate Health crisis. The second prong we must make sure we are providing realtime assistance to real individuals who are really hurting across the state of colorado and the country. And the thirds prong is to make sure we are supporting our businesses through this crisis, to make sure that when the Health Emergency is over, we can have an economy thats able to snap back and run strong. These steps have to be again, these steps have to be down all at the same time. But the first prong have been critical. Congress has taken many steps to support the health response, including 175 billion to support Health Care Providers, 73 billion to the strategic medical stockpile and a recent infusion of 25 billion to support testing and included dedicated funding for states and tribes. We also spent funding to support scientists as they rapidly develop new testing technologies and work to get them to the work as quickly as possible. Its going back to the bravery of the Health Care Workers, our First Responders, Public Health experts and the innovation of scientists who have served as beacons of light during this difficult time and help us get through this emergency. On prong two, providing individuals with the assistance they need. We have continued to do that and must continue to do that to address this Health Emergency. Because when we started the very first steps we said to every american, please stay home. Figure out how to socially distance. As a result, unemployment claims have skyrocketed to record numbers as americans grapple with job losses and overall changes to our daily lives. It is important that congress acted quickly to provide individuals with that immediate assistance. In the cares act we provided direct individual assistance to millions of individuals and married couples across the state and across the country. We allowed federal student loan borrowers to defer payments for six months. We have an Unemployment Assistance Program for those who are selfemployed and independent contractors whose livelihoods have been impacted by the pandemic. People who might not have a place to go. One message i have heard from countless coloradans through the pandemic, they appreciate the bipartisan efforts, but its beyond that. Its not simply a bipartisan effort, its actually nonpartisan. Because republicans and democrats realize theres no reason to bear that mantle of party. Because so many people are hurting and we know what needs to be done for the country to Work Together to be nonpartisan, to provide the relief that real individuals need in real time. But we have to keep fighting in this nonpartisan way, this bipartisan way to make testing more widely available to support state and local governments and to set up our economy to return as strong as it was before the pandemic, and thank goodness our economy was as strong as it was when we went into this. Imagine where we would be if we had a weak or struggling economy as we entered the Health Emergency. Prong three requires support for businesses, the Economic Relief that was provided through the Paycheck Protection Program under the cares act continues to be an essential tool to support our Small Businesses and families across all four corners of colorado, over 10 billion in round one and round two of Paycheck Protection Program has been delivered to keep people on payroll in colorado. The Paycheck Protection Program was created to keep employees on payroll and to help keep bills paid so workers can keep their jobs, salary and benefits, they can keep them and so Small Businesses can hit the ground running when they are able to resume operation. You think about the millions of Small Businesses in our country responsible for over 6 trillion in salary every year in this country. We often talk about Small Businesses being the backbone, the foundation, the bet rock of our bedrock of our economy, and it is absolutely true. Small businesses employ nearly half of all American Workers and make up 99. 5 of all colorado businesses, employing more than 1. 1 million coloradans. Because of clarifications to the program i fought for just last week i heard from three rural hospitals in colorado that received the Paycheck Protection Program loans through their local community bank. They were within a matter of a week or weeks of having to lay off employees and in some cases shut down the access to the Paycheck Protection Program was an absolute game changer for these critical and vital rural hospitals. Now, these hospitals can continue to provide both Critical HealthCare Services to their communities and jobs for their employees and in many communities these rural hospitals are the largest employer in that community. These actions and programs are essential corner stones to our recovery, but we must finish laying the foundation to ensure our economy snaps back and runnings strong runs strong. While governments can allow businesses to open, the American People simply wont return they wont fully return to the economy until they have confidence that the virus is under control. The first step to tackling any problem is seeing it and thats especially true with covid19. How do we see it . Through widespread testing. Widespread testing is important for the fight of the virus. Our country relies on our ability to see where the illness is and where it is not. Where it is spreading and where it is declining. That, in turn, depends on our ability to ramp up testing. Research into the benefits applications of Antibody Testing will help show which coloradans have been exposed to covid19 and the percentage of our population that has already recovered. This will better inform local schools, businesses, and governments as they make their own demtions about the path forward. It will help provide peace of mind as they visit their families and return for routine Preventive Services and return to their jobs. It will help state and local Health Departments decide what other response measures are necessary. My approach to this pandemic has been an allhands on aproasm. When our government says they need more tests, masks, i get to work fighting to find that assistance. Working together with the governor, leaders at the federal level and our allies abroad, weve been able to secure hundreds of thousands of masks for our state and we are working around the clock for more. Without effective widespread testing and corresponding strategy to support monitoring, we cannot have a realtime response to the virus. Rapid testing and the ability for Public Health departments to inform individuals with positive cases quickly so they can take appropriate action and further revent prevent spread is critical. The dollars we have provided through various phases of action as it relates to help emergency will help provide that testing to help mobilize new testing to prevent the type of test we need, the opportunities we have to rapidly let the people of this country know what is happening, what is not happening and how we should tailor our Public Policies to fit the spread of the virus, the decline of the virus, the reopening of our economy. We need a test that is so ubiquitous that people can buy a big gulp at seven ee lefn and buy a test kit so they can have the actual results instead of shutting down a household or a community or a country, we can get the results to implement better Public Policies then and there. Congress must also make sure that the Paycheck Protection Program continues to be funded and improved and improved where needed better to support americas Small Businesses and the employees that they are able to keep on payroll as a result. We must make the program flexible enough to be effective and make the rules so clear so clear that people will be confident that they can use it. Ive seen the headlines about big businesses taking this money when they might not really need it. But ive also talked to 15 Employee Companies that have needed 30,000 or 40,000 to pay their workers who are now terrified of crossing federal prosecutors. I heard from a coloradan ive known my entire life who is working with her sons business this is an essential business that remained open because of the role they play in our food supply. They went to the bank, got the loan under the Paycheck Protection Program and received a letter, hey, are you sure you needed this loan, maybe you didnt. And now they dont know whether they should keep it or in the. They are terrified to use it. And so while we have to make sure that our programs arent abused, we have to make sure that we dont create a Chilling Effect on businesses that truly need it. I understand the need to be careful about who gets this money, but when we are scaring businesses that we will all agree need assistance the most, maybe things have gone too far and congress is no longer helping. Congress should act to make rules that are clear, we should help guide those rules to be clear and bring confidence to the program to make sure that people can be at work, keep their jobs, keep their benefits. And when the foundation is secure and we have this foundation secure, we should then explore the immediate opportunities for Economic Activity and employment. The opportunities that will benefit every american and create the conditions for a quicker recovery. Until the American Consumer is fully back with confidence in our economy, we need to look for ways to fill the gap. Weve long talked about the need to rebur fish our infrastructure, now is the time to do it. This Health Crisis has laid bear the cyberdesert that exists in our rural communities. We should make a concentrated effort to make Rural Broadband a reality. We should permanently fund the land and Water Conservation fund and put funds to the lands that would create immediate jobs that will create the kind of Job Opportunities that many of our highmountain towns desperately need as a result of this Health Emergency and now economic emergency. Ive introduced a bill that has the president s support on both sides of the aisle. The president has the president s support and support on both sides of the aisle and certainly the ideas are are supported across both chambers of congress. The Great American outdoors act, communities throughout the nation would benefit and these funds would help to contribute to that strong and growing Outdoor Recreational economy one of the strongest drivers in colorado and many states. In short, we need to take some big and bold steps to make sure that our economy is back on track and to help accelerate it once again the we need these big steps because weve taken a hard shot in the past couple of months. We also need to support Mental Health efforts. Prior to the pandemic, 70 of colorados Mental Health need was unmet and on average one coloradan died by suicide every seven hours. Before covid19 i was working on a number of legislative efforts to improve Mental Health support and covid19 has only underscored how time sensitive these matters are, particularly my legislation, the National Suicide hotline designation act. In a mental Health Emergency, its almost impossible to remember the current intenddigit hotline. Sometimes theres more than one tendigit hotline. Establishing 988 as a National Suicide prevention hot line will save more lives and help people access critical Mental Health support. S. 2661, the National Suicide hotline designation act is more than smart policy that will help save lives, it is a statement that our government recognizes the crisis and is working across party lines to address it. Establishing 988 as a National Suicide prevention hotline will help access critical Mental Health support. I have been pushing for the funding for the thaicial suicide pre National Suicide prevention hotline. Lets come together and lets get this done. Access to Mental Health care is especially important during this trying time filled with grief and uncertainty for so many people. We must ensure we are doing everything we can to prevent these devastating outcomes from occurring. No matter how bleak our situation looks, its important to remember that america has faced its fair share of challenges. We have persevered and persisted through world wars and economic disasters, september 11 terrorist attacks and much, much more. While this virus will not be the last challenge our country faces, we know that this too shall pass and together we will make it to the other side stronger than ever. I have faith and confidence in the American People and in our ability to pull together and to continue to meet this challenge head on. Colorado has been that shinning example of resiliency in so many instances and it will continue to bel over these past several months, i have spoken to countless coloradans all unsure of what the future holds, but they are certain that we will get through this by looking up to that great Rocky Mountain horizon. Coloradans are meeting this challenge, they are donating food, donating had personal effective equipment. Individuals and businesses across colorado and across the country are seeing needs and responding to those in need. To the brave Health Care Providers fighting around the clock, the reliable farmers and ranchers working day in and day out to keep food on table and to all the essential workers who continue to selflessly put themselves at risk to ensure that others are taken care of first, i give my deepest thanks and praise. In colorado weve lost two First Responders on the front lines. Deputy hawk inns served in the. He passed away from covid19 at the age of 41, one day after he was diagnosed with covid19. His death was determined to be a line of duty death, a reminder to all of us that our brave First Responders are in harms way every day, but especially during this pandemic. We also recently lost paul kerry who worked as a firefighter and paramedic in aurora for more than 30 years. Paul was 66 years old, and he selflessly drove, selflessly drove 27 hours straight to new york in an ambulance to help out in the battle against covid19. There he was tending to patients and transporting them to hospitals. After falling ill with the virus, paul died on april 30. Coloradans lined the streets to give him a heros farewell. To deputy hopkins, to paul kerry and the countless heroes like them who are risking their own held and safety every day, thank you. First responders and medical professionals across our state continue to make sacrifices on our behalf. The long hours and time away from loved ones, the undeniable mental toll that this pandemic takes on those in the front lines and health risks, these sacrifices dont go unnoticed. We must do everything we can to make sure that the First Responders of covid19 have the resources, the support, and the personal protective equipment needed to fight this pandemic. We will never be able to fully show our deep appreciation for our Health Care Providers, frontline employees, and First Responders who are working to keep vital parts of our country moving. We have got to do everything we can to try to make up what they have done for us. Big ways and small ways every day. In colorado, we dont look back. We look forward. We look out across the great plains, the great high plains after that majestic Rocky Mountain horizon for that next optimistic day. In the middle of the Health Emergency, a couple weeks ago, i received a letter in the mail. It had a pair of pliers in this letter. I really didnt know what it was. It sat on my desk. And i opened it up, not knowing what it was. And i would ask, mr. President , unanimous consent that i be allowed to share an item show an item on the floor that was sent to me during the health pandemic. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Gardner in the letter, this pair of pliers came, and i opened it up. Heres what it said. Senator gardner, i want to thank you and everyone at your office profusely for everything that you have done for me. You have allowed for me to continue receiving uninterrupted benefits and care for combat injuries that i sustained while serving as an officer in the u. S. Army. In 2014, you came to visit me in the ward of walter reed while i was still bandaged and pretty beat up, missing my dominant hand and overall pretty haggard. You told me a story about the corpse, my moms side of the family in yuma county. At this point, i remembered very clearly the story i had told this young story. You told me a story about walking into your familys Hardware Store and stress testing pliers. It was a story i received from my granddad about these two brothers that would come in years and years ago, decades ago, and they would grab a pair of pliers on the parts counter. They would squeeze them, they were so strong, they would snap the pin in the pliers. I told him that story. He wrote in his letter, apparently my ancestors wouldnt buy a pair if they didnt stand up to the grip of a man that i can only imagine was pretty strong in the arms. And while im sure they only broke a few sets and got away with it by being, expletive, i have enclosed a pair as recompense. After you visited, i took that story with me. After five years as an amputee, i have been an infantry officer, and i spent years training as a special forces officer. The only amputee to ever passe assessment and selection. Its been inspiring to grip this set of pliers and try to snap them. And then he wrote sometimes with our tools break, sometimes its our fault. Sometimes they are not flat and sturdy to begin with. Sometimes these tools have just been used to the point of failure. Every time, though, what really matters is what we do once that tool is broken. We fix it. Get a new one. Or we improvise something better. Either way, we figure out how to finish the job because people are depending on us to get it done. Captain u. S. Army, fort bragg, north carolina. We face a tremendous challenge unlike we have ever faced in our lifetimes. And while were going to use every tool we have to help fix what has happened, we know that everyones not going to be perfect, but we have to keep trying because thats what the American People do every day. They make it work. They fight. They get back on their feet. We have to be in this fight with them. Mr. President , thank you. I yield the floor. The presiding officer the senator from connecticut. Mr. Murphy thank you very much, mr. President. I think all of us are in awe on a daily basis of those that we have a responsibility to serve, the people of colorado, the people of texas, the people of connecticut doing just absolutely extraordinary things. And i hope that over the next several weeks, we get to hear more of those stories. I at the end of last week got a chance with my governor to go down to a Health Care Facility in bridgeport, connecticut, a Health Care Facility that has been designated to serve only covid19positive patients. And the nurses and staff came outside into the parking lot area to have a socially dis distanceed masked conversation with us. While they have struggles and while they need help, they have a sense of mission about them that is impressive. Theyre working double shifts. They barely get to see their kids. They know that their life is in danger every time they go into a facility where there are only patients that tested positive for covid, and yet they know that they are doing something with their life today that they will be able to tell their kids and their grandkids about. They are making a difference. I think about those individuals that arent a first responder, that arent a health care worker, but have found a way to do heroic things just in their neighborhoods. Luciana lirra was already making a difference. She was a bilingual teacher in the stamford, connecticut, Public School system, but she heard about a crisis that one of her students was having. One of her students mothers had contracted the virus, had gone into a coma, but was pregnant and delivered a child while she was in a medically induced coma. Her husband also had the virus, as did one of their children. And so you know what luciana did . Do you know what this teacher did . She took the baby in to her home. While she taught her students online during the day, she warmed up bottles and fed that baby at night. Jerry sicardi is 100 years old. He lives in stratford, connecticut. Even at 100 years old, he decided to get together with his daughter judy and start making masks. We all have these stories from our states, just folks who started sewing masks and giving them out to people who needed them. Jerry gave them out to his neighbors. He sent some to the bridgeport correctional center. He gave them to former students. Then when folks learned that jerry was pretty good at making masks, they would call, and he would make them on order. These are the stories that could, frankly, fill up the whole day from each one of our states. And while my constituents in connecticut who are as generous as that would have undertaken those actions regardless of the effectiveness of the response from their government, their actions are all the more important given the failures of their federal government to do the right thing by them. And i want to spend a few minutes today talking about the Trump Administrations response to the crisis that we are facing. If were going to be here in washington, i think its important for us to talk about what is missing. There has been a lot of ink spent already criticizing the Trump Administrations response to the crisis, that the strategy was wrong or the focus was in the wrong place or the level of activity wasnt high enough, but i really think that this is the wrong paradigm. Its the wrong lens through which to have this discussion, because the problem really isnt that President Trumps response to coronavirus has been ineffective. Its that he hasnt responded at all. For all intents and purposes, there has been no response to coronavirus from this administration. There have been press conferences, there is a social media presence, but they arent running a national response. From the beginning, the response has been left to states, to cities, to counties, to hospitals, to School Districts, to nursing homes, to shelters, to food banks, to charitable organizations, really to every publicfacing entity that isnt the administration. And we shouldnt lose sight of how remarkable that is. In the face of the most serious National Crisis since 2001, perhaps since vietnam or world war ii, the administration has effectively chosen to stand down and let others lead. Now, i know that sounds like hyperbole because there is a task force, right . There is precedents on tv every day. But hear we out. At the beginning, the president didn do nothing. He fanned the flames. He called coronavirus in the early days a hoax, perpetuated by his political opponents. He telegraphed to the country that this wasnt something we needed to be prepared for because it was just going to go away. Despite all the experts telling him differently. On 12 different occasions, he praised the chinese response, said that president xi was doing an excellent job responding to the crisis, praised specifically their transparency. At a moment when the International Community was trying to get into china to find out with what they knew so we could start developing vaccines and treatments, the chief apologist in the early days for the chinese response was our own president. Now, arguably, the most significant action that the Trump Administration undertook really, the only action that the president mentions to this day when pressed for tangible things that he has done was the set of travel restrictions. But Public Health experts told the president that the restrictions wouldnt work, especially since they were filled with loopholes. We now know that 400,000 people ended up getting to the United States from the countries that were subject to the restrictions list. The travel ban was feckless. It was a failure. And after that, the administration effectively gave up, they gave up. Now, what could they have done as the travel ban started to prove ineffective at stopping the virus and cases started to mount . What could they have done . Well, they could have decided to lead a National Effort to make sure that we can the supplies that we had the supplies necessary to fight the virus. Members of Congress Told the Administration Early on that we needed to appropriate dollars to make sure that we had things like masks and gowns and ventilators. They could have created a National Effort to ramp up Domestic Production of personal protective equipment. They didnt do that. The administration could have come up with a National Testing plan. They could have done an early assess many of how many tests were going to be needed, taking control of the supply chain necessary to make those diagnostic machines, the cartridges that go inside them. They didnt do that. They could have begun the work of building a national Public Health workforce. Every expert told the administration that it wasnt just the machines and the equipment. We were going to need Public Health workers to do the testing, to then trace the spread of the disease, to help support quarantines. They could have started to put together a plan to build that work force at the National Level or at least help states build that workforce, but they didnt do that. They could have early on worked with the states to create uniform standards for school and business closings. This didnt have to be left to states and municipalities and individual superintendents. The administration could have chosen to lead on the question of how and when we chose to close our economy and our School Systems down, but they didnt do that. They could have joined with other countries to jointly produce a vaccine. And in fact, there was an entity set up at the beginning of the Trump Administration specifically for that purpose, the coalition for epidemic preparedness innovations. They could have made an investment in that International Organization after having refused to join early on during the president s term, but they didnt do that. They could have increased aid for developing nations, refugee camps. They could have gone on the International Offensive like president obama did during the ebola epidemic and made sure that we were helping every country beat the virus because, as we know, due to the failure of the travel restrictions, if you dont stop it everywhere, youre really not stopping it anywhere, but they didnt do that. They could have made sure everybody in this country had insurance. The Trump Administration could have stopped pushing junk plans. They could at least temporarily put on hold the lawsuit to try toandz the a. C. A. To end the Affordable Care act and the 20 Million People insured through that but they didnt do that. They could have worked to create a National Commitment to make sure every student has the ability to distance learn, has Internet Access or proposed a plan to ramp up education funding, make sure theyre protecting kids with disabilities during this crisis. They didnt do that. And, finally, they could have proposed any of the various programs that congress developed and passed, the p. P. P. Program, the state stabilization fund, the hospital relief fund, the National Testing program fund. None of these were initiatives from President Trump. Early on as negotiations were beginning on these relief packages, the president s only idea was a payroll tax cut. Frankly, it is still the president s only idea. The president didnt need to leave all of the legislative leadership to congress. He and his team could have laid out detailed new programs to combat the virus or save the economy and pressed congress to pass them. But they didnt even do that. Now, im not saying there arent meetings. Im not saying there arent press conferences. But my state, one of the hardest hit in the nation, has had to effectively fend for itself. When i talk to state leaders or Hospital Executives or food pantry director, none of them talk to me about all of the help theyre getting from the Trump Administration. They talk about the programs that congress has passed but they dont talk about any meaningful, impactful responses to this crisis run by the Trump Administration. You know why . Because they dont exist. And even when the Trump Administration tries to do something meaningful, they screw it up. Take, for instance, the much heralded plan to reopen america. Now, that was a good idea, a serious set of guidelines for states to use to judge when the right time is to reopen. Now, i may have quibbles with certain elements of that plan, but i thought they were generally on the right track, giving states some specific guidelines so that we could have some consistency across the country as to when states decide to reopen schools and business businesses. The administration stuck with that plan for about a week, and now President Trump is calling on states to reopen regardless of whether any of the benchmarks have been met in his own plan. And now hes talking about Health Care Workers and cafeteria workers as warriors. Apparently prepping them for a summer during which his experts tell him there will be 3,000 coronavirus deaths a day because of these early reopenings. If thats true, the president s socalled coronavirus warriors would be dying at a daily total ten times that of the warriors who fought in world war ii. And not all of this was avoidable. China where the virus started bears serious responsibility for the global spread. But the epidemic did not have to become the crisis of the magnitude we witnessed today we witness today. A normal president would have been able to take steps early on and throughout that could have controlled the spread. Our president effectively chose to stand aside and leave 50 states and thousands of cities and hospitals to manage the response instead. They were left largely helpless without significant federal support competing against each other for scarce resources, and now our country is in desperate straits. So once again it is up to congress to lead. And i agree with my friend from colorado that there vtion been remarkable there has been remarkable bipartisan support in this body in order to fill the vacuum that has been created by the refusal of our president to lead. And so we will have to do it again. And so let me leave my colleagues with a few suggestions as to the path that we should take going forward, to build upon those suggestions proffered by my colleague from colorado. First and foremost, we have to admit what is true. The states and the cities are in charge of the response. The Trump Administration is not. Ive heard my colleagues talk about aid to states or municipalities that are fighting the virus as a bailout. That is nonsense. It is more accurate to talk about what the states and cities are doing as a bailout of the federal government. When the Trump Administration refused to run a national response, it was the states like mine, cities like those in my state that stepped up to lead the response. All we are asking is that we share in the cost of the states and cities efforts to save lives. Second, our schools are going to be overwhelmed with need when they reopen. Im one of the few parents of school age children, Public Schoolchildren. My kids are lucky enough that they dont have special learning needs and theyve got two parents who are able to telework from home and support their distance learning. But there are millions of kids who have learning disabilities, who have needs totally unmet during this time who are going to show back up at school way behind and in crisis. And we need to appropriate money right now, especially for special education, so that School Districts across the country can start to do planning now, this spring and this summer so that there are supports around those kids when they show back up. Every kid is going to have to catch up, but especially for kids with serious learning disabilities, they are going to need extra help. And states who are going to have expended all of the money available to them to fight the virus and who have cratering revenues because of the shutdown of the economy are not going to be able to fund those special Education Needs themselves. It is going to have to be us. It is going to have to be us. So why wait until the fall. Lets make a downpayment on that assistance for kids with disabilities, do it now. Food pantries in connecticut are running dry. Theyre running dry. We need more support in the next bill for nutrition assistance. We have to start thinking creatively about how to make sure that everybody has access to food. Right now if youre on a snap benefit, you have to go to a Grocery Store. Well, those arent safe places for everybody on snap benefits. Some of the corner bodegas have closed down. The only place that might be open is a long way away. So restaurants can be a life line right now. Traditionally we dont allow you to use your snap benefits in restaurants, but i think we should temporarily allow for that in the next package we pass. That would be a win for people who need more food options who are on assistance. It would also be a win for the restaurants. Theyre looking for customers. Fourth, weve got to build that Public Health workforce. Again, states wont be able to afford it themselves. Every medical expert tells us its not just testing. Its tracing the contacts that that individual had. Its quarantining those they had contact with and that cant be done just with an app. There have to be workers that help do that tracing, that help support the quarantine. Weve got to build that workforce. Again, theres no conceive able way that states can pay for that by themselves. And then lastly, we need to get back into the game internationally. It was a fallacy from the beginning to think that we could just shut our borders and protect ourselves. Thats not how viruses work. In an interconnected economy today, theres from practical way to completely shut down your borders from individuals or products that move across international boundaries. And so we have offers right now to engage with our partners internationally on ways that could end up helping save lives in the United States. I mentioned the Trump Administrations refusal to join cipi which is the International Body working on a vaccine. Why . Why is europe and canada and australia and japan and saudi arabia and india all working jointly on a vaccine and were on the outside . It doesnt mean that we would have to stop doing our own congressionallyfunded work to develop a vaccine. But why not also join the interNational Effort so that were not on the outside if they develop that vaccine. Thats an easy thing that we can do in this next bill. Make sure that we are both working on a vaccine domestically but also working internationally. When this crisis is over and life is returned to relative normal, there will be a grave, serious accounting of how badly the Trump Administration failed this nation. That it was sworn to protect. Im grateful for my colleagues stepping up time and time again in a bipartisan way to try to fill that vacuum that has been created by the failure to lead by the executive branch. And hopefully when we do that accounting, it will allow us to learn lessons. But for now, this congress has got to soldier on and do our best to muster a term response a federal response that if not for our actions would be practically nonexistent. I yield the floor. Mr. Cornyn madam president . The presiding officer the senator from texas is recognized. Mr. Cornyn madam president , like other senators, around this time of the year im used to welcoming folks from home who are traveling to washington, d. C. Between spring break trips and industry flyins, spring is normally a very busy season here at the capitol. And i always look forward to seeing both new and familiar faces, spending time with my constituents and talking about the challenges that theyre facing and the changes that they would like to see coming out of congress. But as we all know, this is not a typical springtime in washington. Normally busy sidewalks and hallways are largely empty as our constituents hunker down at home while we continue working to get them the help they need. Just as texans have adopted new routines to meet social distancing requirements, so have i. So have all of us. Over the last few weeks and i know im not alone among my colleagues ive logged some serious hours on phone calls and videoconferences with folks across texas. Actually, ive been a little bit surprised at how efficient it is in terms of reaching large numbers of people. And i think it will probably change some of the way we work here and some of the way we interact with our constituents in the future. But ive spoken with those in the medical field about the ongoing challenges to our frontline Health Care Workers, the progress toward developing a vaccine, antibody tests, and the like. Ive talked with the texas farm bureau, our farmers and ranchers, our Grocery Store workers, our food Bank Employees about the need to make sure that all texans can access the food they need, especially during a time like this. With mayors, connecticu county d other leaders in our communities, i talked to them about the work theyre doing. I was listening to our friend and colleague from connecticut who believes that the response needs to be coming out of washington, and that we all need to simply fall in line according to the dictates of the National Government. Well, it raises interesting questions about the Constitutional Convention and the agreement to have a federal system, not a national system. We have sovereign states that have their own sphere of responsibility. Our cities and counties are best able, in my view, to respond to local conditions. And rather than a command and control response, what weve had in texas and i dare say in most other place, weve had a collaborative approach, working with the National Government to provide the resources and some of the guidance that is very important, but with our governors who control the National Guard that have come out to help do testing, help stock food banks, help build temporary hospital facilities. And our mayors and county judges and local officials have really done an outstanding job. Im very proud of the work theyve done. But we havent just taken orders on high from the federal government. Weve worked together hand in glove with the federal government. Well, of course ive talked to countless Small Business owners across our big cities and Small Business towns an everywhere in between about the financial strain caused by the pandemic, and it is significant. To say the least. Many of course were forced to close their doors or dramatically scale back their operations and many have just had to make really hard decisions to stay afloat. I was just emailing with a friend of mine in dallas who has ownership in a company that just declared chapter 11 bankruptcy. Our Small Businesses are the heart and soul of our communities. Theyre our favorite locally owned restaurants, the florists we call upon on anniversaries and birthdays and other holidays, the dry clearance, the barber shops, the gyms, the pharmacies, all the places weve been going going for years. They feel like an extended part of the our family. They are part of what make our communities enique. They are a huge driver of our economy. In texas and across the country, Small Businesses employ nearly 50 of the local workforce. For many of these workers, the closures and cancellations brought on by the coronavirus have put their livelihoods in jeopardy, with many losing some or all of their income and many their job entirely. As the senate was working on our third response package back in march, we knew that without a serious investment in our Small Businesses, the result would be catastrophic. Thats why we created the Paycheck Protection Program through the cares act to provide cashflow assistance for our Small Businesses. As we know, those lowinterest loans can be used to cover everything from payroll to supply chain disruptions to rent or mortgage, and if the employers are able and i underline the word able if theyre able to keep their employees on the payroll until june, then much of those loans can be turned into grants. During my calls and videoconferences with chambers of commerce and Small Business owners throughout texas, i have been able to talk about the benefits of these loans and how to access them. Small Business Administration staff has joined me on dozens of these calls to answer technical questions about the loan program and other types of assistance offered by the s. B. A. , which has been really valuable and appreciative by everyone. And appreciated by everyone. My Small Businesses in my state have jumped at the opportunity to take advantage of the p. P. P. Loans and Start Talking about their banks and gathering their paperwork and going through the formal application process. As we know now, it became quickly obvious how popular the p. P. P. Program was and that it would exceed the funding levels after two weeks two weeks. That indicates the kind of demand and the kind of need, and our response was actually hitting the target. But after two weeks, the first 350 billion was exhausted, depleted. From that first 350 billion, 135,000 Small Businesses in texas received loans. More than any other state. That Program Brought approximately 28. 5 billion to texas Small Businesses and protected thousands of jobs. Well, we know after a little bit of jockeying back and forth with the house, Congress Finally replenished the Paycheck Protection Program with an additional 320 billion and that money is flying out the door as we speak. You dont have to look far to see why this program was so popular. Valerie gonzalez owned delicious tamales in my hometown of san antonio. Like other restaurants across the country, her business has struggled as the stayathome orders were put in place. Delicious tamales closed two weeks last month but was able to reopen because of the 232,000 loan they received through the paycheck treks program. All 38 employees returned to work. Valerie called the Paycheck Protection Program a lifesaver. For patients at a clinic in tyler, texas, these loans could be a literal lifesaver. Bethesda Health Clinic ensures services to the tight letter area. It doesnt receive federal funding and onethird of their funding comes infrastructure the Thrift Stores that they operate which were forced to close. The clinic had to furlough their employees in order to survive the financial squeeze but was able to take advantage of the Paycheck Protection Program. Christie mcgua is the chief financial and operations officer. She said, this has erased a lot of worry and allowed the furloughed employees to turn back to work. Its also enabled them to continue to serve the public during a time of heightened health care concerns. The patient Protection Program has been vital to texas Small Businesses, and i had dare say to the nations Small Businesses. And im glad congress, working together, as we should during a time of national emergency, was able to provide this lifeline and replenish these funds when they ran dry. Thats not to say, though that this program has been implemented without a hitch. When you do something this big and this fast, there are bound to be some hiccups. We expected there would be some small holes or gaps in what was needed, and over the last few weeks, those have become pretty clear. One of those issues is the taxdeductible expenses for the business that take advantage of these loans. Businesses are normally able to deduct wages and other business expenses. But the notice issued from the i. R. S. Says that Small Businesses cannot deduct these expenses, which is exactly the opposite of what we intended to do. To give you an idea of how harmful this could be, if a Small Business payroll during the eightweek period covered by a loan were 100,000, that amount could not be deducted as a business expense when they file their taxes. Our goal with this legislation was to help, not hurt to help Small Businesses to remain solvent and keep their employees on the payroll so they can recover from this pandemic as soon as possible and be ready for what i hope is a vshaped bounceback in our economy once we defeat this virus. We certainly didnt intend to make next year years tax season a nightmare or to add to the burdens of these Small Businesses. But based on the i. R. S. s guidance, thats the path were headed down. We have to right this wrong. Yesterday i introduced the bipartisan Small Business expense protection act with chairman and ranking members of the finance committee, senators grassley and senator wyden. Along with senator rubio, who chairs the Small Business committee and senator harper who serves on the finance committee. This would clarify that Small Businesses can still deduct the expenses that were paid for with the forgiven paycheck protection loan from their taxes. Without this clarification, Small Businesses will be up the creek without a paddle when they file their taxes next year. This program was created to reduce the financial barriers our Small Businesses are trying to overcome, not to add more. This bipartisan bill has already received support of the American Institute of c. P. A. s, certified public accountants, and is critical to ensuring americas Small Businesses receive the full intended benefits by congress in the Paycheck Protection Program. As we continue to provide relief for americas workers and Small Businesses, its critical that this fix be included. Texas Small Businesses saw the Paycheck Protection Program as a lifeline during this incredibly challenging time. Lets not make them regret grabbing ahold of it. Made and e president will be immediately notified of the senates action. Mr. Durbin mr. President . The presiding officer the senator from illinois. Mr. Durbin mr. President , its been five i spent five weeks in my home in springfield, illinois, following orders, good ones, to suggest that i had to get out of circulation and so should everyone else. It was an interesting moment. My wife and i think it may have been the longest stretch weve ever spent