I yield the floor and note the absence of the quorum. Madam president , as our nations war against the coronavirus has waged on, the city has taken Decisive Action to provide the resources we need to win the fight. We have sent critical equipment to our frontline healthcare workers and with expanded testing resources nationwide we provided loans to Small Businesses in order to protect jobs and wesi sent direct Financial Assistance to the americans who are struggling the hardest to make ends meet. These four bills, now now laws, passed by congress have a part of thec pandemic and the ensuing economic fallout. Now with the states beginning to graduate reopen their economies, were staring down the barrel of a second epidemic in one generated by opportunistic lawsuits, crushing legal fees and drawn out court battles. According to a database compiled by the law firm hutton andrews kurtz, more than 950 such lawsuits have already been filed in the united states. Weve since its against healthcare workers, nursing homes, colleges, governments, retailers, you name it. As our economy against to reopen, unfortunately so will the legal floodgates. Litigation epidemic is shaping up to be a big one. But dont get me wrong, madam president , lawyers are not all bad. I confess to being one myself. There will no doubt be some meritorious claims but many suits potentially serve as the cash cow, just to shake out the business for for a nuisance settlement due to the costs alone a defending a lawsuit, even if you win. With the pandemic that is affected more than 1 million americans you Better Believe there are some preparing for a gold rush. You can hear the tv commercials now asking if you are a loved one were impacted by the coronavirus encouraging you to call a 1800 number to see if you could be entitled to some money. Imagine you are a nurse who is being sued by the family of a patient who tragically passed away at your hospital. Even though you acted in good faith and you took every precaution to save the life of the patient, you could get pulled into a nightmarish legal fight over case into having no merit. Aura say youre a Small Business owner who close your doors at the start of the pandemic but then youve apply for the lows, youve been living in your power to stay afloat until you can reopen. When that time comes you take every precaution. Your employees wear masks, you reduce the number of customers so as to provide for social distancing. You regularly cleaned your store and at Hand Sanitizer available for all employees and customers. But then somebody says they contracted the virus in your store, and theyre going to sue you. Well, i have no doubt, madam president , that unless we provide for some limitations, the wouldbe businesses that will say, whys bother . Why take on the risk . Its just not worth it. Small businesses we know provide the lions share of the jobs in our economy if they could get roped into spending all their savings, whats left, to defend or settle a nuisance lawsuit. And the fear of these consequences could worsen the toll this crisis has already taken on ourim economy. We simply cannot allow a flood of frivolous lawsuits to harm our incredible healthcare workers or stuttgart economic recovery. As we speak, madam president , p im working with colleagues on legislation to address the anticipated lawsuit bonanza. Let me be clear. Not all lawsuit are created equal. Without a doubt there would be legitimate claims as result of reckless wrongdoing in the wake of this pandemic. And those of the types of cases we want to make sure our herd. Last week the utah daily herald reported that when business required staff who tested positive for the covid19 to report to work anyway. Almost half of the business deploys tested positive. You dont have to be perry mason or matlock, and i realize im datingys myself here, to see if this is an egregious violation of federal guidelines. Theres no desire to be the effort to hold that actors accountable, period. Thats my guiding principle. The problem is with the expected onslaught of frivolous claims which will do nothing more than harm the very people already hurt by this virus. Just because a lawsuit is baseless doesnt mean it will be quick, easy, or chief to resolve. And we cant put our healthcare workers in a situation where after battling this virus for months on end they then have to battle a false claim in court. Future legislation should include Liability Protections for our frontline workers and Small Businesses who are complying with the very government regulations designed to protect against the spread of the virus. More than a dozen governors have already provided Liability Protections to healthcare workers, we cant just dependn the states to uphold these protections. And we cant wait for the dam to break. Congress must act to provide a shield for healthcare workers at it and everything their power to save lives during this unprecedented crisis. Again, to state the obvious. This would noten interfere with liability or intentional or grossly negligent conduct. As ive said before, no one wants to put a stop to meritorious lawsuits. Lawsuit. We want to prevent baseless claims from tying up our courts, destroying jobs, and holding our economy hostage. There are several ways to accomplish this but we need to focus on a solution that provides clarity for our businesses and prevents gamesmanship in the courts. Michael krauss is a law professor at George Mason University who specializes in tort law. He has pointed out that employees can get Workers Compensation benefits if they become sick or disabled on the job. In other words, employees willer be covered by existing Workers Compensation laws. So now what were talking about is thirdparty claims, not employees. But defending lawsuits no matter how farfetched is expensive and litigation costs alone can make the difference between the destruction and the survival of the business. Professor krause has said in his opinion the ideal statute would do the following, you may not be sued. G, you he said that could include a list of requirements like wearing masks, specific regulations for restaurants come for meatpackers or other industries. Any liability limitations will only protect the individuals or companies who comply with those guidelines and who seek to keep their workers and the public safe. My colleagues and i have been a discussion about the best way to do this and were actively developing a proposal that i hope will gain bipartisan support. There are fair and reasonable ways to deal with this. Weve seen this before here this is not a novel concept, whether its a response to the y2k, paranoia paranoia around the turn of the century, or the attacks of 9 11. And there are many, many more examples where congress has on a bipartisan basis responded to a National Emergency and provided these sort of common sense legal protections. As we continue to work to support the American People during the crisis we are facing today, we cant ignore the onslaughtsu of lawsuits that cod consume Small Business and strangle our recovering economy. Congress must act to ensure america doesnt wake up from this pandemic only to find it in the legal nightmare that we could and should have prevented. Madam president , i yield the floor. Today senators will continue debate on the nomination of brightman, to be deputy housig and urban Development Secretary at noon eastern lawmakers are expected to vote on his confirmation. And now to live coverage of the u. S. Senate here on cspan2. 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 god, the fountain of wisdom, we cherish your presence and honor your name. Give our lawmakers the wisdom to live with honor, as they remember