But the big question we need to ask ourselves at this point is where it will be discovered and what benefit will provide for the United States . You see, there was one major nations that boycotted this International Telephone conference about discovering the vaccine. It was the United States. President trump decided not to participate with the leaders of nations from around the world in this global conversation about finding a safe and effective vaccine to fight coronavirus. Im not sure what his motive was, but we know that at least 94 other vaccines are being explored in work on it nations around the world. Inhe england, for example, in germany, and so many of the countries that are looking for the same safe and effective vaccine that we and the United States are lookingaf for. I have great cut faith and confidence in the men and women in medical research in the United States and the production facilities in our country, but i am not so proud owners of a massively that no other country could find that safe and effective vaccine. Did, and if they did, would we hesitate for a moment to turn to that country and say the United States once to s be part of producing that vaccine and receiving that vaccine for the people who live here next so why, why would the president of the United States decide we are going to boycott thate, conference, stay away frm it . Im sure he has a dozen reasons, but they dont seem very convincing to me. We should be at the table where ever there is a serious credible effort to discover of vaccine, and the United States should be participating. They were trying to raise 8 billion. Thats a lot of money. But remember, we are dealing with an effort to rescue our economy from coronavirus, which is now in the range of 2. 8 trillion. We are asking for adjustments to put in money. Nor we said it would pledge 1 billion, norway. The the European Union that it would pledge 1 billion towards of this global vaccine effort. The United States should have been at that table. We should be all in for any credible effort to find a vaccine as quickly as possible. I introduce a resolution calling on the administration reversed its position and to join in this effort. And i want to commend bill and Melinda Gates who participated in that telephone conference and pledged billions of dollars of their own funds on behalf of the United States. Thank you to the gates family for caring. Now, mr. , president , you should join them. Madam president , this morning the republican leader came to the floor and talked about the problems and challenges thate we face and the fact that there is another bill which is going to be offered publicly this week by speaker nancy pelosi, and the t in a succession of legislation that weve considered over the last several weeks. Weve seen dramatic investments in Unemployment Insurance for the Record Number of Unemployed People in this country. We have seen immense investment in the Small Business of america to give them a fighting chance to reopen and to prosper in the future. I joined and all these on a bipartisan basis and i will continue to. I do know the specifics of Speaker Pelosis proposal. Senator mcconnell came to the for an award is not to think big, not to think about transformational things. And then of course he will back to his time honored course about the question of liability. Senator mcconnell has come l to the floor repeatedly, repeatedly and said that before he would consider another covid19 rescue bill, he would need to see what he calls a red line honored when it comes to liability lawsuits. Whats being proposed by Speaker Pelosi when it comes to state and local governments is really an affirmation of whats been said but every one of us when it comes to our First Responders, the police, firefighters, the paramedics, healthcare workers andth teachers. What she says in her bill is they had been hit and hit hard at state and local government levels by thisal covid19, and e is proposing, as i understand it, a substantial commitment to help those units of government that actually been hurt by this coronavirus. What shes asking forg really is whether or not all of our speeches about healthcare workers and police and First Responders and firefighters and teachers is really credible, and whether, in fact, will come up with the resources that are needed. Senator mcconnell has said that he will not support that legislation and less, as he calls it, his red line of liability is honored. What hes saying is he refuses to fund our police, firefighters, paramedics and teachers unless we provide guaranteed is his immunity from covid19 lawsuits by workers ans consumers. Senator mcconnells guaranty business community, sadly, is indication for irresponsible corporations and businesses to cut corners when it comes to protecting workers and those customers in such who would be threatened by coronavirus. The mcconnell redline threat would result in what people being infected by the coronavirus, more people getting sick. Thats not what we want. Theres a better way. We should be talking about how to do this properly. This afternoon they will be a hearing before the Senate Judiciary committee. One of these witnessesof been called republicans as a man named kevin spark, chief executive officer and president of quick check food stores in bottom texas turkeys testified on behalf of the National Association of Convenience Stores on this question of liability. Statement this morning in preparation for the hearing and i commend it to my colleagues because i want them to listen carefully to what mr. Smart says he believes businesses need. Heres what he says. He talks about his own Company Quick check. Our First Priority is the safety of our employees and customers. Beginning in early march we adjusted her daily protocols to mitigate the spread of p the virus. This was a challenge because the s guidance provided by the cdc, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration as well as state and local governments often conflicted with one another in addition to being vague and difficult to follow. Yet despite many uncertainties including the counselor fluctuating Public Health guidelines began to adjust in the pandemic. Mr. Smart is that same businesses dont have a responsibilityli here. Hes accepting that responsibility to create a safe employment for workers and customers but he sang to us when it going to s establish the standards . Why do you keep changing the standards . Here we are with senator mcconnellil threatening to derail the next rescue bill for police and firefighters and teachers across america unless there is guaranteed immunity from lawsuits, and heres one of the leading companies, the number one primary witness in republican in the Senate Judiciary committee saying to the federal government and state governments, establish standards. Reasonable standards for us to live up to one comes to conducting business, and we will do it. I think thats a reasonable request by his business. Why are we not doing it . Why hasnt osha establish standards for the safety of workers one of her other witnesses here, this gentleman whos the head of the united food and commercial workers, i have a special fondness for this union because when i was a college kid i spent 12 months working in ark slaughterhouse in east st. Louis, illinois, and it was his union that i belonged to back in those days. It was tough, dirty, dangerous work, and i looked to it as an important chapter in my life when i i saw how real people go work every day, and many times their safety and their help in doing it. Mark perrone tells us there been literally thousands of these Meat Processing workers whod been infected by this virus in 85 who died as a result of it. What hes looking for, what youre looking for is for those companies to establish standards of safety for their workers so that they can go back to work, and some are doing just that. I commend them. Some are working with the union to find safe ways to test their workers and to bring them back to a job site where it is safe for them to work in. But they dont have a national standard. We have not established the national standard, as we should, whether through osha or through cdc. Establish standards for businesses across this country to live up to. And i believe many mr. Smart, mark perrone with united food and commercial workers comp would applaud that. It would say at least we know what social distancing standards will be used in the workplace. At least we know what protective equipment is required in the workplace to protect our employees. At least we know going into this exactly what the standardsta are that we need to live up to. A business that is consciousous, scarce for its workers, cares for its customers, and they can have reasonable standards by a public viewpoint, theres no wonder theres uncertainty when you look at the situation today. Center for Disease Control voluntary standards, suggestions, the white house accepts some, publishes some, scoffs at some and there is no clear mental to people across america what the standards of safety will be. So i would say this this hearing this afternoon is important to hear from mr. Smart and his willingness to look for standards that he can live by, to hear from mark peroni about the dangers to his workers across the workplace and dont believe for a minute that this caravan of lawsuits threat that we hear over and over again tells the whole story. When you take a look at the lawsuits that have been filed, its not just the socalled caravan of trial lawyers that are coming in and jumping on this. There are businesses suing businesses. There are lots of lawsuits that have little or nothing to do with personal injury. There are also lawsuits involving workers compensation. Senator mcconnells suggestion is that we overturn the state laws that give workers the right to recover in the workplace if there are injuries or their health is impaired because of the covid19 virus, what a terrible outcome that would be. To walk away from protections for workers for every state in the union for senator mcconnells socalled red line threat when it comes to the covid19 number four bill that Speaker Pelosi is proposing. So madam president , theres an answer here, a reasonable answer, say to the businesses, join us in the fight and lets stand together. You protect your workers and you protect your customers and well stand by you. Well establish a reasonable standard of conduct for you which will protect you from forgive will us lawsuits, but to take the approach of senator mcconnell to say theyre going to guarantee immunity against lawsuits is the wrong thing to do. We need a standard of safety that businesses can be proud of, that workers can respect and customers can count on so they can go into places, do their business, buy the products and know that theres a standard of good health thats being established for everyone. Madam president , i yield the flo floor. Madam president. Senator from nebraska is recognized. Madam president , i rise today to speak about the unprecedented crisis that our nation is facing. In a matter of just a few months, covid19 has completely changed our daily lives. This virus has forced us to close schools, shut down restaurants, cancel major events and temporarily shutter businesses across our country. The