America. And in the midst of that, that rising up for Police Department rethinking and Police Department murder and brutality, in the midst of all that, our country continues to suffer from the covid19 pandemic which in a number of locations in this country is actually getting worse and which has up to this point killed over 110,000 people and infected over two million americans. And then on top of all of that, the struggle for Racial Justice dealing with ap pandemic in the midst with a pandemic in the midst of all that we have the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression of the 1930s. And in the last number of months, as you know, over 32 million americans have lost their jobs. Mr. President , in the midst of the struggle for Racial Justice, in the midst of this horrific health care crisis, in the midst of this economic meltdown, the American People are demanding to know what their government is doing in response to these crises. We were elected as senators, members of the house to respond to the needs of the American People. And all over this country the American People are looking around them. They see the struggle for Racial Justice. They see a pandemic. They see an economic meltdown. And many of them are asking what the Republican Leadership here in the senate is doing. Crisis after crisis after cris crisis. And what is the leadership here in the senate doing . And tragically, mr. President , the answer is nothing. Nothing. Historians have suggested that in the year 64 a. D. , while rome was burning, the emperor nero played his fiddle. At least he did something. He provided entertainment to his court. But here in the u. S. Senate, republican leader mcconnell and his Leadership Team are doing nothing. Sadly, tragically, this is the worst donothing senate in modern American History and every member of this body should be deeply ashamed at the degree to which we are failing our constituents. Mr. President , enough is enough. The United States senate must respond to the pain and the suffering of the American People. Let us quickly wrap up debate over the land and Water Conservation fund act which is on the floor right now. Let us wrap up debate. Let us vote on this bill. Its a good bill. Lets pass it. And then let us begin to work on the unpres unprecedented crisest are facing our country. Mr. President , if there is anything that the torture and murder of george floyd by Minneapolis Police has taught us is that we have to rethink the nature of policing in america and reform our broken and racist criminal justice system. Let us be clear. The murder of george floyd is not just an isolated incident. It is the latest in an endless series of Police Killings of African Americans, including eric garner, sandra bland, mcdonald. Tamir rice, freddie gray, walter scott, and many, many, many others. And if anyone thinks that these Police Murders have just begun to take place in recent years when people had cell phone cameras, you would obviously have been mistaken. This has gone on forever. Mr. President , the American People are rightly demanding justice and an end to Police Brutality and murder. The u. S. Senate has got to act now. We have got to hear the cries for justice that are coming from the streets of this country, that are coming from the African American community, from the white community, from the latino community, from all of our people. We must act and we must act now. And let me just suggest some of the items that must be in the legislation that we passed. And this is a limited number. We can do more. In my view, every Police Officer involved in a killing must be held accountable and those found guilty must be punished with the full force of law. That includes officers who stand by while these brutal acts take place. Every single killing of a person by police or while in Police Custody must be investigated by the department of justice. We must create a process by which Police Departments look like the communities that they serve and not look like invading armies. We need to abolish qualified immunity so Police Officers are held sievally liable for abuses. We need to prohibit the transfer of offensive military equipment to Police Departments. We need to strip federal funds from departments that violate civil rights. We need to provide funding to states and municipalities to create a i civilian corps of unarmed First Responders to supplement law enforcement. For too long we have asked Police Departments to do things which they are not trained or proposed to do. Or prepared to do and have criminalized societal problems like addiction and homelessness and mental illness. These are not problems solved by incarceration. We need to make records of Police Misconduct publicly available so that an officer with a record of misconduct cannot simply move two towns over and start again. We need to require all jurisdictions that receive federal Grant Funding to establish independent Police Conduct review boards that are broadly represented representative of the community and have the authority to refer deaths that occur at the hands of police or Police Custody to federal authorities for investigation. We need to ban the use of rubber bullets, tear gas, and pepper spray on protesters. We need to make certain that when people go to the street to protest, that they are not treated like criminals and that thetheir basic constitutional and that their basic Constitutional Rights are denied. Mr. President , the struggle for Racial Justice is just one of the crises that we have got to address. Today, mr. President , we are looking at a pandemic unprecedented in the last 100 years. And i would tell you that new zealand, a very small country, about five Million People, did something rather interesting. Not surprising but interesting. They listened to their scienti scientists. They acted boldly at the start of the pandemic and they had Political Leadership trusted by their citizens. The result is that just the other Day New Zealand was able to announce that the covid19 virus was virtually eliminated in their country and that they could reopen their economy safely. Safely. On the other hand in the United States under President Trump, we have a president who downplayed the crisis from the very beginning, who ignored or attacked scientists, and who most people recognize is a pathological liar not to be trusted. Mr. President , in new zealand, in many other countries bold and intelligent action saved lives. In our country tragically incompetent leadership cost us lives. Well, we cannot bring back those who unnecessarily died or who have become ill. But what we can do is take action now to do Everything Possible to minimize unnecessary debts and illness in the future. First and foremost, we need a National Protocol based on science to address this pandem pandemic, not have 50 states and hundreds of communities Going Forward in different directions. There is a way to effectively deal with this crisis. And that leadership should be coming from the federal government. What we are talking about is the need among other things for increased testing and how we best utilize that testing as we talk about opening businesses and schools. We need through the defense production act and any other approach to make certain that all medical personnel have the necessary personnel protective equipment that they need. Even today, months after the pandemic erupted, doctors and nurses still lack the equipment they need to protect themselves. I was on the phone just a couple of weeks ago with people in vermont that work in clinics. They still do not have the protective equipment that they need. We need to produce hundreds of millions of the most effective masks that we can so as to protect all americans above and beyond medical personnel. Masks are an important part of fighting this pandemic, and every american should be able to have the best quality mask possible. Working with the international community, we need to make certain that a safe sack convenient is produced as quickly as possible and that it is distributed to every american for free. Ive asked the Trump Administration on several occasions when and godwilling, that vaccine will be produced soon, as soon as possible we all want that. As you all know, the federal government is spending billions of dollars to develop that vaccine, giving money to the Drug Companies. Thats fine. But after that vaccine is developed, it must be distributed to every man, woman, and child in this country at no cost. I dont want to see people dying because they cant afford to pay for a vaccine. I dont want to see the Drug Companies profiteering from this federal investment. When were talking about responding to the pandemic, we are talking about workers who are on the front lines, and that is whether theyre medical professionals or workers in transportation, grocery stores, drugstores, meatpacking plants a, or whatever. They must receive hazard pay for the dangerous work that they do. I get a little bit tired of seeing these tv ads from big corporations thanking the heroes who are out on the front lines. Well, thats great. Thank them. But pay them. Pay them hazardous pay for the dangerous work that they are doing. We can no longer allow multibilliondollar corporations like amazon, walmart, and tyson foods to treat essential workers like expendable workers, like sacrificial workers. We can no longer allow multibilliondollar corporations to run advertising calling their workers heroes while paying them starvation wages and treating them disrespectfully. Mr. President , its not just the Racial Justice crisis we face, not just the pandemic we face, but we are in the midst of an unprecedented economic crisis. And we must act boldly and aggressively to protect the American People in the midst of this crisis. As we speak, tens of millions of people have lost their jobs. They are worried about being evicted from their apartments. They are worried about losing their homes. They are worried about putting food on the table. In vermont and i suspect in every state in this country there are people lining up at emergency food shelves to get the food they need to feed their kids. And anyone who thinks that this is not a moment of urgency does not understand what the word urgency means. When people in america go hungry, we have got to act. When people are being evicted from their apartments or losing their homes, we have got to act, and we have got to act now, not a month from now, not two months from now. No, President Trump, this is not a time to take a victory lap. The real Unemployment Rate remains over 20 , the highest it had been since the Great Depression. Unless we get our act together boldly, over half of Small Business owners in america will be forced to close their doors for good within the next six months. We need to respond vigorously to the economic crisis that we face and the pain and suffering of the American People. Now, what does that mean . Again, just a few provisions that have got to be passed. We need to pass a paycheck security act, which does what many European Countries do, and that is provide workers with 100 of the paychecks and benefits they previously received. According to a recent study from the university of california berkeley, if we had adopted a Paycheck Guarantee Program similar to the one in germany, 24 million americans would have a job today. Instead, we are seeing President Trump and senator mcconnell taking a victory lap because we created some two million jobs last month. Thats good, but when we have 32 Million People who have lost their jobs in recent months, we have got to act, and we have got to act boldly. In my view, during this crisis, we must make sure that every american gets the health care that they need by expanding medicare to cover the underinsured, the uninsured, and that the needs of people who have private insurance but inadequate private insurance. In my view, mr. President , in the midst of this crisis, with so much economic suffering, we need to provide every workingclass person in this country with a 2,000 emergency payment each and every month until the crisis is over so that they can pay the rent, feed their families, and deal with their basic needs. Furthermore, as our top priority, we have got to make sure that nobody in america goes hungry, and that means substantially expanding the meals on wheels program, the school meals programs, and snap benefits. So, mr. President , here we are. All over this country people are demanding an end to Police Killings and brutality, demanding Racial Justice in this country. All over this country people are being infected with the virus, continue to die. And all over this country people are wondering how theyre going to pay their bills because theyve lost their jobs and have, in some cases, no food in the cupboard. If there was ever a time in the modern history of this country that the senate and the house are called upon to stand up for the families, the working families of this country who are struggling, who are living in emotional anxiety, who are scared to death about what is going to happen in the future, if we are to reaffirm safe in government in this country, to know that we are seeing and hearing that pain, now is the time. So today i just call upon my colleagues. I know we have disagreements, but let us understand the urgency of the moment. Let us deal with the pandemic. Lets save lives. Lets deal with the economic crisis. Lets put people back to work. Lets deal with the issue of Racial Justice. Lets fight to end racism in this country. There is an enormous amount of work to be done. Lets do it. Thank you. Stabenow thank you. President. Mr. President , something is happening in america. People across our country and in my home state of michigan are coming together for the cause of Racial Justice in a way that we have not really experienced in a generation. From holland to marquette to detroit, people of all ages and face and backgrounds have been marching together, singing together, praying together, and kneeling together. In one voice people are demanding change. Employing our nation to finally be that place where all men and