Affiliation. This is the first opportunity on the senate floor to offer a word about kamala harris, one of our colleagues in a historic move was asked by another former Senate Colleague of the Vice President joe biden in his preferred nominee to be Vice President of the United States. Ive come to know senator harrison or four years in the senate through her service on then Judiciary Committee and the intelligence committee, her publicservice track record is a significant one worthy of praise from her work as a District Attorney in the line prosecuteds no untrained and in San Francisco where she focused on trying to keep her Community Safe to services, California Attorney general running the portfolio toe include Environmental Justice and Consumer Protection and her work tin the senate since 2016. What i find so compelling about senator harris to her track record of Public Service during her long career as her personal story raises the child into immigrants and jamaican father and indian mother as so many and raise the children of immigrants in a patriotic love of country, she is the first nominee africanamerican woman nominee to be on a ticket, shes the first south asian person in south asian descent to be on a ticket and on the year 2020 when we are commemorating the hundredthr anniversary of the amendment that guaranteed women the right to vote, i think of no greater way to celebrate a centennial then one of her colleagues who wanted to have a chance to break a Glass Ceiling the still has existed where no woman in thisor country ski has been in this country. Were so good that so much in this country and were so good at many things with regard to women in this country and to Higher Office in congress, 24 of congresses women and that makes us 76 in the world in terms of our percentage of women in the National Legislative body, were tied with iraq and mexico and many other nations. So regardless of how it all works out between now and november and regardless of our own political, affiliation, ths is a good day for the country in a good day for the senate when one of the 100 is recognized and introduced to the macon public to serve as a significant level. Returning to the latest coronavirus package, currently the package does not exist, there have been no bipartisan negotiations since last friday, that is disappointing to all of us who are here, ready and negotiate and vote for strong bipartisan relief package, the house of representatives passed its strong package back on may 15, now nearly three months ago, today is august 12, there was some hope that maybe covid cases were taking downward at the end of may there was some hope that the economic devastation w was covid cases did not take down over the summer as son had hoped but they picked up in many parts of o the country and the senate has not taken any votes on the house bill or indeed on any bill, that is disappointing. More than that is disappointing for millions of americans who are in the midst of hard times right now and worried about theirou own health or the health of their loved ones and whether the received unappointed benefits or however, make rent or the mortgage or how their children will get an education. We know in this body we can transcend politics as usual to address coronavirus because we did so in march bypassing the cares act even as members of the body including me were getting coronavirus as we were having those negotiations, even as Senate Spouses were getting it, we stayed at the table and found a bipartisan bill that helped us deal with the challenge for a few critical months, but were here today debating it again because the magnitude ofsi the crisis is not a crisis of a few months, its such that the aid provided so much while running out what americans her chips continue. Thats why its essential we not giveo up and stay here as long s it takes to come through for the American People. I heard some in congress and in this body say about more federal aid for coronavirus response, i dont see the need for, the majority leader has candidly acknowledged that approximately 20 members of the Republican Caucus will not vote for more aid. I want to make the case first, there is need for it. And they need is undeniable. The circumstance of people are living in our dire. Last friday we thought that the unemploymentum rate was tenpoit to percent which is a number any point during the 2008 to march 2009 recession, the president called the great jobs number but i dont see anything great, about one in ten americans who are in the workforce not been able to find work, more than 30 million americans are collecting on Employment Benefits and the last week the benefit checks were cut by more than 50 , and virginia just as an example, unemployed workers are now receiving a maximum of 370 a week. That is not enough to pay rent, letter known rent, groceries, electric bills and many other costs that families face every day. E, because they lost their jobs and other income, millions of americans are now at risk for eviction or foreclosure, the 600 federal unemployment benefit and federal Eviction Moratorium were holding this offer many but with the relief measures expiring families are unable to continue paying their august or september bills, and estimate is 12 million evictions will be filed by october, 12 million is the combined population of about six or seven states, there can be that many evictions filed by october just in virginia, there was a state imposed Eviction Moratorium that lasted for five weeks and just in those five weeks,rl nearly 10000 evictions were filed, potentially forcing people out of their homes, three in ten virginia renters surveyed a couple weeks ago said they were uncertain how they can pay august rent. It was more than half of all africanamerican renters, the survey said that was the case. Having instability is difficult at any point in time but imagine losing your housing during a pandemic, what are people supposed to do during the pandemic, the advice is if you can stay home, dont go out, dont be with others, that will help keep you and your family safe but how could he quorum tina home if you are in danger of losing your home. Like the senator the majority leader who quoted from constituents in kentucky im here in virginia constituents everyday, in my savings account i rent due, groceries to buy, rent to pay and im desperate for immediate help. From three children, one with significant special needs, my wife cannot work due to covid19 in school closures, im behind on numerous bills including mortgage, utility and other bills. From dominican fairfax, my rent is three months behind as well as my other bills and then receiving letters threatening evictions and services being turnedff off. Unfortunately, these examples are now aberrations but they are common, we all know people, we all know people who are at risk of losing their home or being hungry or losing healthcare. Or their savings being depleted because of the essence of work. So we have to make sure that people are not removed from their homes in the middle of a Health Crisis, we need to make sure that they can continue to e pay bills until their Health Crisis is sufficiently addressed in the economy gets back to where it was, schools and colleges across the country are trying to be open right now, it does not matter if its in person, online or hybrid model, we wanted to reopen safely right now and this is the time to provide schools with the resources they need to deliver quality instruction, not punish them for following Public Health guidance and data. Working families are struggling toni find critica childcare opt, childcare providers themselves are struggling, virginia in the nation according to National Surveys is at risk of losing 45 of its licensed childcare, thatc is that 130,000 childcare slots in virginia without the Additional Support that they would need to help them stay viable and if we lose childcare capacity, that will have a significant consequence in terms of the ability of people to go back to work so the economy can start to grow again. On the nutrition front, were facing unprecedented rise in Food Security as thousands of virginia have newly enrolled in the Snack Program, the booking institute estimates that nearly 14 million children in food insecure households, 14 million children, that is nearly six times the number of children who were food insecure just as recently as 2018. In nearly three times as many who were food insecure during the peak of the Great Recession of 2008, 2009. About all of my colleagues have experienced this because were talking to food banks that have been slammed with the demand that theyve never witnessed before and its been harder for food banks to get groceries of access because Grocery Store shelves have been ravaged as people are going to Grocery Stores while restaurants are closed. So what do food banks do, increasing demand of your donation from Grocery Stores capitalized b a food bank and purchased 170 truckloads in april which is triple what the food being purchased in all of 2019, just in one month, they tripled their entire purchase compared to 2019 in the food bank which serves the western part of my commonwealth saw a number of new families seeking food assistance, quadruple from last year and we want to address that hardship and losing their jobs and being evicted and going hungry. I know there are areas that we agree on, Small Business is important, broadband is important, the telecommuter gives educational content online, they have to have access to broadband, testing is important, childcare is important, these are important priorities, i believe we can come together on but the republican plan that the senate gop introduced to this body which the majority leader acknowledges that 20 members of the caucus will not support has large kutztown employment made, no state and local government aid to prevent layoffs to First Responders in vital programs and services, the majority leader characterized state and local government made as a fun, i was mayor, i was the governor, i know whats happening to state and local budgets and when the revenue to state and local government declined there is about one place they can go in e the one place is for lowes, waiver salaryth cuts, and cuttig personnel, the over while theim majority work for state and local governments, its never a good time to cut police, fire emt, ambulance, healthcare workers, never a good time, the worst time is in the midst of a Global Health pandemic, is not a slush fund, its a necessity that the communities where the people live and work have basic services to get to this challenge. The republican proposal had inadequate education aid, no aid for the eviction tsunami that is facing us to provide rent or mortgage assistance, no nutrition aid in the Snack Program or otherwise to help the 14 million kids today living in food insecure households. The republican proposal did include a comprehensive liability shield to prevent anyone from suing if there is employers negligence that causes the virus outbreak. I thought it was interesting that so often on the other side of the aisle on this body when this perspective bill has been talked about that has been at the front of the line to worry about lawsuits is the biggest concern that the American People have, no one in virginia when they tell me about their concerns is worried about lawsuits at the top of the listr theyre talking about food and hunger and healthcare and housing, the liability shield goes even further in protecting against liability, and wipes out states abilities to pass safetyb regulation, virginia became the first in the country to do an emergencyar temporary standard o provide guidance to Public Places and employers about Safety Standards that they could use on the job, it is good to get advice about Safety Standards because most businesses dont have an nih or cdc or health department, advice about standards that should be followed in workplaces is a great idea, virginia became the first state in the country to do that, the republican liability shield will not only give people Liability Protection but it would take away the ability of the states to do what virginiahi did to try to create lifesaving protections for workers and customers, that is unacceptable. Unacceptable. Democrats offer to meet halfway, we knew when the heroes act passed, weve been around the block a few times, it wasnt that the Senate Republicans would say thats a great idea will vote, thats not the way things work, the Senate Republicans would have their proposal just as the House Democrats have theirs, the two proposals had dramatically different price tags, the Senate Proposal together with the white house came in the neighborhood of 1 trillion and the house proposal came in the neighborhood ofigri 3 trillion. The democrat said, theres nothing magic about these numbers but it is important toin understand that willingness to compromise is something that americans expect of us right n now, democrat said you have a package worth a trillion and we have a package worth 3 trillion, lets put the difference, will have to decide how to compose the 2 trilliondollar package but lets split the difference, the white house refused, the white house got an offer toe a t halfway and said thats not what were going to do. We insist on the skinny version, the skinny version is inadequate to meet the challenge of the moment, this is the worst Economic Contraction in the 145 years where we have measured Quarterly Economic growth in this country, this is the worst pandemic that the United States has dealt with since the spanish flu of 1917, 1918 and if you dont like the democratic bill because you think the price tag is too big, how about meeting us halfway, thats the way negotiations so often w happen. After the white house rejected the notion of meeting halfway, the president issued executive orders that he claims breakthrough the logjam, like many think the president does, analysis of the executive order demonstrates the substance there, the president proposed to defer payroll protection, that does not give americans more money, gives them a larger tax bill next year. Because its a deferral that the president cannot let the obligation on the employers or the employees. Its also very confusing to employers to suggest you should defer but its likely to start back up again, that is very, very hard for employers especially small employers to figure it out. And we all know the payroll tax is the main filler of social security. As every generation pays and this is the mother working so they can enjoy retirement with dignity in their senior years. President trump has said this is just not the deferral, if he has his way and reelected he will permanently cancel the tax, that would undermine Retirement Security for all future generations. The executive order with respect to housing did actually nothing, and ordered agencies to look into delaying evictions and foreclosures but no assistance, no dollars for those facing eviction or for those facinglo foreclosures, look into can you delay them, governors are already saying executive order ldwith unemployment would be vey difficult for them to reconfigureed their ui systems o them to do and asked them to help pay for in the executive order, even if states can figure out how to launch a completely new system, the benefits would run out in five weeks. On the surface the executive order with respect to Student Loan Relief looks like an Automatic Extension of the cares act but if you dig into it thats not whatll it is, the orr leaves out 8 million student loan borrowers and it does not even mention whether borrowers Credit Ratings and Credit Scores will be protected if they take advantage of whats offered under thed io. What about the millions of students who are struggling to financially find a way to go back to college or the students that are trying to find a way to still make sure students get an education when they reopened. Or the working families that are struggling to find childcare, School Boards and superintendents around the country have come with a proposal saying to open School Safely would cost about 175 billion and thats what the table,re put on that is not addressed at all in the executive orders, even as we stand at the threshold in school reopening, and some the president s executive orders address firstly none of the hardships, saul virtually none of the hardships, lifted none of the burden that americans are suffering through right now, we are having hard times and its our duty to address the hardship, democrats are willing to compromise when we say we have a plan but will meet you halfway in the white house is no, what are weo, supposed to d, what are we supposed to do. Asic skinny version is not sufficient for the crisis, the Senate Republican proposal has some elements that we support but so many others unaddressed is not adequate, the Republican White House has rejected compromise in president trumps executive order are partly illegal, partly unworkable and completely insufficient. It doesnt have to be this way. Because there are areas where we can find agreement, i know many in this body are hearing from their home states and governors and mayors and local governments and colleges and universities and School Boards in Housing Authority and food banks and hospitals in the chambers of commerce your hearing the same thing that im hearing from virginians. As i conclude, it does not have to be this way, we can put together the bipartisan deal but house my my way or the highway, has to be compromise for a democratic proposal and a proposal that is acceptable to some on the gop site in the whitey house. Any large compromise and divided government is bound to be imperfect but i am reminded of a quote from fdr during the depression years, you never really had to use quotes from the depression because the magnitude of the depression is different than what ive experienced during most ofos my life that now quotes from the depression bear some revisiting. Heres what fdr said, as the administration and congress at the time were doing everything that they could to figure out oneedy americans, better the occasional fault of the government that lives in a spirit of charity than the consistent omission of a government frozen in the ice of its own indifference. By now Everybody Knows somebody who is gotten covid19 or somebody who has gotten sick or even died or lost a job or somebody whos worried about rent or food, we all know those people and many have experienced this and our own families. Are we going to help . Or are we going to be frozen in the ice of her own indifference. Lets surprise the senate, lets Work Together and get this done and with that mr. President , i yield the floor. Mr. President. The senator from nevada. Is a sin listen to my student calling from virginia, i cannot agree more, now is the time for us to come together to do with the senate traditionally does best, that is working on the best interest of the people across this country who are struggling right now, it is not about work compromise, it is time for us to get in a room and really do the job that the American Public expects us to do and that is looking out for the best interest at a time when we have a healthcare pandemic, keep in mind this is a onceinalifetime pandemic, onceinalifetime, that requires us to come together and really focus on how we help americans across this country who are struggling right now, be penalized, we have asked them to staylt at hoe in place because we are trying to address how we do the research that is necessary fory a vaccine, hopefully one y we have that vaccine, how we ramp up the testing that is needed so everybody can feel safe and comfortable knowing whether they have the virus were not for the antibody, were not there yet more work needs to be done particular by the congress but the American Public has heard in their sheltering in place, their staying home, they shudder their businesses and now more than ever, this country needs the senate to act, the house ando senate job with the work ofay comprehensive package and i say comprehensive because we cannot just pick and choose winners and losers, this is not what this is about. This is about making sure we are bringing relief and helping those across this country and everybody is impacted because we promise them, if you do what we say and you help stop the virus, we will have your back, we are going to take care of you. But i will say, we have failed at that, this administration has failed, we have failed at the promise, i know when we all go to our offices and go home to constituents, we get emails, calls, letters and i know you all feel the same as i do and we read them and listen to them, i dont know one stay in this country right now that summit is not suffering from the pandemic that needs your help, i know that is why i am here, we have all took s the oath, we said wee going to be here working on best interest of her stay in this country to make sure that those individuals across this country who pay our salary expect us to do our jobs and work. And thats what im asking for right now, ive been at the floor of the senate this week to talk about the struggles that i see in my state, we all get letters and i want to focus today on why theres so many, a conference of package t is necessary, right now i would love to talk to you about what i am seeing in my home state when it comes to our seniors and those who are in need right now with funding to help Nursing Homes, let me just start with letters because i think this is how it starts with all of us, letters coming from our constituents and theres two calls i received, one of them was from a daughter who called in for her father who is in a va nursing home in boulder city nevada and because he is not showing symptoms, he is not getting tested with so many cases, how is this possible, where are the test, this is a daughter who is concerned for iher father, knowing if we just get people tested there is a comfort in knowing whether or not you have the virus and whether you should be quarantines or how we protect you particular those in Nursing Homes, and another, and received a mother a certified nursing assistant at at nursing home ad she is telling me many there quit because they dont have the proper ppe, they want to work but they dont want to expose themselves so what are we doingw right now to address all of these things, there is so much, it is overwhelming but thats why we are sitting here, for the hard ones, not the easy went to make sure we are all working for the best interest of the people in our states and i know you all feel the same way. I have to tell you this, there are thousands of nevadans that know the anxiety that comes because there is a spouse, parent or grandparent in a nursing home unable to visit with or hug their loved ones foe fear ofea getting covid19, you have seen it, youve heard it, i have heard it, too many loved ones have lost their loved ones because of this virus, they were not able tokn be there, who is there with them in thedi nursing home who are sacrificing their own health to be with them and there are so many factors that raise a risk for nursingen home residents and the majority of residents are seniors. Many of underlying conditions, they live in close quarters and they share common spaces. We also know this, residents and staff should not be an afterthought they are core part of our communities and our Healthcare System they are the keepers of her stories, we have to do more to protect them and we have to protect the workers, many belong to communities of color and struggling to adhere to a population with unique needs. The reason why i bring this up, there is legislation out there to do just what im talking about and what we need and ourdy communities. It is not something new, 30 been introduced, my colleague bob casey introduced the nursing him covid19 protection prevention act to get nursing and long care facilities in nevada and across this country more ppe, the testing that they need and the staffing and to help the staff. In those that are in those communities. They need support to slow the spread of the virus and to respond rapidly when it does pop up using all weve learned from combating this virus apart. The bill has teams of nurses and other critical staff to lend emergency help that Nursing Homes without breaks and to bring the best practices to bear in helping sick residents. This bill ensures folks in my home state are being taken care of, families have peace of mind that there is accountability for providers and protection in place from workers. I am hearing from family members and loved ones and those in Nursing Homes in my state, i am hearing from caregivers and healthcare workers, i know all of you are as well and one thing that comes from all these people is appealing of being forgotten, no one should be forgotten right now, it is to come together, we need to make sure Nursing Homes follow guidelines and if they failed to do so they will be held accountable but we also must honor them with the tools that they need to save the virus that hasul been relentless in attacking seniors prewe need to make sure that the next coronavirus package with negotiating right now does everything he can to support the most fragile and our communities because they are also thank you, mr. President i yield the floor. Mr. President i think the president of the United States has done the things he can do try tohis authority to address the issues before us but the truth is his authority does not go far enough now, i am frequently question the president s view of how broad the president ial authority is, but in these actions he took in the last few days i looked at them carefully and i think he had the authority to do what he did but hed probably be the first tolv admit that it does nt solve the problem the way and needs to be solved. It is time that the Congress Step up and did its job in this debate with the