Of blame for the outbreak in the early spread of coronavirus of the coronavirus, no question they deserve a lot of blame for the outbreak and the early spread and their lying about it. But keep in mind that were 5 of the worlds population and 30 of the deaths from the coronavirus have been americans. This president continues to make excuses and point fingers, and the compliance, always obedient, sheeplike members of the Republican Caucus conference in the Senate Continue to stay quiet, continue to do nothing about this president s behavior and the 105,000 deaths from coronavirus in this country. Mr. President , the protests around our state, throughout our country are an expression of fear and grief and frustration and of anger. Black communities led the nation in mourning the killings of george floyd and Breonna Taylor over the last week. There are now leading calls for justice and longterm changes to dismantle the systems of oppression that hold them back. But instead of listening to those calls from the people who built this country, instead of offering leadership and rising to meet this moment, as every one of his predecessors of both parties did in times of trouble for our country, President Trump fails yet again. Instead of uniting, he divides. Instead of comforting, he stokes fear. He points fingers. He places blame. Instead of healing, he rubs salt in the open wounds of black americans. On monday night, the president of the United States turned the arm of the state on peaceful protesters. We saw we saw the video. Teargassing the citizens he is supposed to serve, all so he could walk across the street and stage a photo op at a church he doesnt attend and hold up a bible that he doesnt read. In my you choose the adjective. Timid, cowardly, spineless republican colleagues in this senate just remained silent. How offended they would have been if a democratic president had done what this president does and failed to do. The teargassing citizens he is supposed to serve, the photo op at a church, the holding up the bible he doesnt read, the excuses, the divisiveness, all of that. Mr. President , people are tired, people are angry. More black sons and daughters and mothers and fathers killed by police officers, the very people who were supposed to protect all americans. More deaths when many are already grieving, so many in the black Community Already grieving the loss of family members and friends for the coronavirus, grappling with the economic stress this pandemic has caused. The pandemic has been the great revealer. We know black and brown communities have been hit hardest by the coronavirus. They are more likely to get sick. They have less access to health care. They make up the communities hurt by jim crow laws and redlining and now the locking in of those rules and regulations by the trump administration. They disproportionately black and brown communities disproportionately make up our essential workers. Its not because they dont work as hard. Its not because of individual choices. Mr. President , we all work hard. Were all trying to do something productive for our families and our communities. We all want to build a better country for our daughters and our sons. No, mr. President , its because of a racist system that is making it harder for their work to pay off and putting at risk their lives for generations long before this virus appeared. A Grocery Store worker in cincinnati said to me, she said they tell me im essential, but i feel expendable. I dont feel safe at work, and they dont pay me very much. I feel expendable. Long before this pandemic, millions of americans knew we had a system that treats them like they are expendable. Their hard work isnt paying off. For some it feels like the system is broken. For black and Brown Workers, it never worked to begin with. In the midst of the trauma and grieving,al millions of those same Americans Still go to work day after day, week after week. In Grocery Stores as delivery people, in drugstores, as bus drivers, the people that clean that do the linen, change the beds in hospitals, the food service workers, the custodians, the security people, the first responders. In the midst of the trauma and grieving, those same americans, millions of them still go to work day after day, week after week. Our job is to show the victims of systemic racism at the hands of their own government, that the same government can and will protect them from this pandemic. We hear them, we see them, we fight for them. Their lives matter. Our response to this crisis must be to stand behind all the people who make this country work, all workers. Whether you swipe whether you swipe a badge or punch a clock, whether you earn a salary or make tips, whether you are raising children or caring for an elderly parent. Whether your hard work is paid off now or whether its never paid off the way it should. Dr. King said one day our society will come to respect the sanitation worker. For the person who picks up your garbage in the final analysis is as significant as the physician, for if he doesnt do his job, diseases are rampant. All labor has dignity. Its black and Brown Workers who have too often, far too long, far too often been robbed of their dignity on the job. If we want to be a country where all people have dignity, we need to start by recognizing that all labor has dignity. But so far the response to the crisis is not the response of a government that believes that. This senate, this president can always find trillions of dollars for corporations, for tax cuts, for bailouts. When hardworking families need help with rent or to put food on the table, President Trump and leader mcconnell say we cant afford it. The president and the administration have already made racial and economic inequality worse and undone civil rights protections. They have been pretty clear they are willing to put American Workers lives at risk to reopen stockyards or just for the stock market. President trump and his Administration Believe that millions of americans are expendable. Its not a coincidence that many of the people they consider expendable are black and Brown Workers. Since the president is unwilling to protect people, whether thats protecting their lives or protecting their financial future, we in the senate must fill the leadership void. As we do that, we work for change, we need to be clear part of leading is listening. The best ideas dont come out of washington. The solutions we need to fix the justice system, to address wealth and equality, to reverse disparities in health care, to help communities that have been hurt by redlining and jim crow and so much more. Whenever we talk about this, whenever people bring up the ways the system has failed so many americans, on the senate floor or at a protest march, they are always naysayers. Almost always white, usually men, often pretty well off. They say how can you be so negative . Why do you want to dwell on all the worst parts of our history . Dont you love our country . My response, mr. President , to our countrys naysayers and sunshine patriots is this how can you be so pessimistic as to believe that this is the best that our country can do . Do you really think the American People, with our ingenuity and optimism and tenacity, do you really think the American People cant create a fair economy and a more just government . Do you truly believe we cant have a society that work for everyone, black and white and brown, women and men, no matter who you are, no matter what kind of work you do. uoru country do better, those are some of the most patriotic things any of us can do. I love my country, mr. President. And if you love this country, you fight for the people who make it work, all of them. I yield the floor. The presiding officer the chair would remind senators that under rule 19, it is provided that, quote, no senator in debate shall directly or indirectly, by any form of words, impute to another senator or to other senators any conduct or motive unworthy or unbecoming a senator, close quote. The senatorator mr. President. The presiding officer the senator from texas. Mr. Cruz mr. President , i rise at a time of crisis. For several months now, our nation has been dealing with two simultaneously crises a Global Health pandemic that has claimed the lives of over 100,000 americans, over 300,000 people across the globe. And an economic crisis that has cost over 40 million americans their