Severity. This is the biggest economic crisis that america is facing 75 years, the greatest Health Crisis in a hundred. There must be a relief package with the size of thec historic challenge, the skinny package, package that doesnt solve so many of the problems that america faces with the American People and it cannot happen. But our republican friends are waiting ideologically that the government should not take forceful action, that we should leave the welfare of the American People to the winds of the private sector, it just does not work like that, especially in a time of national emergency, the private sector cannot do it so why we started to generate forward momentum, weeding our partners in the white house to go much further and let alone the republican senate. With 20 or so republicans of the majority leader. One example, the administration has finally said we shoul extene moratorium on evictions that they can refuse to provide actual assistance for the renters themselves. What good does not do, we can prevent americans from being kicked out of their apartment for another few months but if they cant pay the rent, they well be right back at square one when the moratorium expires even more unpaid bills. Extending the moratorium only solves half the problem, republicans continue to stonewall support for state, local and private government. Who shed more than 1 million Public Service jobs this year end will continue to lay off teachers and firefighters and more if congress does nothing. In the early days of the crisis, state and local government brought this disease basically on their own, the Trump Administration could not be bothered with the National Response to supply them with necessary resources, and now mcconnell and others on the republican side say they put 0 into the proposal for state and local and republican centered with teller mayors and county executives, we want to be here for you, thats what our leader is for. Well, not acceptable. One. Unemployment insurance, a w Senate Republicans have belatedly accepted the view that we should extend the enhanced benefit of 600 for an extended period of time, democrats have proposed and voted for in the house, of course, many Senate Republicans, most Senate Republicans still object to that but still at least a few of come around, at the moment the white house is not there, we are not going to strike a deal unless we extend the Unemployment Benefits which have kept nearly 12 million americans out of poverty. The same goes for healthcare, testing and tracing, how is everyone in the white house can get tested, everyone in the nfl can get tested but average americans cannot access easily or get results back fast enough. More than seven months into the crisis, this administration does not have adequate or plan for the adequate capacity of testing and contact tracing, it is a shocking failure on the part of the Trump Administration and the republican senators. So democrats are insisting that we provide enough resources to finally slow the spread and defeat this d disease. In the single most appointing tar recovery, the American People know that the Trump Administration in the republican adherence in the senate are to blame for this huge failure and testing interesting, they demand that we act and act fully now, not with some halfbaked poorly funded plan that one do the job, which is where thene do the job, administration seems to be out right now. And americans and democrats are insisting that every american should be able to vote this november, safely and confidently in person or by mail. Covid has affected how we will vote, many more will vote by mail, there will be a need for polling places, maybe more of them, and they need to space people out as they vote. Ct are not going to stop fighting until state election systems and the post office which is part of getting the mail there on time get the resources thatd. They need, elections are a wealth of our democracy and the only answer as to why neither the republicans in the senate nor the white house want to do anything about it is they fear a few free and fair election. That is a membe core of the rep. We will keep fighting, there have been alarming reports about recent failures of the post office, about residence in michigan and pennsylvania not getting their medicines or their paychecks for three weeks or more. The Postal Service is vital and not just for elections but every single day. The new postmaster, a big donor of President Trump which many believe is his main qualification as to why being chosen has enacted new guidelines at the post office the experts say will cause severe delays and mail delivery and then he refused four weeks to even hold a phone call with democrats including myself about this issue. I called three times, he did not have the time to call back when i was so concerned about mail delivery in new york and the rest of the country. So we have insisted to mr. Mnuchin mr. Meadows on meeting with mr. Joy, it will take placeit later today, we ned to resolve the problems of the post office, there is lack of funding and new regulation that get in the way to the Timely Delivery of mail. We must resolve those in a way and to be delivered on time for the election and for the necessities of people. Each and every one of these issues is critical and there are many more, we need answers and movement on all of them, not just on one or two. But some of our republican friends seem content to possible so they can check the box and go home. We cannot do that. We cannot agree to an inadequate bill and then go home while the virus continues to spread in the economyan continues to tak detee in the country gets worse, we will keep going stepbystep, inch by inch until we achieve the caliber, the extent, the depth and breath of the legislation that the American People need, deserve and. Want. In stark contrast, the republican leaderid has decided that hed rather just log partisan hotshots from the four each morning rather than joint and productive negotiations. It is difficult to listen to tha Republican Leaders spend such a malicious fiction as why congress is yet to pass another round of relief when he cant even sit in the room with us and negotiate, when he cannot even create a modicum of immunity and is disturbingly divided caucus. For three months, leaderco mcconnell and Senate Republicans put the senate on pause when it came to the coronavirus, as covid spread throughout the south and west, as did mention states hit daily records for hospitalizations and 50 million americans fall for unemployment, the Senate Republican majority hunearly comes along as if it we living in a different universe. Leader mcconnell schedule confirmation votes onn rightwig judges, the chairman judiciary in Homeland Security held hearings on the president s wild conspiracy theories about the 2016 election period and conducted desperate fishing expeditions hoping to dig up dirt on the family the president and political rival. It was not even remotely related to covid. All through that time, democrats came to the floor to practically beg our colleagues to consider covid relief legislation, we ask consent to pass relief no fewer than 15 times in every single time republicans blocked a request. One Senate Republican finally decided to write a bill which is the legislative equivalent of a dumpster fire, republicans bickered among themselves for over ae week and a half before finally giving up, they did not release a coherent bill, just a series of proposals with corporate giveaways and carveouts. Republicans proposed the tax breaks over martini lunches but no Food Assistance for hungry kids. 2 billion to build a new fbi building to boost the value of a trump hotel but not a dime to help americans afford the rent. And then to top it all off, almost as soon as the Senate Republican plan on covid was released, it became clear that Senate Republicans did not c it. In President Trump called a semi irrelevant, semi irrelevant is what President Trump called the republican proposals. Leader mcconnell basically gave up and left democrats and the white house to negotiate the next bill so for strange reasons for leader mcconnell to criticize those who are actually engaged in negotiation while he issut intentionally staying adamant. His alice in wonderland rhetoric flipping everything on his head and accusing the other side of the sins that leader mcconnell is in fact committing was extremely counterproductive. Since Senate Republicans clearly cannot reach a consensus, any agreement will require a lot of democratic votes decisive to say the Republican Leaders rhetoric impositions are not helpful in that regard. While Republican Leadership continues to sit on the sidelines, democrats areom in te room working hard, thats what the American People expect of us, they want to see us working to get something done in this time of extraordinary challenge. I yield the floor. Madam president. Youre recognize. I want to think the senator from new york, thank you for the negotiations that hes engaged in, it is nothing short of amazing that the republican leader of the Uniteded States senate comes to the floor of the senate every morning and rcriticizes senator schumer and speaker policies were sitting in the room day after day after day trying to hammer out an agreement to help america in this time of need, while there are two and features of the table, kevin mccarthy, the House Republican leader does not attend the meetings and sadly the republican leader of the united States Senate is also boycotting these meetings. I cant rememberimn a time when this has occurred, ever. , no time in history when there was a critical, National Decision to be hammered out between the parties and the leaders of the Republican Party in congress refused to attend the meetings. Senator gives polished speeches on the floor criticizing senator schumer and Speaker Pelosi who should be polished, he has time to practice instead of going into the negotiations which could actually make a difference in the future of america. Americans are genuinely concerned where they should be, we are facing a National Health emergency, this pandemic sadly where the infections are spiking across america. It is still amazing to consider two numbers, the number five, the United States has about 5 of the worlds population, 25, the United States is generally 25 of the covid infections in the world, 5 of the population, 25 of the reported covid infections in the world, how did we reach this point where this great developed civilized and strong nation has been brought to its knees by the pandemic, we reached this point by lack of. Leadership, the American People know that there has been leadership failures at the top, they know that this president refuses to e listen to experts,f the experts Say Something that he does not like to hear, he banishes it as dr. Fauci has found. We also know that this president is downplaying the threat that sadly is taking american lives, thousands by the day, just yesterday or the day before that he branded this pandemic is often over, really,y it certainy is not anybody in america that would agree with that statement, certainly nobody is paying any attention to the sad reality that is facing families. In this president has failed to feel the truth, hes been engaged in medical quackery, the discredited by the sources that text uncontested, it is not the answer. The president should knowbe better. For goodness sakes, he does not have the confidence to make a medical judgment along these lines, that will not stop him and many people crossed america fed up with it, whether its lysol cocktails or ultraviolet insurgents, lord only knows what will come up with next. As a time when people are literally sick and dying and or healthcare heroes are risking their lives every day, this president goes off on the flights of medical fantasy, the American People are fed up with it. And this president is fed up to take the action that america desperately needs, we cannot reopen this economy, we cannot consider reopening schools until we dramatically invest in better, quicker testing, that is a reality. As senator schumer said earlier, americans wonder how the president manages to test everyone who crosses the threshold of the white house over and over every single day by Major League Baseball in the National Football league can get test results in a matter of hours while americans are standing in line and waitingla r results that are marginally irrelevant when theyre delivered five or six days after the test. What good is a test if it tells safe 60s agoare when you want to see your grandchildren today, that is the reality of testing in america, what has this president done about it, hes made statement after statement through all the tests we couldat possibly want o every american. We know better, all across america we know better. Testing has improved and increased but its not where we need it. That should be the highest priority of this menstruation but it failed when it came to providing personal protective equipment in the field when it comes to providing testing. But the biggest failure is the attitude of the Senate Republican leaderes and the president when it comes to the crises america faces, first the Coronavirus Crisis and second the economicst crisis. The biggest tragedy is in fact that they believe that we should do little or nothing, little or nothing when we are facing some of the greatest challenges over time, some of the greatest challenges in american history, the American People would expect us to take it seriously and to aggressively go after the coronavirus in the spread and aggressively help this economy back to its feet, we have come up with a plan which senator mcconnell has come to the floor and mocked everyse single day, past the house are presented gives 11 weeks ago, 11 weeks ago, Speaker Pelosi passed it in the senate, what is happened in 11 week. Speech after speech after speech deriving the experts of the house representatives and little to nothing on the other side to show for it. Finally last week they start trickling out a few ideas here and there, they were not very good. They refuse to participate, not even attend the negotiation sessions with the white house income to the floor each day and mocking criticized democratic efforts to deal with the issues before us, as far as the recovery is concerned it is essential that we dedicate ourselves to it, but first coronavirus. First, get the infections under control and save the lives of those who have early been affected, that is the first thing that needs to be done. The republican approaches too little and too late. We have come up with the 3 trilliondollar plan, they came up with the trillion dollar plan and said we may not spend that much. In a particularly, troublesome for me is this attitude toward the Unemployment Compensation being paid to americans, i cannot believe the senatorth frm kentucky when he came to the floor today and tried to pit our healthcare heroes against unemployed saying theyre going to work everyday, why should we give any money to those who dont go to work every day. Really, we have four unemployed americans, four unemployed americans for every single jobop opening. I dont believe the doctors, nurses, or medical professionals are fighting covid every s singe day resent those who are unemployed. I think they understand full and while the devastation of this pandemic, not only on the individuals that they treat but the economy at large. When it comes to the healthcare heroes, the democrats have stepped up and called for hazard pay will the republicans join us . We think these healthcare heroes nddeserve it. That and more, gratitude and more for all that they have given to the United States, let me say a word about those who are receiving unappointed benefits. I met with five of them in chicago last week. I heard their stories, asked him a few questions, i learned a little bit about their lives. I was unsurprised of the hardship that they face, many of them have been out of work for four or five months already. It ise no surprise that almost half of the people out of work have exhausted all of their savings at this point, even with unappointed benefits. And i asked those who are unemployed, what do you do with the checks that are sent to you each week. It is pretty obvious to them what to do, you pay the mortgage if you had one. The car payments was not possessed and taken away, repossessed, they try to keep food on the table, they tried to keep the people issuing the credit cards to pay, these are the basics of people face every single day but the republicans do not seem to get that. They dont understand it because they dont get to know these people or ask them what life