May 20, 2020 - Issue: Vol. 166, No. 95 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 2nd Session

[Pages S2511-S2512]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       BUSINESS BEFORE THE SENATE

  Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, week after week, this Capitol has 
been a study in contrasts. Call it the tale of two Chambers. Over here 
in the Senate, the lights are on, the doors are open, and we are 
working for the American people. All month, we have been in session, 
passing national security legislation, confirming key nominees, and 
holding hearings on the coronavirus crisis and the effectiveness of the 
historic rescue package the Senate wrote and the Senate passed.
  We are heeding medical guidance and taking new precautions, but we 
are showing up and getting things done.
  Over across the Rotunda, in the House, crickets--their lights are 
off. The doors are locked. The people's House has shown up for a grand 
total of 2 legislative session days since March. Well, 2 days in 8 
weeks is a blistering pace.
  Last week, they flew into town to pass Speaker Pelosi's latest 1,800-
page liberal wish list. Diversity and inclusion in the marijuana 
industry wasn't going to study itself, after all. That had to be an A-1 
priority during this crisis. The Speaker's proposal was so unserious 
and so far left that it could not even unite her own conference. Even 
after a 2-month sabbatical, House Democrats could not contribute 
anything serious.
  Yet they did find the time to keep fishing for another impeachment. 
More than a year after the Mueller report thoroughly debunked the 
collusion conspiracy theory, Democrats are still pursuing the 
administration in court over that document. In a new Supreme Court 
brief the day before yesterday, House Democrats said they have the 
right to continue because--listen to this--the President's impeachment 
did not actually end with his acquittal.

[[Page S2512]]

  The House Democrats are now claiming the impeachment that ended in 
February is not really over. Their brief says they are weighing 
``whether to recommend new articles of impeachment.'' And referring to 
Chairman Nadler's Judiciary Committee, ``the Committee's investigation 
did not cease with the conclusion of the impeachment trial.'' That is 
Chairman Nadler's argument in a court case.
  Perpetual investigation and perpetual impeachment--if only someone 
could have predicted this. If only anyone had warned that House 
Democrats' opening the Pandora's box of weak impeachments would affect 
our country into the future. Of course, Senate and House Republicans 
warned precisely that, and here we are.
  It is a suitable complement to the other ongoing incident, where a 
Federal judge has taken it upon himself to prolong a case that the 
actual prosecutors want to drop.
  These are fascinating legal standards. Investigations no longer end 
when a jury acquits someone and prosecutions no longer end when charges 
are dropped. The House Democrats would rather spend a fourth 
consecutive year trying to cram their politics into the legal system 
than actually govern the country during a pandemic
  Fortunately, as I laid out, the Senate is up to the job. Every single 
day, the historic CARES Act that we wrote and passed to fight this 
pandemic continues to come online. Direct payments hit families' 
accounts. Support for major industries helps to prevent mass layoffs. 
Resources for doctors, nurses, hospitals, and healthcare providers help 
to stabilize the system from coast to coast.
  The Paycheck Protection Program has saved tens of millions of jobs 
for American workers. From big cities to small towns, to industrial 
suburbs, to farm country, Senate Republicans' bold program is turning 
potential pink slips into paychecks every single day.
  To be sure, the program is imperfect. That was guaranteed when banks 
had to cram multiple years' worth of lending into a few weeks. 
Yesterday, we saw a glaring example of that imperfection. The 
legislation we passed contains specific eligibility requirements. One 
rule said affiliates of national nonprofits could not pose as small 
nonprofits and ask for money. But because time was and is of the 
essence, the legislation set up a process of initial self-certification 
with review to follow, rather than lengthy vetting upfront that would 
have slowed the emergency money for rightful recipients.
  We learned yesterday that the Nation's largest abortion provider, 
Planned Parenthood, abused this emergency process and grabbed tens of 
millions of dollars of taxpayer money for which they were completely 
ineligible. This is the organization that fired its new president last 
year because she was too focused on broader health issues and not 
sufficiently fixated on abortion above all else. Disrespecting human 
life is their central mission, and they just took advantage of a 
national crisis and helped themselves to tens of millions of taxpayer 
dollars they were clearly forbidden from taking.
  It goes without saying that the money must be sent back immediately--
right now. As we shine a light on Planned Parenthood's 
misrepresentations, we cannot let their actions jeopardize this 
important program with the tens of millions of Americans who are 
benefiting from it rightly.
  Remember, the PPP has pushed $500 billion into the economy across 
more than 4 million loans. The average loan size is just $118,000, 
giving paychecks instead of pink slips for tens of millions of 
Americans.
  My hometown of Louisville, KY, is home to the baseball bat factory 
that makes the world-famous Louisville Slugger. For a few months, the 
bat factory was a temporary casualty of COVID-19. This month, the 
manufacturer secured a PPP loan, and 171 employees were pulled off 
furlough and put right back on the payroll. So 171 family stories went 
from pain and chaos back to stability because of this program. That is 
just one business in one city in one State.
  There is also an automotive parts supplier and a hoagie shop in 
Michigan, a fresh flower shop in Arizona, a burger joint and a 
community nonprofit in North Carolina, and on and on and on. Four 
million loans across all 50 States and new loans are still being issued 
as we speak. This is what serious legislation looks like. This is what 
serious solutions can accomplish.
  Every day, the Senate's work is paying dividends to working families 
all across our country.
  The pandemic is not all we are working on. The Senate is also staying 
on top of foreign relations, national security, and the personnel 
business.
  Yesterday, the Intelligence Committee reported out the nomination of 
the next Director of the National Intelligence. The Armed Services 
Committee reported out nominations for Secretary of the Navy, Chief of 
Staff of the Air Force, and Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for 
Policy.
  I hope our Democratic colleagues will not block the Senate from 
filling these key national security vacancies before we adjourn later 
this week.

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