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[Pages S3979-S3980]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SENATE ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, yesterday I discussed how the
Senate's serious, fact-based approach to the coronavirus crisis has cut
a sharp contrast with House Democrats' political theater.
Back in March, as the economic fallout from this crisis was just
beginning, it fell to the Senate to write, negotiate, and pass the
CARES Act. With the House absent from Washington, Senate Republicans
turned a blank sheet of paper into an outline for the largest rescue
package in American history. We negotiated with our Democratic
colleagues, and we made a law.
House Democrats tried to insert unrelated wish-list items at the
eleventh hour--things like tax credits for solar panels--but the
Republican Senate stood strong, and because we did, for 3 months now,
the unanimous bipartisan CARES Act has been the cornerstone of the
Federal Government's response to this crisis
Doctors, nurses, and hospitals have received historic Federal funding
to supplement their efforts. Households received direct checks. Tens of
millions of Americans have kept getting paychecks and not pink slips
because of our small-business-saving Paycheck Protection Program. These
are the historic programs that the Senate has spent weeks overseeing
and adjusting where necessary.
A few weeks ago, House Democrats jetted into town for a day or two--
just long enough to make another unserious contribution, to again use
this crisis for partisan wish-listing. You don't have to take my word
for it. The media completely panned it. NPR called it ``a long wish
list for Democrats.'' Another journalist wrote, ``Neither this bill nor
anything resembling it will ever become law.'' And listen to this
reporting: ``Privately, several House Democrats concede their latest
bill feels like little more than an effort to appease the most liberal
members of the caucus.'' This is the proposal that our Senate
Democratic colleagues keep thundering that we should take up and pass
here--something so unserious that it had House Democrats themselves
rolling their eyes.
Remember, among other things, this bill would give taxpayer-funded
checks to illegal immigrants, and it would change tax law to provide
massively expensive gifts to wealthy people in high-tax blue States.
These are their coronavirus priorities? This political theater is the
opposite of the serious Senate approach that built the CARES Act.
Any further recovery effort should focus intently on three things:
kids, jobs, and healthcare--kids, jobs, and healthcare.
To step back toward normalcy, our country will need K-12 and college
students to resume their schooling, we will need to reenergize hiring
to get workers their jobs back, and we will need continued progress on
the
[[Page S3980]]
healthcare fight to get ready for the fall and winter and speed the
search for a vaccine.
One helpful policy would be strong legal protection for schools,
colleges, nonprofits, and employers who are putting their necks on the
line to reopen. So long as institutions follow the best available
guidelines, they should not have to live in fear of a second epidemic
of frivolous lawsuits. Believe me, the virus is worry enough.
These are the kinds of smart solutions Washington must continue
discussing as we evaluate what further steps may be necessary. Partisan
theater and politicized wish-lists are not what the country needs.
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