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[Page S4654]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
HEALS ACT
Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, on one final matter, last week, the
Senate Democratic leader brought an end to the additional Federal
benefit for unemployed workers. The Republicans tried multiple times to
extend the money, including at the same dollar level that our colleague
himself said he wanted, but the Democratic leader blocked it all.
This is the dynamic on the Democratic side that killed the subject of
police reform back in June, and it has now jeopardized more coronavirus
relief as well. The Democratic leaders insist publicly that they want
an outcome, but they work alone, behind closed doors, to ensure a
bipartisan agreement is, actually, not reached.
We are about a week into the Speaker's and the Democratic leader's
discussions with the administration--a week into the Democratic
leadership's cutting out all of their Members--all of them--cutting out
all of their committees, and saying that only they can participate.
So how is it going?
Well, the Democratic leader is still refusing to let struggling
Americans get another dime unless he gets a massive tax cut for the
wealthy people in blue States that has nothing to do with the
coronavirus. I am not kidding. This is his position. There is nothing
for schools, nothing for kids, nothing for the PPP, nothing for the
healthcare fight. Nobody gets a dime unless the Democratic leader gets
a massive tax cut for the rich people in New York and California. That
is what he is saying.
The Speaker of the House and the Democratic leader are continuing to
say ``our way or the highway'' with the massive wish list for leftwing
lobbyists they slapped together a few weeks ago and called a
coronavirus bill--stimulus checks for illegal immigrants, diversity
studies for the legal pot industry, and on and on.
When they put out this proposal, even the media and their fellow
Democrats pronounced this thing dead on arrival.
Here was one report: ``Neither this bill nor anything resembling it
will ever become law--it's a Democratic wish list filled up with all
the party's favored policies.''
Remember how Speaker Pelosi's own Members felt about this absurd
proposal: ``Privately, several House Democrats concede their latest
bill feels like little more than an effort to appease the most liberal
members of the caucus.''
Even Democrats knew Speaker Pelosi's bill was unserious.
But now, with the additional unemployment benefit disappearing, with
families still struggling, they are going back to this unserious
position and refusing to budge.
I can't imagine this is how Democratic colleagues really all want
this to play out.
In March, we built the CARES Act by Republicans and Democrats working
together at the committee level. This time, again, Republicans
introduced a serious proposal written by our own chairmen and our own
Members. But this time, the Democratic leader has cut Senate Democrats
out entirely. He has forbidden their committees from even talking to
Republicans. He is digging in on a House messaging bill, written with
no input from his own Members, that even House Democrats themselves
called absurd.
These are not the tactics that would build a bipartisan result. These
are not the tactics that will get more cash in Americans' pockets, more
help to the unemployed, more assistance for schools to reopen.
It is time for the Democratic leadership to get serious about making
a law--making a law--for the American people.
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