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[Page S4662]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
Coronavirus
Mr. President, before I yield the floor to my friend and colleague,
the ranking member on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, I
want to take just a very, very, very brief moment and urge us, at this
moment, on the 3rd of August, as we are commencing this workweek here,
where the expectation from people from Alaska to West Virginia and all
points in between is that this Congress is going to come together to be
responsive to the needs of the most vulnerable in this country right
now--the vulnerability that has come about because of a global health
pandemic and the ensuing economic crisis that we see now.
I spent the weekend back home in Alaska. I heard the concerns and the
fears of so many for whom things are not getting better. Things are
looking worse, and it is bleak. As of today, in the State's largest
city, the mayor has recognized that with the numbers increasing as they
are, we need to go back to the hunker-down mode. So restaurants and
bars are shutting down again--just after they thought, with some level
of optimism, they would be able to bring folks back into work, they
would be able to fill up the freezers and get the produce and get the
great salmon that is coming in off the streams and serve up some great
meals. That is not happening.
So that economic picture in our largest community is bleaker and
bleaker. And for those who wake up and know that today is the day that
they have to pay the mortgage, they have to pay the rent, and they
don't know what level of assistance is going to be coming from their
Congress--they do know, though, that the unemployment benefits that
they had received, the plussed-up amount, that that is not on the
horizon for them.
They do know that school is opening up in 20 days, and there is
uncertainty with how the schools are going to safely open up for the
children and for the faculty, the teachers, the janitors, how they are
going to make that work. And, oh, by the way, if this is a schedule
where the kids are only in class for a couple days a week, for a
shorter time period, how do I deal with the struggles and the
challenges of childcare?
The folks at the food bank whom I met with over the weekend who are
so concerned about the food security issues, for them, recognizing that
a plus-up in SNAP may be--may be what gets that family through from
week to week.
This is not the time for us to figure out what every one of us wants
because this is the must-pass bill in this Congress. It is a must-pass
bill. But we have to recognize that this can't be about what we need,
what I might need for my election, or what I might want to advance as a
legacy piece. This needs to be about those for whom the anxiety and
the--just the awful place they are in right now; that they know we have
been responsive to them; that we are addressing the immediacy of now.
So whether it is what we do with unemployment insurance, whether it
is what we do with food security, childcare, a longer term PPP program
that will help our businesses, the short-term assistances--but
understanding what it means for the longer term--the delay here only
hurts the most vulnerable.
So I am urging all of us, let's come together, let's work with our
colleagues on the other side of the aisle, let's work with our
colleagues over in the House, because people in my State are hurting,
and they are expecting us to respond.
With that, I know that Senator Manchin wished to speak to the
nomination of Mr. Menezes. I appreciate his good work on the committee
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from West Virginia.
Mr. MANCHIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous to be able to complete my
remarks.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
