August 11, 2020 - Issue: Vol. 166, No. 143 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 2nd Session

[Pages S5387-S5389]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                                HOUSING

  Ms. CORTEZ MASTO. Mr. President, oftentimes, when I am home and I am 
talking to constituents in Nevada, they look at Washington as a bubble. 
They don't really think that things happen here unless they see it on 
the news or they have no trust in us really coming together to work on 
behalf of our constituents.
  I think it is time we focus on what needs to be done in the best 
interest of our country than focusing on political gain or 
gamesmanship.
  The reason why I say that is, I don't know about the President pro 
tempore, but I know every single Senator comes from a State, and they 
care about their constituents. They get emails from their constituents 
and letters from their constituents. When we go home, we claim to be in 
a recess, but it is not really a recess. We are home working. We are 
talking to our constituents and businesses and the individuals who are 
there. And if we are really listening to our constituents, particularly 
at a time like now, when this pandemic has created the worst health 
crisis we have seen not just in this country but around the world and 
has contributed to an economic crisis, then we are hearing from our 
constituents that they are struggling right now.
  The reason they are struggling is because we have asked them to stay 
at home and shelter in place to stem the spread of this virus. We have 
said: Listen, we don't have a vaccine. We are working on it, but we 
don't have it right away. We need to ramp up our tests so we can make 
sure you can get it, and quickly, to determine whether you have this 
virus or the antibodies so we can then quarantine you and shelter you. 
But until we even get to that point, we have asked everybody to stay 
home. And they have done it.
  I know in my State of Nevada, we have the highest unemployment rate 
in this country right now--25 percent.

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Businesses have shuttered. People have stayed home to help us stem the 
spread of this virus. What we told them months ago is that, if you do 
this, we will be there. Our Federal Government will be there to work 
with you. We will help you. We will make sure you have money in your 
pocket so you can afford healthcare, so you can pay your bills, so you 
can pay your rent, you can pay for your food, so you do not have to 
have any economic insecurity. We made that commitment to them. We 
promised them.
  I have to say that we still have to follow that obligation. They are 
doing their part, so why aren't we doing ours?
  At the end of the day, the President pro tempore and I both know, and 
all of our colleagues know, that there is more economic insecurity in 
this country right now than we have ever seen before because of this 
pandemic: food insecurity, housing insecurity, job insecurity, 
education insecurity. There is a homework gap. We know it. It is 
happening. So now it is time for us to stop the posturing, stop the 
political gamesmanship and really do what we committed when we swore an 
oath to this office when we were sworn in, that we were going to do 
right by people across this country, looking out for their interests--
not our interests but the best interests of this country.
  So I come to the floor today to really ask my colleagues: Let's try 
and do what is right for the best interests of this country, now more 
than ever.
  I know you get them. I get letters. I have letters from constituents 
right now--I can't tell you--and I have been inundated with them.
  A constituent from Nevada wrote:

       I urge you to extend the federal eviction moratorium and 
     include at least $100 billion in funding for emergency rental 
     assistance in the next . . . relief [package]. [This] 
     assistance will enable households, including those who have 
     lost jobs or who already were struggling to pay rent before 
     the pandemic, to remain stably housed and avoid the 
     devastating and long-lasting harms of eviction.

  That is from a constituent. I didn't write that. They sent it to my 
office. In this letter, this constituent from Nevada goes on to say:

       It is important to be kind and compassionate. Especially 
     during this time. We have the opportunity to learn and to do 
     better always. No one should be forced out of their home 
     during a global pandemic.

  Those are similar to other letters I receive. I know you receive 
them. I know our colleagues receive them. That is why, today, it is 
important for us to focus on so much that is happening, including that 
economic security. Right now I want to focus on one piece of it that we 
need to address that should be part of a global piece, which is this 
idea that, right now, millions of Americans are concerned about being 
evicted from their homes.
  In the middle of a pandemic, when people need a safe place to call 
home, they are concerned that they don't have the money to pay their 
rent because we have asked them to stay home.
  I have said this before on the floor of the Senate. I will say it 
again. In the middle of a pandemic, housing is healthcare. Security in 
your own home is healthcare. Yet we have millions of people across the 
country on the brink of eviction.
  In mid-July, a quarter of adults reported that they were housing 
insecure. That is one in four. In more than half of the States in 
America, eviction bans have expired. That means, across the Nation, 
more and more families will have to pack up everything that they can 
carry in the space of hours.
  There could be 40 million evictions nationwide by the end of the 
year, and what we have seen amongst the data that comes in to all of 
our offices is that families of color are likely to be the hardest hit. 
In my home State of Nevada, experts believe that nearly half a million 
people are at risk of eviction--perhaps as many as 300,000 of them in 
Nevada by September. Among renters, up to 47 percent face that risk.
  Staving off Nevada evictions could cost Nevada $850 billion in rental 
assistance over the next year. That is just one State. But do you know 
what? The States, the local governments, everyone has been impacted by 
this pandemic, and they are rightly looking to Congress to address it. 
They are desperate for us to pass meaningful legislation to get them 
money to pay their bills, to enact protections that let them stay in 
their homes and apartments.
  We need to help them now. We can't turn our backs. We cannot turn our 
backs on Americans now, more than ever. They need our help. And we need 
the administration, we need leadership--Republican leadership--coming 
to the negotiating table to get real relief passed, not hollow 
political gestures.
  We need a package that will include housing and rental assistance, 
prevent an epidemic of homelessness, and stabilize the housing markets 
because, if we don't, the consequences are going to haunt families and 
our economy for years.
  Now, I know this. Take it from me. In Nevada, we saw 200,000 families 
lose their homes because of the 2008 housing crisis. That foreclosure 
crisis hit Nevada so hard, and it has been a long, long road back for 
so many Nevadans.
  I am determined not to ever see that happen again and to bring 
relief. If I am in a position--as we all are here in Congress--to bring 
that relief, why aren't we in a room negotiating it? Why are we not 
talking regularly? We did it with the CARES Act immediately. We saw the 
need, and we did something about it.
  Nevadans are already struggling to find work, to afford food, and to 
stay healthy during this pandemic; plus, they are helping their 
children learn as schools start to reopen. They cannot effectively do 
that--none of it--without a safe place to stay, a roof over their head.
  Housing is the key to any sense of stability in our chaotic world 
right now. It is time to end the political games. Americans expect it. 
They need a roof over their head. That is why it is so vital we pass 
legislation, not just to help Nevadans but people all over the country 
pay their rent and utility bills when they cannot safely go to work 
because of this health pandemic
  We already have legislation that is out there. We know it. The House, 
months ago, passed the Heroes Act, which addresses this issue. Our 
colleagues have introduced legislation--Senator Brown's Emergency 
Rental Assistance and Rental Market Stabilization Act is out there--
that can do the job. We can talk about how we bring this bill forward 
that helps so many families.
  It is not just rental stabilization but to help families keep a roof 
over their head. Remember, there are a lot of small businesses that are 
landlords. There are many businesses that are landlords who are 
shouldering the missed opportunities, and they are struggling. 
Landlords have bills to pay as well. They have mortgages; they have 
taxes; they have insurance, staff--let alone their families whom they 
have to take care of. Without assistance, many of them will go bankrupt 
or can be forced to sell their properties.
  So let's focus on the essentials, the basic need for things like 
shelter. Let's keep people safe and off the streets. Let's pass Senator 
Brown's rental assistance bill. Senator Reed has a housing assistance 
fund bill to help homeowners avoid foreclosure. Senator Menendez has a 
housing counseling bill. There are so many others. They are in front of 
us.
  We have an opportunity to do the right thing here. The Senate just 
needs to do its part by making sure those homes are safe and stable, by 
passing legislation that is going to have a positive impact on so many 
Americans across this country.
  I thank the Presiding Officer for listening. I thank my colleagues 
for at least having the ability and the will to try to do something 
through the legislation that was introduced, but now more needs to be 
done. We can't just introduce legislation. Now is the time to do our 
jobs as Senators: to come to the floor of the Senate, bring legislation 
to the floor, and debate it. Let the American public actually see us 
work and do our jobs that we promised them we would be doing.
  It is OK to debate legislation. It is OK to compromise and come forth 
with good government and good policy that is going to lift all of us 
up. That is what the Senate should be doing, and that is what I look 
forward to from my colleagues.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Hoeven). The Senator from Iowa.

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