October 19, 2020 - Issue: Vol. 166, No. 178 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 2nd Session

[Pages S6303-S6304]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                      Paycheck Protection Program

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, ``It would have been really hard for us 
to get through without it.'' That was the coowner of Apollo Pizza, 
which has a handful of locations throughout Kentucky.
  ``It touches my heart just knowing that I can bring folks back and 
gainfully employ people who need to work.'' That was a restaurateur in 
Fayetteville, NC.
  ``It's pennies from heaven as far as our business is concerned.'' 
That was one small business owner in Highlands Ranch, CO.
  ``It just made sense to us that if we're going to be able to get 
money from the government . . . spend it on our employees.'' That is 
from a fourth-generation owner of a bagel shop in Ferndale, MI.
  Those are just four of the millions and millions of hard-working 
Americans who have had an economic lifeline to help them endure this 
crisis year. That lifeline is the Paycheck Protection Program, the PPP.
  About 7 months ago, our Nation's top medical experts recommended we 
do something without precedent--shutter whole sectors of the economy to 
protect Americans from the pandemic. Congress needed a historic plan to 
help workers, and our colleagues Senator Rubio and Senator Collins 
stepped forward. They realized we could not simply let Main Street go 
under. We could not simply tell millions and millions more workers to 
forget about their jobs and join the unemployment lines. We couldn't 
just let every storefront except the biggest corporate retailers turn 
into permanent pandemic ghost towns. We had to give small businesses 
and their workers a fighting chance.
  The senior Senators from Maine and Florida found the solution. They 
literally invented the PPP. It would fund emergency loans to employers, 
and those loans would be forgivable so long as the money would be used 
to keep paying their people. As far as emergency government rescues go, 
their idea was actually a bold, free-enterprise policy. Don't just sign 
everyone up for welfare; fight to save jobs. Keep workers connected to 
their jobs and their paychecks.
  As we wrote the CARES Act, Senators Rubio and Collins got together 
with Senator Cardin and put the finishing touches on the program. Soon, 
the PPP had become law without a single dissenting vote in either 
Chamber.

[[Page S6304]]

The program proved so popular that it quickly committed all its 
funding. So, in April, we refilled it with more money. That was 
unanimous in the Senate as well. Then, in June, we tweaked the program 
on the fly to help small businesses even more. Once again, it was 
unanimous--no objection from any Republican or any Democrat here in the 
Senate. This program has had the most bipartisan pedigree possible, and 
those bipartisan beginnings have led to a major policy success story.
  For millions of Americans from coast to coast, the PPP has made all 
the difference in the world. It has kept paychecks coming into their 
mailboxes and bank accounts where there otherwise would have been pink 
slips. Every State, every town, every city knows the difference it has 
made.
  So where are we today?
  That historic first draw of the PPP has wound down; the program has 
closed to new applications; many firms have run through their funds, 
but, clearly, our economic recovery remains a work in progress. For 
many workers, business has not come roaring back to normal, and it 
won't until the health situation allows it.
  Fortunately, Senator Rubio and Senator Collins have stepped up again. 
Our colleagues have legislation that will refund and reopen the PPP. It 
will establish a whole second round for the hardest hit small 
businesses that need help the most, and thanks to the efforts of 
several colleagues, the legislation will also streamline the program 
and strengthen oversight.
  I would submit that, even for a Congress this divided, even in the 
year 2020, reopening the PPP really ought to be a no-brainer. There is 
bipartisan agreement that American workers still need help, and there 
is already bipartisan infrastructure in place to provide that help, but 
there is a problem. The PPP has been taken hostage. Just like the 
funding for safe schools, more funding for testing, more funding for 
vaccines, more funding for Federal unemployment benefits, and 
commonsense legal protections that charities and university presidents 
have been pleading for, the PPP has been taken hostage by Speaker 
Pelosi and Leader Schumer.
  The Democratic leaders have spent months holding out for a long, far-
left wish list of non-COVID-related priorities and obstructing any 
additional aid until they get it. All or nothing--that has been their 
position. Either Democrats get every unrelated policy they want or 
American families get nothing. So, for months, they have blocked 
bipartisan aid at every single turn. The Democratic leader even tried 
last night to adjourn the Senate so we could do nothing at all for 3 
weeks--nothing at all for 3 weeks. That is how urgent he thinks it is 
to help working people. He wanted to go home for 3 weeks.
  Because President Trump will not just cave to the entire Democratic 
Party's platform--for example, the President won't simply hand out 
endless sums of cash to chronically mismanaged State and city 
governments out of proportion to COVID needs--Speaker Pelosi has seen 
to it that working families have gotten nothing rather than something.
  So, look, every Senator in this body knows this is not how people act 
if they actually want an outcome. American families, working families, 
have waited months and months for Speaker Pelosi to end her ``Marie 
Antoinette'' act and let Congress find common ground. There is no 
reason this second round of the Paycheck Protection Program should wait 
another single day. So we are going to vote on this legislation today--
one clear vote on one clear program that all in this Chamber say they 
want to pass.
  Well, I will let you in on a secret. There is something Senators do 
when we want something to pass. Here is what we do when we want 
something to pass: We vote for it. It is no counterargument to complain 
that the PPP legislation does not also contain 100 other things. The 
entire point is to agree where we can and make law while we keep 
arguing over all the rest.
  If my Democratic colleagues oppose the job-saving PPP, they should 
come to the floor and say why they oppose it. Otherwise, this afternoon 
should bring another unanimous vote.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.