March 20, 2020 - Issue: Vol. 166, No. 54 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 2nd Session
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CORONAVIRUS; Congressional Record Vol. 166, No. 54
(Senate - March 20, 2020)
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[Pages S1863-S1865] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] CORONAVIRUS Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, yesterday I came to the floor with some optimism about what we could be including [[Page S1864]] in the legislation currently being considered in the Senate to respond to the coronavirus public health emergency. I laid out priorities ranging from shoring up the hospital systems to measures to provide direct assistance to students, workers, businesses, and families through this economic crisis. Since that time, Leader McConnell has released the Republican draft of his offering for this third package. It is a 250-page bill that some estimate will cost $1 trillion. That is a daunting pricetag, except when you put it in context of the American economy and what it takes to keep us on track or put us back on track. Our top priority must be immediate, direct relief to the healthcare sector--our heroic doctors, nurses, first responders, lab techs, and the hospitals and health clinics they support. Yesterday I spent an hour on the telephone with the Governor of Illinois, J.B. Pritzker, talking about the reality on the ground in my home State and the choices he faced. It is a tough job being Governor-- never tougher than when you have to make a decision about the lifestyle of families and individuals, about the businesses and their future, and, literally, a life-and-death choice in terms of policy. No one willingly accepts that, but when you run for high office, there is always that possibility. He is concerned--and I share his concern--about the capacity of our hospitals and clinics in Illinois to deal with the infections that are becoming more and more common in our State. The numbers of infections are growing as the number of tests are increasing, which is an indication that there are many undiagnosed people in our midst, and that number is likely to continue to increase. Those who administer the hospitals of Illinois have given us some yardsticks to measure the future. They suggest to us that if 20 percent of the population of my State should become infected for a 12-month period of time, they will need 88 percent of our hospital resources to respond. If that same 20 percent becomes infected over a 6-month period of time, it will be double that capacity; in other words, 176 percent of our current hospital capacity. It would push our system beyond the breaking point. If the infection rate, though, is double that--40 percent for any period of time--our hospitals, as good as they are, as big as they are, as prepared as they are, can't handle it. If that is the situation in our State, it is the situation in many other States. At that point, we will be dealing with serious overcrowding and triage decisions being made under heartbreaking circumstances. That is why many of us on this side of the aisle feel that this third package offered by the other side really needs to be changed and improved so that we do have what Senator Schumer is calling a Marshall Plan for the hospital work healthcare of America. We desperately need it, and we need it now. Waiting to come and face us at a later date makes it that much more difficult. Our health system is currently stretched to its absolute limit: surge staffing, emergency protocols, shortfalls of masks and protective equipment, and cashflow running out in just weeks. The plan that we have before us--the draft plan from the other side--does not address these needs. It has no new appropriations, no real funding or authorization for staffing or equipment and only meager changes when it comes to programs like Medicare. What this pandemic demands is that Marshall Plan for healthcare, an immediate funding boost to our healthcare systems, clinics, and health departments, mass production of masks, respirators, gloves, and ventilators. Two days ago, the President acknowledged that he has the authority, under what I believe is called the Defense Recovery Act, to say to manufacturers: change whatever you are making and make more respirators and change whatever you are making in terms of masks and make more medical-grade masks to meet the needs across this country. I hope the President will use that authority. That is why it was created in the law. We also need to support our workforce. We need to increase Medicaid funding, and we need to put an end to Medicare sequestration and DSH cuts. I am also calling for the inclusion in this package of a bill known as the Rural Hospital Relief Act. I am cosponsoring that bill with Senator James Lankford, a Republican, of Oklahoma. It would keep the most financially vulnerable hospitals afloat during this challenging time by providing them access to the stability of the Critical Access Hospital Program. Every State with smalltown hospitals and rural hospitals should pay close attention to this bill that we put in. It could be a great help to hospitals that are otherwise struggling. Anything less, I am afraid, we will be turning our backs on the selfless and heroic work of the frontline health workers. How can we say enough about these nurses and doctors and healthcare workers-- these men and women--who literally risk their lives for every patient that comes through the door. We need to maintain access to healthcare for people who lose their jobs as a result of this pandemic too. We must offer Federal funding to cover the costs of COBRA coverage for people who lose their jobs but want to keep health insurance. Currently, if you lose your job and you have health insurance where you work, you can maintain your current health insurance, but you have to pay for the employer's share since you no longer work there. The premiums go through the roof in those circumstances, and many people can't afford these COBRA payments. Why don't we include in this third package coming before us a subsidy for those families so they can keep their health insurance, even if they are not on the job? We certainly don't want them uninsured. It is not good for them. It is not good for our country. It is certainly not good for our health system. It is bad enough that millions of people may lose their jobs; we don't want to also have them lose their healthcare in the midst of a public health emergency. Let's step up and help them now. I was not included during the drafting of the bill that was presented by Senator McConnell, but I would like to give two pieces of feedback from two colleagues from his side of the aisle. The first said, referring to this package: Relief to families in this emergency shouldn't be regressive. Lower income families shouldn't be penalized. That was a quote from Senator Hawley of Missouri, a Republican Senator. A second Republican Senator said, referring to this draft package: [T]he current bill . . . shouldn't give lower earners smaller checks . . . that's directly contrary to my proposal . . . we need to fix this to ensure lower earners get equal payments. That quote is from Senator Romney of Utah. I agree with both of them. We should make sure that if there is any financial relief coming to people across the country, those in lower income categories should get as much, or more, than anyone else. I cannot agree more with their assessment. The direct cash benefit measure in this plan would give those the most in need of assistance in the lower income categories sometimes nothing at all. Additionally, the bill contains a provision that would allow middle and higher income earners to receive more of a benefit than low to moderate earners. That is upside down. Goldman Sachs released projections this week that unemployment claims may rise to 2.25 million this week. That would be the highest level on record. This proposal that we have been given by the other side falls far short of making sure we have enough resources to deal with this influx of unemployment claims. The bill also lacks any moratorium on evictions and foreclosures, leaving those who are particularly vulnerable at risk of being cast out on the street during a public health crisis. Instead of expanding paid sick leave to more who need it, I am afraid the new bill tries to further limit that protection. The McConnell bill provides no additional funds to the military. We have a supplemental appropriation which is supposed to be taken up. Why isn't it married into this bill? Why don't we do it all at once, get it done? We know we are going to need it, and there is no point in delaying it. We need to help our military, and we need to provide resources to many of [[Page S1865]] our States that are high and dry because of the cost of dealing with this public health crisis and the additional claims on their unemployment benefits. We need the National Guard and the Defense Department pushing assistance to every level of government during the pandemic. That means supplying masks and ventilators and beds to communities that need them. I am also, with Senator Duckworth--my colleague of Illinois--reaching out directly to the Department of Defense. I want to find out if we can start building field hospitals in the parking lots of major hospitals across our State. We have done it before when we had to--particularly when dealing with the Ebola crisis overseas--and we need to do that right here at home and take the expertise of the Army Corps of Engineers and other professionals at the Pentagon. They are ready to move at a moment's notice to build a field hospital, if needed, for our men and women in uniform. Let's take that same willingness and expertise and translate it into more bed capacity and room capacity at the hospitals most in need. The protective equipment across this country still is not at the level it should be for the men and women in the military as well as those in civilian life. The proposal before us ignores the desperation we are hearing from cities and town and States. Without tax revenues coming in, they are running out of cash to keep operating services and meeting payroll. We need a surge of Federal funding through current programs with flexibility for States and localities to allow them to keep paying their workers and ensuring things like transit, airports, schools, and housing. The McConnell plan also does not provide much needed education assistance to deal with the increased expenses related to closing schools and moving to online learning. We have to make sure that this new technology keeps our kids learning, even though they may be home in the process. It provides nothing for these emergency needs. That bill, I hope, will be improved today as the Democrats get a chance to sit down with Republicans for the first time and talk about compromises. The Republican majority leader himself said this is a public health crisis with an economic crisis strapped to its back. I couldn't agree more. Where are the test kits? Where is the protective equipment? Where is the assistance for working families? Let's get it done. The Senator from Kentucky is giving us a deadline to do it by tomorrow. I think that is ambitious, but let's try to meet it and do it on a bipartisan basis. I couldn't agree more that some affected industries--like the airlines and hospitality, along with small and midsized businesses-- need to be assisted. We can also take care of American workers and families at the same time. I think it is incumbent on us to do both. In short, the Senate needs to act now to fix the major flaws pointed out by both Republicans and Democrats in this third package. I stand ready to work on these fixes. Just a few minutes ago, I left one of the working groups, and it was a very positive atmosphere and attitude in which the two sides were sitting down and trying to work out their differences. For the dark time ahead, we need to continue reminding American people that we can rise to the challenge--both political parties--not to politically fight but to find political answers and compromises that solve these problems I have outlined here today. The bottom line is, people are sitting at home. Some are even following C-SPAN in their absolute boredom, trying to figure out what to do with their lives, and they are listening to our speeches. My report is this: We passed two major pieces of legislation involving billions of dollars. We have done it in record time. We have done it on a bipartisan basis. Both have been signed by the President. This third measure that may reach a trillion dollars in cost is a challenge, for sure, but one we can meet again on a bipartisan basis. We owe America, at this moment in our history, nothing less. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum. The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. 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 ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so ordered. ____________________
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