March 22, 2020 - Issue: Vol. 166, No. 56 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 2nd Session
SENATE LEGISLATIVE AGENDA; Congressional Record Vol. 166, No. 56
(Senate - March 22, 2020)
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[Pages S1893-S1894] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] SENATE LEGISLATIVE AGENDA Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, Senators have now spent days engaged in vigorous bipartisan discussions among ourselves and with the administration. Earlier today, I hosted a productive meeting in my office with the Democratic leader, the Speaker of the House, the House Republican leader, and the Secretary of the Treasury. These intense conversations have built a piece of legislation that is as bold and as big as the American people deserve and as thoroughly bipartisan as our process demands. Now what we need to do is to move forward. This national crisis is not going to wait around if Congress slips back into conventional politics or haggles endlessly over the finer points. Every day, more Americans' jobs are disappearing or coming ever closer to the brink. Every day, more small businesses are faced with hard decisions that could change local communities, literally, forever. Every day, major American companies that employ countless people are seeing their commerce crushed by their own government for the sake of public health. Every day, doctors, nurses, and healthcare professionals will keep reporting to work and treating patients, whether or not Congress has their back. [[Page S1894]] The risks to our country grow every single day that we do not act. The needs of hospitals and healthcare providers grow every day that we do not act. That is why we have worked around the clock to craft a major bipartisan relief package. That is why we are going to hold our first procedural vote in just a few minutes. It is so that we can keep moving forward, because this virus is not going to wait for politics as usual. These past few days have brought unity and bipartisan energy here to the Senate. I think Members on both sides agree that it has been very encouraging. Since Senate Republicans released our initial framework to give some structure to these discussions, both sides have worked hard to create something that can pass the Senate, pass the House, and be signed into law by the President. The bipartisan product delivers strongly on each of the core priorities we identified at the outset. It puts urgently needed cash in the hands of American workers and families. It delivers historic and rapid relief to small businesses so they can make payroll and keep people employed. It helps stabilize key industries to avoid layoffs wherever possible and preserve the greatest economy in the world for when we come out on the other side of this. And, of course, it sends a massive--massive--new infusion of resources to the frontlines of the medical response. That is what we have to do: inject a significant amount of money as quickly as possible into households, small businesses, key sectors, and our Nation's hospitals and health centers. This bill would do that, and it would do it fast. The comprise product also contains many ideas that our Democratic colleagues brought to the table. It balances the administration's focus on sending direct cash to Americans as quickly as possible with our Democratic colleagues' focus on bolstering State unemployment insurance programs. It places conditions which our Democratic colleagues have sought on the loans that would flow to major businesses, conditions which the President has also endorsed. And both parties have made sure to keep strengthening the resources that will be pushed out to the frontlines. The bill includes $75 billion in a new fund for hospitals and health providers, and more than three-quarters of the funds in the appropriations section--nearly $200 billion--will not stay in Washington but will go straight to State and local priorities. So what we have is a comprise product which contains ideas, contributions, and priorities from both sides and which can become law as soon as tomorrow--as soon as tomorrow. In other words, it is just about time to take yes for an answer. We are now at a point which every American who has ever negotiated anything would recognize, whether they have purchased a home, bought a car, or negotiated for their small business. We are at the point where both sides have come a long way toward each other, and each side has to decide whether to continue elbowing and arguing over the last several inches and risk the whole thing or whether to shake hands and get it done. Thus far, throughout this crisis, the Senate has risen to the occasion. It was just a few days ago when the Senate Republican majority moved expeditiously to pass the House Democrats' phase 2 legislation, even though many of my colleagues on this side of the aisle and I had serious reservations and would have written it very differently. We passed it anyway. It was basically written on the House side. Nevertheless, as I just said, I pushed the Speaker's legislation through the Senate because urgency and results matter during a national crisis; because, imperfections notwithstanding, it was the right thing to do for our country. So, look--look--I hope and anticipate that a similar degree of bipartisanship and urgency will be reciprocated now. I understand the Speaker said following our meeting this morning that she may simply give up on these bipartisan talks and begin writing her own separate bill. Perhaps that is related to the remarks of one of her senior House Democratic leaders who reportedly told colleagues a few days ago: ``This is a tremendous opportunity to restructure things to fit our vision.'' `` . . . a tremendous opportunity to restructure things to fit our vision.'' Well, I sincerely hope that nobody actually views this crisis in such a cynical manner. This is not a political opportunity. It is a national emergency. That is why we have engaged in days of bipartisan talks to get to this point. It is why it is time to move forward. Americans don't need to see us haggling endlessly. They don't need us to jeopardize all the progress we have made over the past several days for the sake of some eleventh-hour brinkmanship. The American people need an outcome, and they need it tomorrow. They need us to vote to advance this legislation today and pass it tomorrow. As I said yesterday, Congress should take inspiration from our own constituents. We should be inspired by our own constituents. Look at what they are doing. Even during this pandemic, the American people are showing the world the soul of our country. In my home State of Kentucky, the official motto is ``United we stand, divided we fall.'' And every day I hear about new ways Kentuckians are standing united, even if they have to stand 6 feet apart. I recently heard about a resident of Campbell County in Northern Kentucky named Debbie Buckley. In her day job, Debbie works for the local government, but recently she heard about some students at a nearby university who were still living in the dorms even though in- person classes have been canceled. Some had to remain in the area for work. Others were international students who couldn't get home. Their situations were completely uncertain. The local shelves were not fully stocked, so Debbie decided to do something. She put out a call for help, and Kentuckians answered the call. Churches, restaurants, and neighbors all pitched in with food and supplies. Debbie drove all over Northern Kentucky collecting those donations and then delivering them to these young people. She has found everything a college student could need: canned goods, microwaveable meals, and even Airheads candy, which I am proud to say are made right there in Kentucky. There are so many stories like this pouring in from all over our country. Americans are stepping up to the plate. Americans realize this is no time for selfishness and no time for division but a time for solidarity, generosity, and, yes, courage. Americans are rising to the occasion. The Senate must do the same. Let's move this legislation forward this afternoon, as the last few discussions begin to wind down, and then let's get this done tomorrow. 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. THUNE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. ____________________