August 6, 2020 - Issue: Vol. 166, No. 140 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 2nd Session
All in Senate sectionPrev20 of 103Next
Coronavirus (Executive Calendar); Congressional Record Vol. 166, No. 140
(Senate - August 06, 2020)
Text available as:
Formatting necessary for an accurate reading of this text may be shown by tags (e.g., <DELETED> or <BOLD>) or may be missing from this TXT display. For complete and accurate display of this text, see the PDF.
[Pages S5237-S5239] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] Coronavirus Mr. CARDIN. Madam President, the most recent count of confirmed Americans who have died as a result of COVID-19 is 157,551 souls. In my State of Maryland, that confirmed number is 3,402. Those are the confirmed deaths. We believe the deaths are even higher. Although the United States represents only 4.3 percent of the world's population, we represent over 26 percent of the COVID-19 infections and almost 23 percent of fatalities. These numbers are continuing to grow every day. The Trump administration was ill-prepared, inadequate in its response, misleading and inconsistent in its messaging, missing in the international leadership to deal with this global pandemic, and denied the consequences of the pandemic on our own constituents. Congress took on its responsibility by passing major legislation. The passage of the CARES Act--which was passed in March--was the right response at that time to do what we needed to deal with the pandemic. But we knew by May that COVID-19 would have a much longer impact on our country, would be more difficult to control, and we had to take additional steps in Congress in order to protect our Nation. The House did the right thing in passing the Heroes Act on May 15. It has been almost 3 months, and the Republican leadership in the Senate has failed to respond. We need to take action that is equivalent to the challenge--this incredible challenge. This is the worst pandemic we have seen since the 1918 influenza pandemic, over 100 years ago. This is the greatest economic challenge that we have faced since the Great Depression. This requires bold action in order to protect the people of our country. The help provided by the CARES Act has ended. Unemployment benefits have terminated. State and local governments are out of resources. The small business tools have already been used by the small businesses. American families need additional help. The unemployed need help. State and local governments need help. Our businesses need help. We need to act now and pass a comprehensive package to deal with this pandemic. What should be included in a comprehensive package? Let me start first with the health challenge. I was pleased that the CARES Act provided for a Marshall Plan to deal with the health pandemic. But we have since learned that this health challenge has been different in different communities. There are disturbing facts about the health disparities on the communities that have been particularly hard-hit. Communities of color have had higher infection rates, higher hospitalization rates, higher deaths. We know that this is in part because of systemic discrimination that we have seen in our system of healthcare. We need to take action. Let me give you a few things we could do in this next round that could help deal with the disparities in the health impact. The FMAP, the payment for Medicaid by the Federal Government to the States--you see, it has been estimated that 12 million Americans have additionally needed to rely on Medicaid as a result of COVID-19. The States are unable to act because their budgets have been so badly hurt. There is a risk factor that they will, in fact, even cut back benefits because they don't have the funds to maintain the current benefits before COVID-19, let alone the additional number of people who have been thrown into the need for Medicaid. We need to take steps and improve the FMAP by the Federal Government. Telehealth has proven to be a very effective tool in dealing with COVID-19. We know that people cannot travel, cannot go to offices as easily as they could, and we have seen a natural desire to do as much telehealth as possible. We have passed legislation to expand the types of services and geography that can use telehealth services. It is very important for rural America, very important for the underserved community, and very important for the transportation-challenged community. We need to make those provisions permanent. I have introduced two pieces of legislation with my colleagues: the REACH Act, with Senator Tim Scott, and the COVID-19 Health Disparities Act, with Senator Menendez. These bills work on fundamental problems of why COVID-19 has had a disparate impact on communities of color. We want to make sure we have a workforce that represents our communities. We want to make sure there is adequate funding. We want to make sure testing is done, targeted to those communities that are most vulnerable. We want to make sure the vaccine, when it is developed, is fairly shared. We want to make sure we have outreach and education in all communities. These bills deal with those issues. The health challenge, as it relates to health disparities, needs to be part of the legislation that I hope we will be considering in the very, very near future. The legislation needs to include an extension of unemployment insurance benefits, which is a lifeline for individuals and our economy. Individuals desperately need these funds in order to take care of basic needs for their families. But our economy needs the influx of these resources in order to keep our economy afloat during COVID-19. The Heroes Act, which, again, was passed almost 3 months ago, extends the $600-a-week payment through the end of January; whereas the McConnell bill, the HEALS Act, cuts it back to $200 and only through October and sets up a test for local--on the percentage of your previous salary that UI, unemployment insurance, administrators in the States tell us is not administrable, making a roadblock for those even to get the money provided in the HEALS Act, the bill introduced by Senator McConnell. We need to act boldly. The impact on our economy is here today and is showing no letup. We need to extend the $600, and we need to do it through at least January of next year. The impact of COVID-19 has been cruel to families meeting their basic obligations, including housing for both [[Page S5238]] renters and homeowners. The moratorium on eviction and foreclosure has now expired. The protection is not there. It has been estimated that $12.3 million American households are now at risk of eviction. We need to act now. We need to provide help against eviction and foreclosure, including direct assistance to renters and homeowners. It will not only be, again, the right thing to protect American families during this pandemic, but it will also help deal with stability in the real estate market, making sure we can maintain financial viability for that critically important industry. It is a win-win situation. But look at the contrast between what was done in the House and what we are asking--the Democrats are asking--to be considered on the Senate floor. The Heroes Act provides $100 billion to assist renters and $75 billion to assist homeowners. The legislation offered by Senator McConnell, the HEALS Act, provides zero assistance. We need to do what is right for American families and make sure that they have a roof over their heads. That needs to be part of our comprehensive response. State and local governments are in desperate need. You see, they have balanced budget requirements. They have to balance their budgets, and now they are juggling 2 fiscal years--one for most States that ended on June 30 and another that started on July 1. In both of those fiscal years, they are projecting large deficits. I can tell you, in Maryland alone, the fiscal year June 30 deficit is now projected to grow by $1 billion. Here is the challenge. It is up to our State and local governments to fund things such as first responders and public safety and schools and public health and critical, essential services, but they don't have the resources to do it. Without help from the Federal Government, without help in this round, we are going to see additional layoffs and services that are essential in our community not being carried out. The CARES Act helped, but the CARES Act did not deal with the loss of revenue sustained by State and local governments. Let's just use our common sense here. What do you think our State and local governments are looking at in sales tax revenues with so much consumer activity that has not taken place? Let's take a look at our income tax revenues by our State and local governments. With income being so severely restricted, those revenues are dramatically reduced. In recent years, we have seen the State and local governments rely more and more on specific taxes, generally with hospitality--dealing with hotels and car rentals and parking. Those revenues are nonexistent. We need to act. It was for good reason that Governor Hogan, the Republican chair of the National Governors Association for Maryland, and Governor Cuomo, the vice chair--the Democratic Governor from New York--came together with all of our Governors, saying: You need to help us so that we can help our constituents. By the way, their constituents are our constituents; the same individuals are served by State and local governments and by us in the Congress. The Heroes Act, once again, provided robust help, recognizing that this pandemic will have an impact not only on the fiscal year that ended June 30 but the fiscal year that began July 1. They provide $900 billion of help to State and local governments, providing for its use for revenue loss and providing direct assistance to our larger subdivisions. The legislation that was suggested by Senator McConnell on behalf of the Republicans contains zero--no help for State and local governments. One of the essential functions that State and local governments need to carry out is educating our children in our schools. There are different needs in different communities. Our aid has to be flexible to allow the local school districts to do what is right for their children as it relates to public safety and education. That is our responsibility. I recently met with educators in Maryland and looked at their challenges. They went over with me the cost challenges that they will face this fall, whether they are doing in-classroom, distant learning, or a hybrid approach. Safely reopening is costly. Following the CDC guidelines to make sure they have the cleaning supplies and protective equipment and infrastructure changes that are necessary to safely have students in the classroom and educators in the classroom; how bus routes need to be changed, which is going to be more expensive; dealing with distant learning and the technology that is needed; the tutoring and special education needs that are going to be more challenging; the training of teachers--all this is going to cost more funds. State and local governments have less funds to operate with. I particularly want to mention the digital divide. We knew before COVID-19 that if you did not have access to broadband high-speed internet in your household, you were at a disadvantage. It puts your children at a disadvantage because even though they learn at school, learning does not stop at the end of the schoolday, and access to high- speed internet is critically important for students. It is also important for their parents and for everyone to be able to get access to the internet. That has really come to light during COVID-19. Yes, we have a digital divide. We know that in rural America, it is more difficult to get broadband. We also know about the economic circumstances of many families who can't afford the internet. We need to take steps to remove that digital divide. We need to do that now. We need to do that in this legislation so that our children can get the maximum opportunities this fall through distant learning--those who are going to participate in distant learning. We need to do everything we can so children don't fall further behind because of a lack of access to broadband. The Heroes Act provides robust funding both for State and local government but also dedicated to education. That is what we need to do and make sure it is part of a robust response. In November, we will be having our national elections. There is nothing more important to our democracy than protecting the free and fair election process in America so that every eligible voter in our country can cast their ballot safely, that they can do it without fear for their public health, and that we can make sure it is done without influence from foreign actors. That requires additional resources. I was on the phone with the head of our election board in Maryland, talking about the challenges they have. Governor Hogan has suggested a hybrid approach to the November elections. It is going to cost millions of dollars more to conduct that election. The local governments don't have those funds. The Heroes Act provides funds to protect the integrity of our election system. It needs to be part of it. We all know there are foreign actors trying to interfere with our elections. We need to take steps to make sure it is protected. Once again, the bill brought to us by the Republicans, the HEALS Act, provides no help. The Heroes Act provides $3.6 billion. This week, I was on the phone with several of my constituents concerning the U.S. Postal Service. The U.S. Postal Service is mentioned in the Constitution as one of the primary functions of the Federal Government. It is essential. Ask seniors who rely on the Postal Service to get their medicines in a timely way. We now know how important it is for timely conducting our election process. Yet we are seeing delays in service. We are seeing compromises to worker safety. We are seeing unreasonable restrictions imposed by the Postal System, and they have a desperate need for additional resources. There is a lack of overtime, a lack of being able to pick the hours that you make your delivery so that you can get your mail delivered promptly and in the safest way considering the weather and COVID-19. All of that has been compromised because of a lack of resources and, I will also add, the management, the Postmaster. We need to provide additional help. We knew that before COVID-19, and it is now even more critical post-COVID-19. The Heroes Act provides $25 billion for our Postal System. We need to make sure that is done. Once again, contrast that with the offer that was [[Page S5239]] made by Senator McConnell, where no money was provided for those services. Nutrition and the SNAP program are all critically challenged as a result of COVID-19. We need to make sure we make more resources available. The Heroes Act provides more resources to make sure our families receive the nutrition they need. One of the things is delivering meals. When students are in the classroom, they usually get their food there, and it is a lot more efficient to do it that way. When they are not in the classroom, it has to be delivered, and that is more costly. We have to provide those resources to make sure our children are protected. We have to deal with childcare. Many families have challenges with childcare. The Heroes Act provides help there. Essential workers. We talk about essential workers all the time and talk about how we applaud them. They are our heroes. What do we do for them? Well, the House bill deals with hazardous pay to show our appreciation through compensation. That is what we should do. As we pass comprehensive legislation, that should be part of it. Let me say that we should also do that in regard to our own Federal workforce. We should make sure there are adequate resources to make sure every Federal worker has the protection they need to stay safe from COVID-19. We should do everything we can to encourage telework when telework makes sense for our Federal workforce. Let me conclude with the area that I probably have spent the most time with, and that is small business. In regard to small business, we have had a bipartisan working group that has made tremendous gains on behalf of tools that help small businesses. Yes, I do want to acknowledge Senator Rubio and Senator Collins and, on the Democratic side, Senator Shaheen. The four of us worked together in the CARES Act to produce the Paycheck Protection Program, which was successful in getting money out quickly to small businesses so they could stay alive. The problem with the PPP program is that we thought that by now, the economy would be back on track and that small businesses would be able to continue without additional help from the Federal Government. That is not the case. Secondly, we learned in the PPP program that the underbanked community--the minority small businesses and the smaller small businesses--was left behind when it started because they didn't have the same priority relationship with the lenders as the more sophisticated small businesses had. As a result, they were denied help. In the early stages, their loans were not as large; they didn't get the same type of attention. As we look at a second round, we need to make sure that it is targeted to those small businesses that need the help and have had revenue loss as a result of COVID-19. That is targeted to the smaller of the small businesses. They are the ones that don't have the same degree of resiliency, and they need attention at this particular moment. Yes, we need to build up the capacity and make sure that mission lenders--those that are most sensitive to the underserved community-- have the capacity and the volume of loans necessary to reach out so that we don't make the same mistake on the next round that was initially made in the PPP program. I think we can get that done. There has been strong bipartisan talk about these issues. I think we can make progress and get this done. There is another program that was left out of the HEALS Act by Senator McConnell that I was very disappointed about, and that is the economic injury disaster loan and grant program, the EIDL Program. PPP provided help to small businesses to deal with their payroll expenses and some utility expenses, but it didn't deal with the long-term capital needs of a small business. We know that they need help in addition to just the paycheck issues. That is where the EIDL Program came in. You can make both an EIDL loan and a PPP loan. Yet we ran out of EIDL funds very early. Instead of issuing loans up to $2 million, the SBA only issued loans up to $150,000. The grant program was $10,000 in cash to small businesses. It doesn't have to be repaid. That is a lifeline for the smaller small businesses. They are the ones that use the EIDL Program. They are the smaller of the small businesses. The SBA imposed a $1,000-per-employee cap, so they didn't get the full amount of the grant. We have to make sure that we provide additional resources to deal with these issues so that the EIDL Program can provide long-term financing to small businesses. Coupled with the PPP program, we can keep small businesses alive, because we all know they are the growth engine of America. They are the heart of our economy. We need to make sure that is part of the next legislation. COVID-19 is a once-in-a-lifetime challenge for us. Pandemics happen once in a hundred years. This impact on our economy is similar to the Great Depression. Let's rise to the challenge. Let's pass a bipartisan--I would say a nonpartisan--bold bill to deal with the challenges that are before us, and let's stay here and get it done now I yield the floor. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Georgia. ____________________
All in Senate sectionPrev20 of 103Next