[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 47 (Wednesday, March 11, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1685-S1687]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              CORONAVIRUS

  Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, over the last several weeks, the world has 
watched closely as the coronavirus has spread from China to more than 
100 countries around the world.
  Since this rapid spread began--before cases were discovered in at 
least 35 States, including the District of Columbia--folks in my 
hometown of San Antonio were already providing topnotch care for 
Americans evacuated from Wuhan Province overseas with suspected 
exposure.
  From the first evacuees from China to more than 120 passengers from 
the Diamond Princess cruise ship, to those who will soon arrive from 
the Grand Princess cruise ship, the dedicated healthcare professionals 
in San Antonio have been operating--have been hitting on all cylinders.
  So far, Lackland Air Force Base has been used to quarantine 235 
evacuees, with hundreds more to arrive in the coming days. I must say, 
they have done a good job of managing this rapidly evolving situation, 
but that is not to say there haven't been challenges.
  A few weeks ago, I organized a meeting with officials from the city 
of San Antonio, including the mayor and two city council persons, as 
well as the Department of Health and Human Services and the Defense 
Department, to discuss the ongoing mission and any concerns the city 
might have. Anytime officials at every level of government

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are working together--whether it is in response to a natural disaster 
or a public health emergency--coordination is key. You have to make 
sure everybody is operating on the same page and regularly sharing 
information--something that was a challenge in the beginning and 
remains a challenge today.
  At one point, we were able to get everybody in the same room to 
discuss not only the response to the virus but the steps to be taken to 
protect the general public in the surrounding area. Of course, that 
work doesn't start and end at Lackland in San Antonio. Hospitals around 
the State are facing a great deal of pressure and uncertainty 
surrounding the virus and working to ensure that they are prepared to 
treat potential coronavirus patients without impacting their normal 
operations is an urgent concern.
  Last week, I helped organize a conference call with the Texas 
Hospital Association and officials from Health and Human Services and 
the Texas Department of State Health Services to discuss some of the 
issues of concern to hospitals serving on the frontline all across our 
State. There have been a lot of news stories about the shortage of 
masks and personal protective equipment for healthcare workers and 
subsequent price gouging, and that is a big concern for these 
hospitals--many of which serve rural populations. As I told folks on 
that call, communication in these situations is critical. It seems so 
obvious, but it is not done unless you insist upon it. I was 
particularly glad to hear personally their concerns so we can make sure 
we are doing what is needed on our end in Washington, DC, to support 
them.
  I appreciate Texas's incredible healthcare professionals who have 
been working to treat patients in their care and prevent the 
coronavirus from spreading to the general public. The city of San 
Antonio--I have to single out in particular--has been carrying the 
weight of the struggle for a number of weeks now, and it has come at 
quite a significant cost to city taxpayers. Fortunately, last week, the 
President signed an $8.3 billion funding bill to support our Nation's 
response to the coronavirus. It will send vital funding for treating 
and preventing the spread of the virus, including the purchase of masks 
and personal protective equipment, as well as supporting the 
development of a vaccine.
  The funding bill will also include money for State and local 
communities, including San Antonio, which have been at the forefront of 
the battle at home. That makes $950 million available for reimbursement 
for the costs Texas and other States have incurred while monitoring and 
treating these individuals. It is a start in the process to repay San 
Antonio for the work they have done to help our Nation mitigate the 
impact of the coronavirus.

  I appreciate Chairman Shelby and Ranking Member Leahy for including 
this reimbursement funding in the legislation and working so closely 
with all of us to get the relief on the way as soon as possible.
  Over the last couple of days, we have witnessed the ripple effect the 
coronavirus threat has had on the markets, and the next big question on 
everyone's mind is how this virus will impact the economy. Yesterday we 
had the opportunity to discuss potential options with President Trump, 
Vice President Pence, and Secretary Mnuchin, and we are continuing to 
work to identify the best path forward.
  Unfortunately, there doesn't yet seem to be a bipartisan effort to 
try to reach a consensus--something we need. One of our Democratic 
colleagues suggested that the best way to prevent economic damage is to 
stop the spread of the virus. I can't argue with that logic, but unless 
that Senator knows something the rest of us don't know, that is not 
exactly a productive use of our time. We know we need to stop the 
virus, but we also need to deal with the economic fallout as well.
  When we were in a position in 2014 with the Ebola crisis, we didn't 
hear a lot of griping about what President Obama was doing. We found 
ways to work with him for the betterment of our communities in the 
country. So I hope that at a time when we are confronting this threat, 
we can work together. That includes the Speaker and the minority leader 
here, all of us together to try to solve this problem. It is not a time 
to play politics. It is a time for us to work together in the Nation's 
interest.
  Keeping the American people safe and healthy and keeping our economy 
strong should be a shared bipartisan goal. I hope our colleagues--all 
of our colleagues--will keep that in mind, just as we did when we 
worked with President Obama in 2014.
  While the American people are rightly taking precautions to protect 
themselves and their loved ones, it is important to remember there is 
no reason to panic. Preparation, yes; panic, no.
  The leaders at the Centers for Disease Control and the Department of 
Health and Human Services continue to remind all of us that the risk 
for the average American remains low, and the best defense against the 
virus is to use the same personal hygiene practices that our mother 
taught us when we were young. To help communicate what those practices 
are, as well as other information, my office has created a unique web 
page on my official website, cornyn.senate.gov. This will serve as a 
platform to provide information to all Texans who have questions about 
the virus and may be of interest to anybody who is concerned about what 
the government is doing to deal with the virus. If you are looking for 
information on how to prevent the spread of the virus, what Congress is 
doing to help, where you can find the latest number of cases in Texas, 
we have compiled all of the relevant links in one place.
  I know I speak on behalf of all Texans when I thank the dedicated 
healthcare professionals around the State and around the Nation for 
providing the highest quality care for people who come down with the 
virus. I am grateful for everyone who is unified in this fight and who 
are working to stop the spread of the virus and, ultimately, develop a 
vaccine.
  On one final note, let me say a word about my friend and colleague 
Senator Cruz. Over the weekend, he announced he would self-quarantine 
after coming into contact with someone who was later determined to have 
the coronavirus. I want to thank him for having the courage to step 
forward and to do what any one of us should do if we are exposed to 
somebody with the coronavirus, if we know it: to monitor our health and 
make sure we don't spread it to others and to seek care from a 
healthcare professional should we begin to come down with worrisome 
symptoms.
  His is a great reminder for all Americans to take this potential risk 
seriously and that we should all be joined together to do everything we 
can to keep our communities safe and healthy.
  I yield the floor.
  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. BROWN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The Senator from Ohio.
  Mr. BROWN. Mr. President, I appreciate the comments of my friend from 
Texas. I only heard part of them, but I appreciate his interest and 
what we need to do to deal with this coronavirus. I hear so often in 
this body that it is about the economic issues, which to be sure it is, 
as you know in Utah and Senator Cornyn knows. But when I hear the 
President's response on what to do--first, I know that people are angry 
in Ohio and I think elsewhere that the President has waited so long to 
act.

  I know people are angry when they find out that the President made 
major cuts to the Centers for Disease Control, which the Presiding 
Officer knows is the best public health agency probably in the history 
of the world, combined with our public health departments at NIH and 
the FDA and National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health in 
Cincinnati--all of this incredible public health infrastructure safety 
net we have built in this country bipartisanly through decades and 
decades and decades.
  I know people are unhappy when they learn about the President 
eliminating the position at the White House of the admiral physician 
who ran our effort to always be trying to anticipate a public health 
outbreak, a pandemic of sorts. I

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don't know whether or not we are in one. I don't think we know that.
  I am not an alarmist or panicky in any way, but I know people realize 
we had such a late start on this because of the President's actions 
over the last 3 years.
  The issue is not to bail out more corporations. The issue is not to 
give money to the cruise ship companies, for gosh sakes, which is one 
part of the President's rhetoric tweet proposals. The cruise ship 
industry is almost exclusively foreign-owned. Why take tax dollars and 
shovel them into the cruise industry?
  Instead of focusing on large corporations, which is something the 
President always does--I understand that is what he comes from, who he 
is, and who his supporters are--instead of focusing there, we should be 
focusing on individuals, and that means starting with a sick leave 
policy and sick days.
  Think about how hard it is for all of us in this body--think about 
somebody making $12 an hour and living alone or living with a child or 
living with a spouse, whoever, making $12 an hour with no benefits and 
they get sick. They think, let's see, do I go to work--if I go to work 
sick, I may get worse, and I may infect my colleagues and other 
employees--or do I stay home and give up that $100 of a $12-an-hour 
job? I am paying $700 a month in rent. Can I give up that $100 or $200 
or $300 over 2 or 3 days?
  There are so many Americans who are sick who wrestle with that 
decision every single day. This is an opportunity. Senator Murray 
worked on a bill. I worked on this bill with her for a good while. I 
just spoke with Congresswoman DeLauro from Connecticut about working on 
legislation to provide emergency relief right now. We can do this 
today. I know the Presiding Officer has been open-minded about things 
like this. We can make this bipartisan. We can have immediate 14-day 
help as part of our package that we already voted on and then have a 
long-term, 7-day sick day policy where you earn those benefits. As you 
work, you earn that--up to 7-day sick day policy. Every other 
industrialized, wealthy country in the world has it. It makes safer, 
healthier workplaces and safer, healthier workers. It will mean good 
help and stronger families--all the kinds of things a sick day policy 
would mean to our country.
  I am hopeful that rather than shovel money to corporations, we will 
spend that money on individuals, on people, on workers and their 
workplace. It could make all the difference in the world, not just in 
addressing this coronavirus public health crisis today but in 
preventing these kinds of crises in the future.
  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. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent for me, Senator 
Collins, and Senator Cassidy to have a colloquy.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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