[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 47 (Wednesday, March 11, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1697-S1698]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





                              CORONAVIRUS

  Mr. BOOKER. Mr. President, as of today there are over 1,000 confirmed 
COVID-19 cases in 35 States and Washington, DC. The World Health 
Organization has now declared COVID-19 a pandemic. Thirty-one people 
have died in the United States already because of this virus. This 
includes one person in the State of New Jersey. Communities across the 
country, and most recently New Jersey, are confronting the possibility 
of seeing a spread of this virus. We also know that it is possible 
that, due to delays and lack of availability of testing, the actual 
number of those infected here in the U.S. is likely higher than what 
has been reported.
  Every day that passes during the spread of this virus--every single 
day, every single hour, every single moment is critical. We must act 
urgently to slow its spread, to mitigate its impact. We all have a role 
to play in fighting the virus, each and every one of us, from our 
personal hygiene habits to those of us in positions of authority and 
the roles we can play to protect each other and to protect our 
communities. One of the most significant ways to do this is actually by 
encouraging people to stay home. Members of Congress have self-
isolated. For people who have symptoms or who have severe coughs or who 
may have been exposed, there is an importance in social isolation, 
staying home when you are sick.
  The challenge for us as a country is that for millions and millions 
of Americans this idea of staying home is not an option. Tens of 
millions of Americans know that if they stay home, they miss a 
paycheck. If they miss a paycheck, that can mean financial devastation 
or ruin for their family.
  We are now the only industrialized nation in the world that doesn't 
have paid family sick leave for workers. This is an unwelcome and, 
unfortunately, this is a dangerous distinction now in the time of a 
global pandemic. This literally punishes people who are struggling, 
low-income workers.
  Right now the choice for millions of Americans is really this: Choose 
between your next paycheck and caring for your sick child. Choose 
between going to work sick or having to skip a meal. Choose between 
your health and well-being or your family's financial security. That 
choice, unfortunately, even before this pandemic, was a choice that 
many Americans knew--that the people who are handling our food, the 
people who work in our restaurants, and the people who work with our 
elderly often go to work sick in this country helping the normal flu 
and other illnesses spread. In the case of a pandemic which has a 
mortality rate of potentially five or ten times that of the flu, this 
is, unfortunately, a tragic choice that families are trying to make.
  According to the National Partnership for Women and Families, 70 
percent of the lowest income workers do not have a single paid sick 
day. They also report that 81 percent of people working in the food 
service industry--let me say that again: 81 percent of people working 
in our food service industry--and 75 percent of childcare center 
workers do not have access to paid sick leave. This is 
disproportionately seen in communities of color.
  Think about the choice you make. Your child is sick, you are showing 
signs but you know if you do not go to work, you will not be able to 
make rent, you will not be able to put food on the table, you will miss 
a car payment, which means your car will be repossessed. These are 
choices that don't just put the families in crisis but they put us all 
at risk.
  The disparity in access to preventive care is also an issue. There 
are disparities in access to healthcare and affordable medicine for 
people all across our country--millions and millions of people. This is 
already before the global pandemic is a health crisis. The continued 
and unmitigated spread of COVID-19 could have disastrous impacts on 
people in communities that already have this vulnerability. In my 
community, where I live, where I hopefully will go home this weekend, 
in Newark, NJ, the median income for the census track I live in is 
about $14,000, according to the last census. That is $14,000 per 
household. I know that public health emergencies can quickly become 
economic disasters for those who are already struggling in the economic 
margins of our country.
  As we work together to combat the spread of this virus, we need to 
remember that any of us is only as healthy as our most vulnerable 
neighbors. In other words, as Martin Luther King said years ago, when 
he said ``injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere,'' well, 
the virus anywhere is a threat to the health and safety of us 
everywhere.
  That is why we need to pass the bill introduced by Senator Patty 
Murray to guarantee 7 days of sick leave for all workers and critically 
guarantee 14 days of paid sick leave during public health emergencies. 
That is an act of self-interest.
  Again, I know with over 80 percent of those who handle our food in 
restaurants, if those folks do not have paid family leave, they are now 
economically incentivized to go to work sick. It can cause a greater 
spread of the virus.
  Paid sick and family leave is a public health and safety issue, plain 
and simple. It is about economic justice and economic strength and 
security, but it is a public health issue for us all. As we prepare to 
fight this virus, we need to do the things that keep our people, our 
communities, and our country safe, healthy, and strong. That means 
joining with the rest of our industrial nations and having paid family 
sick leave. That means opening up and modernizing the Unemployment 
Insurance Act, because workers who lose a paycheck because their 
factory closes or their restaurant closes or they lost childcare should 
be able to access the critical benefits they need to help their family 
get by. That means we also expand SNAP benefits for those kids who are 
forced to stay at home and from school and may miss meals.
  To take on this virus, to protect all of our communities, to ensure 
the strength of our economy, and to ensure our health, we need to take 
a comprehensive and inclusive approach. That means leaving no one 
behind, because we are all in this crisis together.
  I have seen challenges from 9/11 to when I was mayor and we had 
Hurricane Sandy hit. It was the strength of our community in that 
region around 9/11. It was the strength of that community during that 
terrible storm. I remember seeing that the strength was that we stood 
up for each other and stood by each other--neighbors opening up their 
homes, people lending a hand, people showing sacrifice for each other. 
That is the American way. Those values and virtues should be reflected 
in our policy. We are weakened and more vulnerable right now because we 
do not have commonsense policies that other countries take for granted, 
like paid family leave. We in the U.S. Senate should act for the love 
of each other and love of country, for the strength and security and 
health of our well-being for each other.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Massachusetts.
  Mr. MARKEY. Mr. President, I just want to first say that I agree with 
everything the Senator from New Jersey just said, and I think it is 
important to heed his message, because as of this afternoon, we are 
officially facing a global pandemic.
  The coronavirus pandemic has spread to more than 100 countries around 
the world. The World Health Organization has declared it a pandemic. 
The economic repercussions have taken on a global dimension. This is 
also a virus that is impacting Americans on a very personal dimension.
  Massachusetts residents are worried about keeping their children, 
their families, and themselves safe. Day to day, even hour to hour, 
there is a lot of uncertainty during this public health emergency. Will 
I be able to work? Will I be able to get medical care? Will I be able 
to pay the mortgage or the rent?
  There is one thing I want my constituents to know for certain. I 
share your concern for your loved ones, and your safety is my top 
priority. We need our response to this emergency to match the 
seriousness of the crisis.
  I commend the Governors and mayors across this country who have 
stepped up and provided leadership to their constituents, including 
Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker, who has wisely and swiftly 
declared a state of emergency in Massachusetts, and our great mayor of 
Boston, Martin Walsh, who has led early on this issue to make sure that 
we deal with this crisis.

[[Page S1698]]

  We need that leadership more than ever because we are seeing a 
dangerous complete abdication of leadership from Donald Trump. His 
mismanagement of this crisis is unconscionable. It is immoral, and the 
harm it is causing the American people is an injustice. The Trump 
administration has let this crisis spin out of control.
  President Trump has repeatedly said the risk is low and minimized the 
implications of the disease, even saying that Americans are unlikely to 
die from an infection. But just today, Dr. Tony Fauci, Director of the 
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the Nation's 
leading expert on infectious diseases, explained that coronavirus is 10 
times more lethal than the flu. The administration overruled health 
officials who wanted to recommend that the elderly and physically 
fragile Americans be advised not to fly.
  Trump has called efforts to draw attention to the real risk of 
coronavirus, the new Democrat-created ``hoax.'' Just today, it is being 
reported that the White House has ordered top officials to treat top-
level coronavirus meetings as classified, further hampering information 
sharing in our response to this virus.
  We saw what a lack of transparency, misinformation, and denial did in 
China with the spread of this virus. We cannot allow that to happen in 
the United States of America. The bottom line: Families need clear, 
nonbiased, accurate, and reassuring information. They need it from 
public health officials. They need it from their elected leaders. There 
should be no partisanship in pandemics.
  The President and his administration have undermined science and our 
scientists. We have the best scientists in the world. We must put their 
expertise to work to solve this challenge. We have shown that we can do 
that. Congress came together and quickly passed $8.3 billion in 
emergency funding to respond to this crisis, but we can do much more.
  First, the President should immediately declare the coronavirus 
pandemic an emergency under the Stafford Act. That direction would 
allow FEMA to access over $42 billion in disaster relief funds and 
support States and communities directly as they deal with the spread of 
this virus. I am officially calling on President Trump to do that 
today: Declare this an emergency under the Stafford Act. Free up the 
FEMA money of $42 billion in disaster relief so that we can work on 
this issue right now, dealing with it in a way that reflects the 
seriousness of the threat. The President should act today.

  Second, we need widespread and free coronavirus testing and 
affordable treatment for all.
  Third, we need to increase the Federal Medicaid assistance 
percentage. This would increase the amount of Federal dollars that go 
into Medicaid, immediately pumping more resources into States to deal 
with this health crisis. We did this during the great recession as a 
way to assist States in providing medical care. We should do it again, 
and I will be introducing legislation to accomplish that.
  Fourth, we need to ensure paid sick leave for our workers. We need to 
pass Senator Patty Murray's legislation to provide an additional 14 
days' sick leave immediately in the event of any public health 
emergency, including the current coronavirus crisis.
  Fifth, we need to enhance unemployment insurance and expand and 
support programs like SNAP and Women, Infants, and Children and school 
lunch and other initiatives to support food security. Banks should 
suspend payments on mortgages for those struggling with the economic 
impacts of this crisis, and we should provide rental assistance for 
those who need it.
  Sixth, we need to protect consumers, and that includes shielding them 
from scams and price gouging, which I called on Amazon to do. Amazon 
took action by removing bad actors from the site who were charging 
upwards of $400 for hand sanitizer. No one should be allowed to reap a 
windfall from fear and human suffering.
  We need to provide clear guidance on protections for frontline health 
workers and access to needed protective equipment. In a pandemic, our 
healthcare workers are heroes, but these heroes need help. We have to 
make sure they get the protective gear they need.
  The coronavirus is not the first and it will not be the last 
biothreat the United States faces. That is why I have introduced 
legislation that provides $1 billion for research into a universal 
coronavirus vaccine that prevents the next biothreat that would come in 
the form of a coronavirus. They morph into different types of 
coronaviruses. We have to plan for the future. We need to find a 
universal coronavirus vaccine now, and we have to fund it, which is why 
I am asking for $1 billion for that solution to be found.
  Sadly, the reality is that this pandemic is going to get worse before 
it gets better. But this is our call, and this is our time to come 
together. We all have a responsibility to act, to show leadership, and 
to support those who are most vulnerable and will be most impacted by 
this virus. The elderly in nursing homes, our young children, the 
uninsured, the undocumented--they need our help right now. These are 
the lives to be saved, livelihoods to be protected, and futures to 
ensure.
  I will continue to work with my colleagues and fight for legislation 
that provides Massachusetts residents and businesses and those all 
across our country with the resources they need. I urge all of my 
colleagues to join me in this commitment to action.
  With that, I yield back.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mrs. Blackburn). The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Cramer). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

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