[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 50 (Monday, March 16, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1747-S1748]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              CORONAVIRUS

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, the new coronavirus has spread from 
China throughout the world, and it is challenging our Nation in new 
ways. Across our country, daily routines are being disrupted, families 
are grappling with school closings and changes to childcare, major 
American companies and institutions are literally modifying how they do 
business, and a growing number of Main Street small businesses face the 
possibility of significant disruptions as more and more communities 
begin to ``hunker down,'' as Dr. Fauci put it, on the advice of public 
health experts and local leaders.
  As an aside, I have noticed that a lot of the discussion in the media 
has focused on individuals who may be temporarily transitioning from 
office work to working from home. So I want to especially acknowledge 
the many other hard-working Americans for whom telework is not an 
option. Now, more than ever, we are reminded who really keeps this 
country running: the hard-working men and women who grow things, who 
make things, who drive trucks and move goods across the country, who 
mine coal or otherwise produce domestic energy and, literally, power 
our communities, who run the stores and shops we rely on, who serve our 
communities as police and first responders, and, of course, especially 
the dedicated frontline healthcare professionals, who work tirelessly 
to heal and protect all the rest of us.
  To all Americans--but, most especially, to those hard-working people 
whose efforts are going to get our country through this challenge--I 
have one message: The Senate stands with you. We stand with American 
workers and families, we stand with American businesses, and we stand 
with the public health experts and the heroic frontline medical 
professionals whom our Nation seems poised to lean on as heavily as we 
have at any point in recent memory.
  The Senate is committed to meeting these uncertain times with bold 
and bipartisan solutions. That is what we did a little more than a week 
ago, when the Senate passed billions of dollars in emergency funding 
for health and small businesses with an overwhelming bipartisan vote 
and put it on the President's desk. That is what we are going to keep 
doing this week, particularly if the House of Representatives can 
actually complete its work and transmit a finished product of its 
relief over to us. And it is what we are going to keep doing in the 
days and weeks ahead.
  With respect to the House-passed legislation, I understand the House 
chose to proceed with their planned 1-week recess, despite not having 
finished processing their bill. As of this afternoon, we are still 
waiting for the House to reach a decision on possible technical 
corrections and to submit a final

[[Page S1748]]

product to us here in the Senate. We cannot consider the legislation 
until we get it, but I know that Senators on both sides have spent the 
last several days carefully studying the House proposal, and I know 
that all of us are eager to act quickly to support American workers, 
families, and small businesses.
  Even more broadly, Senate Republicans are absolutely convinced that 
the House's bill can only be the beginning--just the beginning--of 
Congress's efforts to secure our economy and support American families. 
This is a unique challenge--a unique challenge. Unlike in any other 
tough circumstances, our short-term goal is not simply to bring 
economic activity right back to normal starting tomorrow. Instead, our 
task is to secure the historically strong foundation of our Nation's 
economy and support Americans during this period when public health may 
require that some normal activities simply be scaled back.
  I have spoken with countless colleagues and committee chairmen over 
the last several days. We agree there are three major areas where the 
Senate must continue to develop bold and bipartisan action:
  No. 1, we will need to take further steps to assist individual 
Americans and families with financial challenges in the weeks and 
months ahead.
  No. 2, we will need to further significant actions to secure our 
Nation's economy--particularly Main Street small businesses--and 
safeguard our historically strong economic foundation through this 
period.
  No. 3, we will need further steps to ready our healthcare system and 
support our Nation's medical professionals.
  The Senate majority is already working toward next steps on all three 
of those fronts. I hope further bold action can be just as bipartisan 
and collaborative as the process by which we passed the first set of 
additional funds. We must work with each other in the bipartisan spirit 
this moment demands--and with the administration and the House--to 
deliver results for our country.

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