[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 51 (Tuesday, March 17, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1768-S1769]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              CORONAVIRUS

  Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, our country is facing an unprecedented 
public health emergency with severe and potentially long-lasting 
economic consequences. As COVID-19 spreads, our local health officials 
and health experts tell us we are woefully unprepared for what is about 
to hit us. Public health infrastructure, like hospital beds and masks 
and ventilators, must be produced and procured. Testing is still not at 
its proper capacity. The resulting economic downturn from this virus is 
already impacting millions of American families, workers, and 
businesses--small, medium, large, alike.
  First, on a personal note, please, Americans, take care of 
yourselves. Avoid unnecessary contact, even though I know so many of 
the meetings and gatherings and celebrations that we have planned must 
be postponed. It is painful but not as painful as the continuing spread 
of this awful virus.
  And a little advice--this is not universal, but I have heard this 
from a number of medical people whom I trust: Take your temperature in 
the morning and in the evening. It is a good way to check whether you 
have this illness and it is progressing within you. Not all experts 
agree with that, but many do. In my view, it can't hurt. It is 
something I am doing. I am urging my family to do it, and I am urging 
my staff to do it.
  Our response in the Senate and in Congress--the response to the 
coronavirus--will require a massive mobilization of public resources--
Federal, State, and local--as we have marshaled before only in 
wartime. It is going to require Congress to work in a bipartisan way 
and with uncommon speed. And the American people, too, must pull 
together and sacrifice in ways small and large their normal way of life 
in an effort to combat this disease and limit its spread. All hands 
must be on deck because the task before us is daunting and may yet 
eclipse the pain felt by workers and families during the great 
recession--at least for many things.

  The first order of business here in the Senate is to take up and pass 
the recent House bill and do it today. It will provide free coronavirus 
testing. That is essential. It would extend paid sick leave. It would 
give food assistance, Medicaid reimbursement, and expanded unemployment 
insurance.
  I understand that some of my colleagues on the other side of the 
aisle might want to amend the legislation or have it written 
differently if they were the ones putting it together. But I remind 
them that Leader McConnell said that he would defer the agreement 
between the Speaker of the House and Secretary Mnuchin. The President 
has said he will sign this bill if the Senate passes it. If we change 
the bill, it will go back to the House and be delayed and delay the aid 
it contains for American families coping with the impact of the virus.
  Please, my colleagues, we will have other opportunities to legislate, 
and there will be a great need for them, but let's move this now. Let's 
move this now. I believe our side of the aisle will clear this. I hope 
the other side will, and it will be on the President's desk today. 
Let's hope, and let's not delay any longer.
  But there is much more to be done. Once this legislation is sent to 
the President's desk--COVID 2--our work will not be over, not even 
close. We must soon move to other very necessary measures to address 
the coronavirus and its widening impact on the health and well-being of 
the American people.
  Today, I am presenting a series of proposals to congressional 
appropriators that would provide initial infusion of at least $750 
billion. Our proposal is big, it is bold, but it is also targeted. It 
focuses on those Americans in the parts of the health sector and the 
economy most in need now: hospitals and treatment, unemployment 
insurance and Medicaid, loan forbearance and aid for small business, 
childcare, and senior citizens. It focuses on those who need help--
those who don't have an income because they have lost their job 
temporarily; those who need help with senior citizens, with children 
who are not in school; hospitals that are short of equipment and maybe 
personnel. That is the immediate focus. That is what we must do right 
now. We must focus on those who need help immediately and do it in a 
way that deals with the structural problems in the country that have 
made the attack of this virus more virulent, more harmful, and worse.
  By contrast, it is reported that the administration is proposing a 
massive Federal bailout of industry and a payroll tax cut. If we are 
going to follow up the House bill with another major economic stimulus 
package, which we must, our major focus cannot be based on bailing out 
airlines, cruises, and other industries. We must first prioritize 
economic solutions that are focused on workers and their families, 
solutions that would allow us to fix our broken unemployment system; 
rebuild our public health system, which is overburdened; save small and 
medium-sized American businesses that have a cash crunch and will go 
out of business, even though they were healthy a month ago, because no 
one is buying their products or using their services.
  Let's remember--corporations are not people. People are people. And 
when it comes to this cascading crisis, we should help our fellow 
Americans first, even as we plan and execute policies that protect our 
economy. The administration's proposal, if that is the sum of it--a 
massive bailout of industry and a payroll tax cut--doesn't do that. It 
doesn't target the people who most need the help. Any package we are 
going to do here, which must be passed in a bipartisan way, must 
contain large elements of what I am talking about and maybe other 
things as well that help the people who are in need.
  I will be sending my proposal and a PowerPoint slide to every one of 
my colleagues shortly, and I hope they will understand the need for it. 
I have consulted with large numbers in our caucus, and we have broad 
support for these proposals and some others.
  Again, when it comes to this cascading crisis, we should help fellow 
Americans first, even as we plan and execute policies that protect our 
economy.
  First, we take actions to fight this virus. First, we get lifelines 
to our workers, our parents, our students, our seniors, our small 
businesses. If your house is on fire, the first thing you worry about 
is not smoke damage to the roof; you try to put out the fire. That is 
what our proposal does. It means, first and foremost, we work to 
address the virus itself and the people most impacted.
  In the midst of a sprawling health and economic catastrophe, industry 
bailouts should not be at the top of our

[[Page S1769]]

priority list. Our proposal also does not include a payroll tax cut. 
That option may be premature and the wrong response to the problems we 
face today. There are much better ways to get money in the hands of the 
Americans who need it most and in the ways they need it most.
  For example, in our proposal, the Senate Democratic proposal, if you 
are a worker and lose your job or can't work, you would qualify for 
nearly $10,000 over 6 months in unemployment benefits. If you can't 
work because you get sick and your employer doesn't provide paid sick 
leave, we would allow you to apply for unemployment insurance and get 
reimbursed. Under Senator Murray's leadership, we are also doing more 
on the sick leave front.
  If your hours are cut and you suddenly can't pay your mortgage, you 
are going to lose your home, or if you are otherwise struggling to make 
ends meet because you choose to pay your mortgage but then can't pay 
other vital expenses, our proposal would let you defer your mortgage 
loans for 6 months with no penalty, fees, or impact on your credit. We 
will do the same for student loans. We will do the same for small 
business loans. There will be a 6-month moratorium. That helps real 
people.
  If you are a working parent and suddenly you have to worry about 
finding a safe place for your kids to stay during the day, we would 
provide emergency funding to safely ramp up childcare services for 
heavily impacted parts of the country. If you are a small business 
suddenly facing cash flow problems, we would allow you to apply for 
low-interest loans and other forms of direct financial assistance that 
can offer relief quickly and allow you to overcome this problem and 
keep your business going in a healthy way.
  These are just a few examples. Our proposal includes much more but 
includes what is needed and needed immediately. It includes what 
Governors across the country are calling for--aid to public health 
systems and citizens impacted by this crisis.
  I would say to my Republican colleagues: We want to work with you. 
You will have different ideas, but our ideas must be contained in a 
package. The thing the administration has been talking about, if that 
is true, is not good enough at all.
  There is one other thing we need. As more testing becomes available, 
the number of confirmed coronavirus cases will inevitably increase and 
the strain on our public health system will become even greater. We are 
going to need massive investments to ensure we have the capacity and 
necessary infrastructure to treat all Americans who need it. Our 
proposal addresses that as well.
  As we discuss what is to come in the next few weeks, I strongly urge 
my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, both ends of the Capitol, to 
review our proposal and organize our next legislative response around 
these ideas.
  In conclusion, this crisis is going to demand more from all of us--
more from the administration and a President who has been far too slow 
in waking up to the scale of the challenges we now face, more from a 
Congress that has to set aside partisan squabbles and work together, 
and more from the American people, who must diligently follow public 
health guidance and endure massive disruptions of their daily lives. I 
know my family is enduring that right now, and so are millions and 
millions of families across America.
  We have to stick together, be strong, support one another, and we 
will get through it. We will. We have not faced a public health crisis 
of this global scale in recent times. We are unsure how long the 
disturbance to our national economic life will last. Yet we Americans 
have overcome challenges of this magnitude and even greater before, and 
we will again. It will demand determination, cooperation, and 
sacrifice. It will demand an enormous, coordinated effort by the 
Government of the United States at all levels to protect the health and 
safety of the American people. But we will overcome this problem, 
together--strongly, forcefully, and smartly.
  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. THUNE. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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