[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 52 (Wednesday, March 18, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1781-S1782]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              CORONAVIRUS

  Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, every day our country grows more 
affected by the continued spread of the coronavirus. Every American is 
feeling the anxiety and uncertainty of this national challenge--older 
Americans and young Americans, healthy Americans and those with 
underlying medical conditions, parents, teachers, working Americans, 
and small business owners, certainly, our first responders and 
healthcare professionals. Everyone--everyone--is impacted in different 
ways and to different degrees, but all Americans are affected.
  All of us have seen our daily lives transformed in what feels like 
the blink of an eye. That is the bad news, and it is the good news too. 
We are all in this together--all in it together. Our Nation faces this 
serious challenge, but working together we can take bold steps to 
combat it.
  Earlier this month, Congress passed billions in urgent funding for 
public health and small businesses, and this Senate majority remains 
committed to taking further bold steps to preserve and protect the 
economic foundations of our country.
  Later today, the Senate will vote on a House proposal that seeks to 
address one small piece of the problem before us. It is a well-
intentioned, bipartisan product assembled by House Democrats

[[Page S1782]]

and President Trump's team that tries to stand up and expand some new 
relief measures for American workers.
  I will vote to pass their bill. This is the time for urgent, 
bipartisan action, and, in this case, I do not believe we should let 
perfection be the enemy of something that would help even a subset of 
workers.
  However, the House's bill has real shortcomings. It does not even 
begin to cover all of the Americans who will need help in the days 
ahead. And, more specifically, it achieves one of its signature 
policies by imposing a new, untested mandate on small businesses 
without--without--guaranteeing they will have sufficient funds in 
advance to finance this new employee benefit.
  Everyone agrees that workers need relief. The Republicans are working 
on bold solutions to help individuals and families as we speak, but 
small businesses need relief as well.
  This is literally the worst time in living memory to pile even more 
burdens and costs onto small businesses, which are, themselves, 
fighting to stay alive unless--unless--we back it up with major 
assistance.
  We all know what small businesses are up against. Just this week, New 
York City joined the list of towns and cities across the country where 
local officials have shuttered every bar and every restaurant for the 
sake of public health. At 5 p.m. today, all public-facing businesses in 
my home State of Kentucky will do the same. These job creators are 
literally being taken offline by their own governments for the public 
good.
  It is not only bars, restaurants, and entertainment businesses we 
need to worry about. Nobody expects Main Street small businesses of any 
sort to hold the kind of cash buffer they would need to remain in 
business and wait out a national economic disruption that could last 
for weeks or months.
  Men and women who pour their entire lives into small businesses do 
not need even more obstacles. They need help. They need a lifeline. 
They need to know that Congress understands the historic obstacles they 
are facing and that we have their back as well.
  There is no moral hazard here. This is not some rescue following 
risky business decisions. Nobody thinks any of this is the fault of 
small businesses. So while I will support the House bill in order to 
secure emergency relief for some American workers, I will not adjourn 
the Senate until we have passed a far bolder package that must include 
significant relief for small businesses all across our country.
  As we speak, Chairman Rubio, Senator Collins, and others are 
assembling a historic level of assistance for small businesses across 
America. We want to help them survive this disruption, absorb the new 
mandate in the House bill, and continue to make payroll and avoid 
layoffs as much as they can and emerge this storm in the best shape 
possible. That means a historic injection of liquidity and access to 
credit, and it means Washington working directly with the lenders who 
already work with these small businesses to minimize the new 
bureaucracy so the assistance can flow as fast as possible.
  So we are going to pass the House's bill, but its imperfections will 
just make our more comprehensive package even more urgent. So we aren't 
leaving. So everybody understands, we aren't leaving until we deliver. 
The Senate is not going to leave small business behind.
  This will be just one component of our work. As we speak, Chairman 
Grassley and others are determining the best pathway to put money 
directly in the hands of the American people--those who are employed, 
those who may be laid off, retirees, disabled Americans, families--as 
quickly as possible.
  Of course, Chairman Alexander and a number of our colleagues are 
working on further steps in our public health fight against the virus 
itself, such as getting more tools in the hands of healthcare 
providers, removing barriers to treatment, and helping researchers 
develop therapeutics and vaccines.
  Chairman Wicker and several Senators are considering the possibility 
of targeted relief for key industries that are shouldering an outsized 
burden from the public health directives and which our Nation will need 
to be operational on the other side of this.
  We are crafting bold and significant legislation to meet this crisis 
head-on and to strengthen our Nation.
  The Congress has an enormous role to play in responding to this 
challenge, and we are determined to do that duty. But, at the same 
time, never in our Nation's history have Americans looked solely to 
Washington for answers. That is not who we are. This is no different.
  Even amidst the uncertainty, the American people are stepping up and 
reminding everyone what solidarity and citizenship look like. In my 
home State, Kentuckians are going out of their way to stand with their 
neighbors. Stay-at-home parents are volunteering to help neighbors with 
childcare when parents are unable to telework. Grocery stores in the 
Louisville area are setting aside the first hour they are open each 
day, right after their cleaning, so older shoppers and those with 
underlying conditions can shop first and with less exposure. One local 
restaurant is distributing free meals to service industry workers whose 
hours have been cut.
  This is what makes the United States of America what it is, and it is 
what we are today: generosity, friendship, resolve, and strength.
  This is not a challenge anyone wanted for our Nation, but it is a 
challenge we will overcome. Someday--hopefully, soon--our Nation will 
have this virus on its heels, mainstream small businesses will be 
thriving again, and families will be flying around the country again to 
reunite and catch up. We will have gotten through this together. In 
part, it will be because the Federal Government and Congress did our 
part, but, just as important, it will also be because every single 
American did theirs.

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