[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 53 (Thursday, March 19, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1817-S1818]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       SENATE LEGISLATIVE AGENDA

  Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, yesterday, President Trump and his 
team announced several new actions to help contain and combat the 
coronavirus. The President invoked the Defense Production Act, laying 
groundwork to manufacture more medical equipment. The Department of 
Health and Human Services will let medical professionals practice 
across State lines. The Department of Defense will deploy hospital 
ships and transfer millions of respirator masks and thousands of 
ventilators to HHS. The FDA will deepen partnerships with commercial 
laboratories to expand testing. The Department of Housing and Urban 
Development will suspend foreclosures and evictions on FHA-insured 
mortgages. And the Department of Homeland Security reached a mutual 
agreement with Canada to close our northern border to nonessential 
travel. These are major steps as we confront a major crisis
  Here in the Senate we are preparing to take further bold steps of our 
own. Yesterday, we passed legislation from the House that will provide 
some American workers with additional benefits during this emergency. 
As I explained yesterday, that legislation was hardly perfect. It 
imposes new costs and uncertainty on small businesses at precisely the 
most challenging moment for small businesses in living memory. So the 
Senate is even more determined that our legislation cannot leave small 
businesses behind.
  Support for small business is one of the four key components of the 
much bolder proposal we are finalizing. Chairman Rubio and Chairman 
Collins have been crafting a major plan to help small businesses 
survive this crisis and help workers continue to get paid.
  We are talking about new federally guaranteed loans on the order of 
hundreds of billions of dollars to address immediate cashflow problems. 
This is no massive new bureaucracy. We want to let qualified small 
businesses get liquidity through familiar institutions--their own 
community banks, credit unions, or nationwide lenders.
  As Chairman Collins explained yesterday, owners will not be able to 
use the funds to give themselves raises or increase their own profits. 
The point is to help small business endure, help workers keep their 
jobs, and help both businesses and workers emerge from this ready to 
thrive.
  As Chairman Rubio explained, the portions of these funds that small 
businesses use on core expenses, such as paying workers and paying 
their rent or mortgage, will convert into grants they will not need to 
pay back. This will make sure that even lower profit margin Main Street 
businesses get a fighting chance to stay open and continue paying 
workers.
  This is straightforward: a rapid injection of cash to help small 
businesses

[[Page S1818]]

through this turmoil--not some brandnew program with a long lead time 
but an existing program that has been tested.
  The second major pillar of our legislation will be even more 
straightforward: direct financial help for Americans. Senate 
Republicans want to put cash in the hands of the American people. 
Chairman Grassley and a number of our colleagues are finalizing a 
structure that will get assistance to individuals and families as 
rapidly as possible. This is no Washington process with a thousand 
cooks in the kitchen, no piles of forms for laid-off workers or busy 
families to fill out--money for people from the middle class on down, 
period.
  For laid-off Americans, this infusion would complement unemployment 
insurance and could be put toward immediate needs during this crisis. 
For Americans who are still working, the money would provide extra 
certainty in this uniquely uncertain time and help remind everyone that 
temporary shutdowns at bars and restaurants do not mean all commerce 
has to halt. For retirees, the money would complement Social Security 
and help seniors navigate the unusual routines that have suddenly 
become necessary for their own safety.
  This is a form of additional tax relief that we want to push to 
taxpayers right away. It is not an ordinary policy, but this is no 
ordinary time. The American people need help, and they need it fast. 
This will deliver it.
  Now, we believe this rapid assistance is crucial, but, more broadly, 
we need to keep as many Americans as possible on the job and connected 
to their employers. The small business relief will help, and so will a 
number of additional tax relief measures, which will be designed to 
help employers maintain cashflow and keep making payroll, preserving 
employment and protecting economic foundations.
  That is also why the third pillar of our proposal involves targeted 
lending to industries of national importance. Chairman Shelby, Chairman 
Wicker, and Senator Thune are leading this component.
  Just like small businesses, entire sectors are being crushed--
crushed--by public health guidance, which is obviously through no fault 
of their own. For example, our Nation needs airlines. Yet they have 
ongoing maintenance costs that do not disappear just because the 
government has chased away all the customers. We cannot expect this key 
industry to mothball itself overnight, then dust off in weeks and 
months and pop right back online as the Nation will need and expect.
  So let's be clear about something. From small businesses to key 
sectors, we are not talking about so-called bailouts for firms that 
made reckless decisions. Nobody is alleging a moral hazard here. None 
of these firms--not corner stores, not pizza parlors, not airlines--
brought this on themselves. We are not talking about a taxpayer-funded 
cushion to companies that made mistakes. We are talking about loans, 
which must be repaid, for American employers whom the government 
itself--the government itself--is temporarily crushing for the sake of 
public health.
  The fourth piece of our proposal goes to the heart of this crisis: 
the health of the American people. Chairmen Alexander and Grassley will 
be rolling out proposals to get resources on the frontlines of our 
fight against the virus itself because, to be clear, nothing I have 
laid out so far will represent a typical economic stimulus in the way 
that we think of that term.
  Nobody--nobody--expects that employment figures or the stock market 
or GDP growth will bounce right back to where they were a few weeks 
ago. No policy and no amount of money could return things to normal 
overnight.
  There is an underlying medical reality that is driving this 
disruption. In the words of one journalist, this is primarily ``a 
health crisis--with an economic crisis strapped to its back.''
  So, yes, our proposal will immediately help American workers, 
families, and businesses. Yes, it will help position our economy to 
thrive once again after this public health menace is behind us.
  This may not be the last economic legislation we pursue, but, 
fundamentally, we have to beat back this virus. We have to beat back 
this virus. That is why our proposal will go even further to remove 
barriers to care, speed innovation, fund the hospitals and health 
centers that will treat patients, and expand healthcare workers' access 
to the tools they need, including respirator masks.
  Immediately after we pass this legislation, Congress must begin a 
bipartisan, bicameral appropriations process to address the 
administration's new supplemental funding request, so we can keep 
funding healthcare and other priorities.
  I think every American shares the sense that the last several days 
have felt more like several months. Just last Saturday, our Nation had 
fewer than 3,000 confirmed cases, and 58 Americans had lost their 
lives. Already, the number of cases has nearly tripled. Tragically, so 
has the number of deaths. The crisis is moving fast; our health system 
is under strain; and our economy is hurting.
  The legislation I have just laid out will not be the last word. As I 
said, we will need to turn right away to a bipartisan appropriations 
process. This is not Congress's last chance to legislate, but it is 
critical that we move swiftly and boldly to begin to stabilize our 
economy, preserve Americans' jobs, get money to workers and families, 
and keep up our fight on the health front.
  That is exactly--exactly--what our proposal will do. These are not 
ordinary policies. This is no ordinary time. The American people are 
strong. They are brave. There is no doubt the American people will come 
through this battle and then soar to new heights on the other side.
  The American people will win this fight against this virus. The 
Senate's job is to give them the tools they need, and we are not 
leaving until we do our job.
  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. SCHUMER. 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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