[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 53 (Thursday, March 19, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1828-S1832]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      PROVIDING EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE AND HEALTH CARE RESPONSE FOR 
INDIVIDUALS, FAMILIES, AND BUSINESSES AFFECTED BY THE 2020 CORONAVIRUS 
                                PANDEMIC

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, as our Nation confronts this health 
crisis and the economic crisis it is spawning, Senate Republicans have 
prepared a bold legislative proposal. I am officially introducing the 
Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act. This legislation 
takes bold action on four major priorities that are extremely urgent 
and very necessary: first, direct financial help for the American 
people; second, rapid relief for small businesses and their employees; 
third, significant steps to stabilize our economy and protect jobs; and 
fourth, more support for the brave healthcare professionals and the 
patients who are fighting the coronavirus on the frontlines.
  Now, just yesterday, by an overwhelming vote, the Senate passed 
bipartisan legislation that originated with the Democratic House of 
Representatives. So I hope this bold, new proposal will find a similar 
degree of bipartisan respect and mutual urgency on the other side of 
the aisle and across the Capitol.
  I look forward to working with our Democratic colleagues and the 
administration to complete this important work and to deliver for our 
country.
  Here are the next steps. A group of my Republican colleagues is 
standing by to explain this legislation and talk with the group's 
counterparts: Chairman Crapo and Senator Toomey from the Committee on 
Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs; Chairman Alexander from the 
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions; Chairman Grassley 
and Senator Portman from the Committee on Finance; Chairman Rubio from 
the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, as well as 
Senator Collins; Chairman Wicker from the Committee on Commerce, 
Science, and Transportation; and our majority whip, Senator Thune. 
These will be our point people.
  I invite all of their Democratic counterparts to join us at the table 
tomorrow. These are urgent discussions. They need to happen at a Member 
level, and they need to happen starting right now.
  I might add that all Republican Senators, whether they are part of 
this group that I just mentioned or not, have been asked to stay in 
town. We are here. We are ready to act as soon as an agreement with our 
colleagues across the aisle can be reached. The administration has 
agreed to send the Secretary of the Treasury, the Director of the 
National Economic Council, and the White House Director of Legislative 
Affairs, and they will participate in these discussions, again, 
beginning tomorrow.
  These bipartisan discussions must begin immediately and continue with 
urgency at the Member level until we have results. We know this 
legislation will not be the last word. Bipartisan, bicameral talks are 
already underway to act on the administration's request, in addition to 
this, for a supplemental appropriation, but we need to take bold and 
swift action as soon as possible.
  We need to take further steps to continue addressing our Nation's 
healthcare needs, and we need to help protect American workers, 
families, and small businesses from this unique economic crisis that 
threatens to worsen with every single day. We need to have the American 
people's backs. This

[[Page S1829]]

legislation is a significant next step, and the Senate is not going 
anywhere until we take action. Our Republican colleagues are here. They 
are in town. They are ready to act. We look forward to meeting with our 
Democratic counterparts tomorrow.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Iowa.
  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, all 100 Senators are hearing from our 
constituents about the urgency of our acting. If we aren't hearing 
about the urgency of our acting, we are hearing about the questions 
they have about the future economy, as they read about businesses being 
in trouble, restaurants shutting down, and schools closing. All of 
these decisions that have brought doubt to the minds of our 
constituents have been caused by governmental action as a result of the 
virus pandemic, the world health pandemic, that has been expressed.
  We have to respond to that, and I think the leader has said how 
urgently he takes the response that our constituents expect from us and 
that we have a responsibility for taking action. This is an urgent time 
for us.
  As Americans continue to do their part to curb the spread of 
coronavirus and the pandemic that it has been called, we are doing our 
part here in the Senate to support Americans, and that includes their 
families and their jobs.
  Congress passed two bills quickly to step up the government's ability 
to combat the virus and to provide greater security for families whose 
incomes have been disrupted by containment efforts. Those two bills--
one signed just last night by the President--were very bipartisan in 
these efforts. We need to continue that bipartisanship.
  We are now working, as the leader just introduced, on a bold and 
comprehensive effort to provide additional relief to Americans and our 
economy in this challenging time, to respond to the anxiety that the 
American people have that I previously said was caused by government--
and not just the Federal Government but State governments maybe in 50 
different ways because of 50 different States and by many local 
governments in different ways, as they felt they needed to take action. 
I have already referred to shutting down restaurants, schools closing, 
et cetera. That speaks to how it affects the individuals we are trying 
to help.
  I am chairman of the Finance Committee, as my colleagues know. I have 
been working with my colleagues around the clock to find opportunities 
in the Tax Code to reduce stress on American taxpayers and the 
businesses that create the jobs and the businesses that are probably 
closed now and their workers laid off.
  Our small group of colleagues is working to help the American 
taxpayers and the businesses so that jobs continue. We first adopted a 
do-no-harm approach. We want to ensure that routine government 
processes don't add to the strain that everybody has out there. We do 
this by issuing recovery assistance to American families in the form of 
checks that can go out the door in short order. These direct payments 
could be as much as $1,200 for individuals, $2,400 for couples, with 
additional assistance to families. Obviously, the purpose of this is to 
provide immediate relief to folks who are facing cash flow problems in 
their families as they stay home to stop the spread of this virus.
  To avoid in-person meetings with tax preparers in the midst of the 
pandemic, we are extending the tax filing deadline from April 15 to 
July 15, and of course we all know that the administration has already 
deferred collection of taxes until July or later. So this will help 
families defer filing costs and avoid meetings that could put folks at 
risk at this time of--who knows how far the effect of this virus is 
going to be. The deadline for quarterly estimated tax payments will 
also be postponed for 180 days.
  We encourage those able to lend a financial hand by providing 
additional deductions for charitable giving. This includes suspending 
the deduction limitation for cash donations by individuals and easing 
the limitation on donations of cash and food inventories by businesses. 
Additionally, for those who do not itemize, a new deduction will be 
available for everyone who gives, regardless of how you file your 
taxes.
  American businesses, as we know, are the engine of our economy, and 
we stand ready to help them as well. American business men and women 
are our job providers, and we need to make sure that they can keep 
their doors open--or if those doors are closed today, to reopen them--
and that the payrolls they have going out to those individual workers 
and families across the Nation can be maintained.
  Our proposal includes items to improve cash flow and liquidity for 
businesses of all sizes. Businesses, including the self-employed, will 
be able to defer their quarterly tax estimates 180 days and their 
employer Social Security tax payments through 2020.
  We are going to increase the limit on interest deductibility. We will 
speed up the recovery of the alternative minimum tax credits. We will 
relax limitations on how companies use losses from previous years to 
reduce their tax burdens.
  These are just some of the many provisions in our proposal to 
unburden businesses, particularly those that have liquidity problems, 
so that they can keep employing those who are home with their families 
and helping to prevent the spread of the virus.
  I hope nobody tries to tell me or the rest of us that we are bailing 
out business. We are in the job of preserving jobs. If those jobs have 
been lost in the last 10 days because of this slowdown of the economy--
almost a shutdown of the economy--then we want those jobs to be brought 
back. Workers are unemployed because of government's decisions--not the 
employer's decision, not the employee's lack of hard work, but because 
Federal, State, and local governments have stopped interaction among 
people so that we don't spread this virus, and it is because of what 
the World Health Organization has labeled a world health pandemic.

  We don't see it as bad now as we do in Italy and other countries in 
Europe. We hope we don't see it as bad as they have, but we just don't 
know, and because we don't know, people have this anxiety. They don't 
know about the future, and we ought to give some help to the future.
  I described to you some of the things the Finance Committee is 
working on.
  I have also joined Senator Alexander and others to assist healthcare 
workers and patients. This portion of the package includes several 
Finance Committee provisions to help everyone fight the pandemic. For 
example, we are adding additional flexibility to the health savings 
accounts, bolstering telehealth services, and boosting Medicare 
payments to healthcare providers.
  We can contain this deadly virus without destroying livelihoods or 
the Nation's economy, but right now, our constituents have doubt about 
that, and this proposal the leader has put forth is to try to quiet 
some of that anxiety.
  These recommendations take bold steps to curb the economic fallout as 
we work as a country to contain this pandemic. These proposals won't be 
the end of the congressional response to the coronavirus. I think we 
made clear that this is the third effort--two already signed by the 
President of the United States--and there will probably be more. When 
people want more than what is maybe here, there are going to be plenty 
of opportunities for more.
  I wish I could say we know by a certain date that this anxiety is 
going to go away and we know this pandemic has slowed down enough that 
we can go back to work and start interacting with our friends and 
family to the same extent we always have and open up the restaurants.
  I stand ready to continue identifying targeted relief as necessary to 
help bridge the gap beyond this bill, but we need to take this next 
step and do it quickly.
  I want to thank Leader McConnell for convening our task forces to 
quickly provide meaningful relief to families, individuals, and all 
sectors of the economy.
  The people I have been working with that I thank are Senators John 
Thune, Rob Portman, Pat Toomey, Tim Scott, Tom Cotton, and Mitt Romney 
for working with me on this package. Some of those Members are hard-
working Members of the Finance Committee, and some aren't on the 
committee because we wanted as broad an opinion as we could get. I know 
our staffs work literally around the clock, so I want to recognize 
their efforts as well.

[[Page S1830]]

  So many Americans are working day and night to provide essential 
services and efforts to combat this outbreak. We in Congress must be 
prepared to do the same, and that is why you heard the leader a little 
while ago saying that we are going to stay in until we get this job 
done. We ought to applaud that type of leadership.
  It is a commitment to keep the Senate open until we have done our 
part, and I look forward to working with Democrats and the 
administration to get this job done without delay. So maybe, if we work 
hard Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, we can get a bill to the President 
next week. Nobody should be going home until we have delivered this 
needed relief.
  We often spoke in World War II about the United States being the 
arsenal of democracy. I still remember--I was only 9 years old--
December 7, 1941. And then I remember studying history and how we 
ramped up production for the war effort. Can we ramp up production of 
the respirators, protective gear, and testing kits we need? Can we do 
it on the same scale we did in World War II--a scale that can help us 
overcome this crisis?
  I suppose you all remember the cry of ``Remember Pearl Harbor'' to 
help us pull the country together to win that war. Can we think of 
``Remember coronavirus'' as an effort to pull this country together? 
Because in those times, I remember we all pulled together to--let's 
say, just one example--we all prided ourselves in planning what we 
called victory gardens. We did it in unison, as we sought to defeat the 
Axis powers. Can we pull together in the same way to slow the spread of 
COVID-19 until our healthcare system catches up with something we never 
anticipated, never could plan for?
  I think this is a test of America's character, just like it was a 
test of our character in World War II to pull together.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Democratic leader.
  Mr. SCHUMER. Thank you, Mr. President. I am glad now that the 
Republican leader and his caucus now have a plan, and we look forward 
to working with them to come up with a bipartisan product as soon as we 
can, as this crisis grows worse every day.
  We believe we need a bold plan, a strong plan. Our plan must put 
workers--the millions of workers who are adversely affected by this 
crisis--first. It includes service and industry workers, gig workers, 
freelancers, bartenders, retail workers, airline attendants, and so 
many others.
  Our plan is entitled ``Workers First''--first and foremost. We owe so 
much gratitude to the hard-working people of America, and many of them 
are in trouble now through no fault of their own. This virus has 
affected some of them, has required others to be quarantined, and has 
caused businesses to lay off millions. We must protect them, first and 
foremost.
  So our plan has five basic pillars. Pillar 1 is to bolster the 
healthcare system dramatically. If we don't beat the fight against this 
virus, if we don't do it as quickly as possible, the economy will get 
worse and worse, no matter what we do. So we must work extremely 
quickly and massively to bolster our healthcare system. We need a 
Marshall Plan for our healthcare system, and that is what we propose.
  We need direct aid to hospitals. The larger hospitals in many cities 
already have patients--many patients--in their beds. The smaller and 
rural hospitals could well be in danger of closing because of this 
crisis. We must bolster the hospitals. They need equipment. They need 
ventilators. They need more ICU beds. They need masks. A simple thing 
like a nose swab--a hospital told me that they can't do testing because 
they don't have the nasal swabs. And we need the President to marshal 
the Defense Production Act to get all of these materials produced on a 
wartime footing--quickly, dramatically, and in large numbers.

  The first plank of our plan dramatically bolsters our healthcare 
system, which is being overwhelmed through no fault of the hard-working 
people there in this crisis, and it entails so much. Healthcare workers 
have to be able to get to the hospitals, to the nursing homes, to the 
other areas. In many places, they can't if there isn't the kind of 
public transit available or it is not working.
  The second part of our plan deals directly with those who have lost 
income through no fault of their own. It is a dramatic bolstering of 
unemployment insurance. We call it ``unemployment insurance on 
steroids,'' or you might even call it ``employment insurance.''
  If a worker loses his or her job through no fault of their own right 
now, unemployment insurance doesn't cover a whole lot of people. When 
it does, it doesn't pay them much in terms of salary, in terms of the 
percentage of income, and it is often hard to get and takes a long 
time. Our ``unemployment on steroids''--our employment insurance--
provides a full amount of the wages that workers are not being paid, 
not 20 percent or 50 percent. People desperately need it. They 
desperately need it.
  It is quick and easy to apply for, without all of these hurdles that 
are now put in the way, and it applies to many more workers than in the 
past. We have talked to business owners--large, medium, and small. For 
many of them this is the No. 1 thing they need. While they can't keep 
their workers on the payroll because no money is coming in, these 
workers will still be there. They will be furloughed. They will be 
getting a full salary, and when the businesses come back, they will be 
back.
  The third part of our plan is for paid leave. We must have paid 
family leave. We must have paid sick leave. COVID 2 did some of that, 
but too many people are not covered and too many people are not covered 
in a strong, longer term way. Senators Murray and Gillibrand, working 
with the House, have put together a very strong package. We must have 
it in this proposal.
  Fourth, I believe--no one has seen the proposal. I haven't seen it, 
and I don't think anyone has seen the proposal that the leader put on. 
It had virtually no input from Democrats, but we will look at it and 
read it tonight. From what I am told, it provides a bailout for a 
number of industries. Again, we have to put the workers first. We don't 
want these industries to go under, but we certainly don't want the 
dollars that are put there to go to corporate executives or 
shareholders. Again, they must go to the workers first. If they are 
getting a bailout, they should not cut the numbers of workers, the 
salaries of workers, the benefits of workers, or the pensions of 
workers.
  None of this money should be used for corporate buybacks. I am 
outraged that the airline industry in the last 5 years spent about $40 
billion on buybacks. They are now saying they don't have enough money. 
Had they not sent the money to the shareholders and had it there or 
used it to bolster their workforces, that might not have happened. Nor 
should the money go to corporate salaries or corporate gain.
  Part four of our plan says no bailout that goes to the people at the 
top. The money should go to the workers. After all, that is who we want 
to protect. Every one of us knows the workers in these industries. They 
are hard-working, decent, honorable people.
  Fifth is help for small business. Small business has suffered--the 
little restaurant, maybe it is the small manufacturing business, or 
maybe it is a little service business. They need help. Their employees, 
should they have to furlough them, will be taken care of by our 
employment insurance, but they still have other costs. We have called 
for forbearance in mortgages. That is a big cost that they will 
continue to maintain if they rent space. But they will need help with 
other costs, and we provide them money for those costs, with the view 
that the money--those loans--could be forgiven if they rehire all of 
their workers once they are back on their feet.
  So there are five points, and I know that the Speaker of the House 
agrees with these points, the House Democrats agree with these points, 
and, unfortunately, the leader didn't want them included in 
negotiations, which could only prolong the length of time before we 
act. But so be it.
  No. 1, a Marshall Plan for our healthcare system and our hospitals. 
No. 2, employment insurance--you lose your job, you get your pay. No. 
3, paid leave--paid family leave, paid sick leave. No. 4, any bailouts 
must be workers first. And, No. 5, help for small businesses.
  We need to act quickly. We need to act in a bipartisan way. I hope 
the discussions between the various members

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of the committees will proceed quickly and in a spirit of compromise, 
and I hope we can come to quick agreement with the House, whose 
majority's views are much closer to ours than this document, which I 
haven't read, but I have heard things about. I haven't seen it.
  This is a crisis like none we have seen. We don't know how long it 
will last. We don't know how many people will be affected. We do know 
it is getting worse every day, and we know also that, while Americans 
usually come together after a crisis--we all certainly do, as we did 
after 9/11--we now must be isolated. But we will prevail. We will 
prevail. We will work together. Hopefully, each side will give. We will 
come up with a good plan. We will send it to the President, and we will 
help to begin the long path to eradicate this awful virus that has so 
afflicted so many millions of Americans, one way or another
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Mississippi.
  Mr. WICKER. Mr. President, I agree with so much of what the 
distinguished Democratic leader has just said. I was coming from one 
building to the other when the distinguished Senator from Iowa was 
speaking, but I know he was making the point that I would make at this 
time, too.
  If the distinguished Democratic leader wants to call this a Marshall 
Plan for the coronavirus crisis, I will subscribe to it. I think it is 
that serious.
  I agree with what the Democratic leader said about this economic 
crisis. It is something like we have never seen before, and it calls 
for dramatic action. I think that is what the majority leader, Senator 
McConnell, has proposed.
  I agree with this from my friend from New York--that when we try to 
rescue the large corporations, we need to put workers first and not be 
concerned about the CEOs and the executives. We need to take care of 
small business.
  So let's do a Marshall Plan, and let's do it on a bipartisan basis, 
as Americans, because this economic crisis knows no party.
  You know, in some instances, when there is a crisis we are told to 
carry on, and, in this case, that really isn't what the healthcare 
professionals have told Americans to do. Americans have been told and 
people around the world have been told: Stay at home; don't congregate.
  That is the way our economy operates.
  So Americans are doing what they have been asked to do. We are not 
flying. We are not staying in hotels. Occupancy is down to single 
digits. Restaurants are closed. Stores are closed. Americans are 
keeping their children home from school. Schools are not opening in 
most areas. Again, the American people are acting responsibly, 
according to what they have been told to do by health professionals. 
The public is taking guidance, and this is having an enormous toll on 
our economy.
  We hope the virus will end soon, but we need a rescue package. I am 
happy to join the distinguished Democratic leader in calling it a 
Marshall Plan, he would like to.
  The American people bear no responsibility for this act of nature--
this act of God--that has overtaken much of the globe.
  So I have come here today just to say that I have been honored to 
participate in the drafting of what Senator McConnell, the 
distinguished majority leader, has rolled out today--the Coronavirus 
Economic Stabilization Act.
  I was part of a task force that the distinguished majority leader 
asked us to work on. That task force dealt with the airline industry. 
It consisted of Chairman Shelby and Majority Whip Thune. We were happy 
to develop a plan that involves $208 billion, giving the Secretary of 
the Treasury the ability to provide loans and loan guarantees to 
eligible businesses that are enduring financial hardship, including the 
domestic airlines, including the domestic cargo carriers, if they can 
make the case that there is a hardship there.
  During this time of unprecedented economic uncertainty, it is 
critical that the airlines and other impacted industries have the 
resources they need to continue operations vital to the transportation 
of passengers and supplies, including food and medical equipment. The 
plan that I participated in drafting, which the distinguished majority 
leader put forward today, would prohibit the Federal funds from being 
used to increase compensation or provide golden parachutes or that sort 
of thing for the leaders of these distressed companies.

  So, again, I subscribe to what Senator Schumer said: Protect the 
workers. This is no bailout. These are loans that we expect to be paid 
back when times are flush again.
  This legislation would take an important step in putting our economy 
back on track for the American people. A great deal of work has gone 
into the draft, and much work is going to be required in the future--
tonight, tomorrow, tomorrow night, Saturday, and Sunday. We are in the 
midst of severe economic crisis, and I am determined to work, on a 
bipartisan basis, with people like my friend who just spoke, and with 
Senator Cantwell of Washington, my distinguished ranking member. We 
have penciled in 10 a.m. tomorrow morning. I have already been on the 
phone with her, and we are going to be dealing with the legislation 
under the jurisdiction of our committee, the Commerce Committee, and I 
think we are going to be able to work as we have on so many other 
issues--as Americans, not as Republicans and Democrats--as teammates 
rising to the occasion and answering this crisis as Americans have done 
so many times in the past.
  So I simply rise today to say: This is a time for us to come together 
as patriots, as Americans, and take on the task that is before us. I 
look forward to a hard weekend of work and a product that all Americans 
can be proud of.
  With that, I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. RUBIO. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered
  Mr. RUBIO. Mr. President, we, in this profession, have a tendency to 
hyperbole, meaning a tendency to stand sometimes and talk about how 
dramatic a decision we are about to make is or how important something 
is to the country because that is what we do, and it is sort of one of 
the tools of this trade.
  I think this is not a time in which it is possible to exaggerate the 
impact of what we are confronting. I start by saying I think it is a 
moment that should instill in all of us extraordinary humility and a 
reminder that we are still mortal beings who cannot and do not control 
all that happens in our lives or in the world.
  We are facing a threat that emerges not from a human decision or 
behavior but a threat that emerges from the scientific world, the 
biological world, and one that I think we are blessed to live in a 
modern time, in which technology allows us to solve problems faster, 
but oftentimes our advances cannot prevent these things.
  I think of the time when there will be plenty to look back at--the 
decisions that were made by governments, by foreign governments, and by 
officials. Like all things, there will come a moment of accounting when 
we can decide what was done wrong and what was done right so we can 
learn from what was done wrong and replicate what was done right. We 
can learn from the past, but we cannot change it.
  The one thing we can influence is the future. You can't entirely 
control it, but we can influence it. We can influence what we do from 
this moment forward. And when it comes to this pandemic, we can 
influence not that it is here but how long it lasts and how impactful 
it will be.
  One of the real-world impacts of the crisis that now confronts us is 
the impact it is having on jobs. We use that term loosely in politics 
all the time: ``Jobs.'' We want to create jobs. We value jobs. It is 
about having more jobs. I think sometimes we overlook the strong, 
emotional, and psychological impact of jobs, of the fact that someone 
wakes up in the morning and has somewhere to go, where they are 
productive, and they are rewarded fairly for their productivity. It 
gives purpose to your days. It gives meaning. It gives value. It is why 
the absence of jobs is so toxic and damaging not just to the spirit but 
ultimately to the community and then to the country. It is a

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situation we have learned in ordinary times, and these are not ordinary 
times.
  We are watching a pace of job loss at this very moment that is 
unprecedented, even in some of the deepest economic downturns that 
modern man has ever confronted. There is not a single person who serves 
in the Senate, works in this building, or, I would argue, in our entire 
society who does not know someone who in the last 4 or 5 days has been 
told that they no longer have a job. Think about that for a moment. 
People who 10 days ago had a job in an economy that by all traditional 
standards was doing very well and now have been told that they do not 
have a job. The people they used to work for may no longer exist, and 
there is no certainty about outcomes even when this ends. It is 
impossible to exaggerate that.
  What we are learning through this crisis is what we all have said we 
know but are now realizing how much it is true, and that is, how many 
of the jobs in this country are the result of a small business and not 
of the companies whose stories are featured in a magazine or a 
newspaper article. It is the ones we drive by every single day--the 
laundromat, the dry cleaners, the coin cleaners, the bakeries, the 
coffee shops, and everything in between--hundreds of thousands of jobs 
in every community that depend on their very existence, and they are 
disappearing right before our eyes. It is not because they did anything 
wrong but because government has had to tell them, for the reasons of 
public health that I agree with, not only that we cannot go there but 
that their workers can't go there, and in many jurisdictions, they 
cannot even show up. So the urgency to address this, I believe, needs 
no convincing.
  We have, as a starting point, developed a plan that I think will 
help, that will do what we can, and I want to briefly describe it. The 
plan is basically this: We need to get money into the hands of small 
business across this country as quickly as possible so they can keep 
the workers they have on payroll for as long as possible. We aim for at 
least 4, 5, or 6 weeks. This is important because if you have already 
been told you can't leave your home, and you have already been told you 
can't go anywhere, and then to also be told: And by the way, you have 
no job, and there is no guarantee that there is a job for you to go 
back to when this all ends, the trauma is extraordinary. That is what 
millions of people are facing by the second.
  These are not job losses that are happening by the week or by the 
month; they are by the second. Right now, somewhere in America, someone 
is being told: We are closing, and you have no job. And tomorrow will 
be the last time you will get a paycheck for the foreseeable future.
  So our plan, ideally, would involve the following: Small businesses 
will be able to go to a bank in their community. Ideally, in a perfect 
world, it would be the bank they normally use, the bank they bank with. 
Then they will very quickly--and I am not talking about in a matter of 
weeks; I am talking about in a matter of hours and days--receive an 
infusion of cash, equivalent to about roughly four times their monthly 
expenses on payroll and on rent and things of that nature. And then a 
year from now, those businesses, if they can show that they used that 
money to keep everyone on staff and hired that was working for them 
before this all started and paid them what they were paying them, that 
money will be forgiven. It will not be a loan.
  The important point to make about this is--I am not talking about an 
SBA loan. I am not talking about going to a government building 
somewhere or a tent in a disaster zone and filling out a bunch of 
paperwork. I am talking about going to a financial institution, 
preferably the one that you normally use, filling out a few quick 
documents to prove that you are a business, and receiving a cash 
infusion directly into your account that you can use to meet payroll 
for the next 3, 4, 5, or 6 weeks, and we have a plan that does it.
  Now, on this matter, we are blessed to have partners in this endeavor 
like Senator Cardin and others on the Small Business Committee who are 
not only some of the hardest working and easiest people to work with on 
these matters, but whom we have been working with on these matters, 
along with our House counterparts, for a couple of weeks. Except for a 
couple of weeks ago, we could never have envisioned how widespread and 
how serious this dilemma would become.
  We don't have an agreement at this very moment, but I do believe that 
on the general concepts--I speak for no one but myself, but it is my 
impression that on the general outlines of what we are trying to 
achieve, there is substantial agreement.
  So we have some work to do. I will be in the Senate and here in 
Washington, DC, around the clock until we get this done because, as I 
said at the outset, millions upon millions of families and their 
immediate and long-term futures are being determined by what we do or 
fail to do. Rarely, if ever, do we truly confront issues in the Senate 
of that importance.
  I will close with this: It is hard to remove politics from politics. 
It is hard to ask politicians not to be political. It is tempting to 
use even situations such as these for the snide remark and the potshot, 
and I imagine you can never fully remove it. I would only say this: If 
we don't address these issues that are before us and do so rapidly, 
those potshots will appear trivial in comparison. If we don't address 
the challenges that are before this country now, no one can tell you 
what the future looks like because no one alive today has ever been 
there, ever.
  Anyone who believes that what I am saying is an exaggeration, what 
was life like in America a week ago today? What does it look like now? 
If this pace continues, what will it look like 5 days from now or 10 
days from now? We don't know, but it will be traumatic and potentially 
catastrophic, so we must act. We will have plenty of other issues and 
plenty of days and weeks and months ahead to bicker about the political 
issue of the day and to take shots at our opponents.
  Now is no time for games. We are facing the abyss. We are facing 
circumstances for which there is no playbook, for which there is no 
precedent, and for which there is no way to predict what happens to a 
society when you tell millions of people they can't work, they cannot 
leave their homes, and we cannot tell you how you will make a living 
now or for the immediate future.
  This is no time for games. This is a time for those of us who are 
here to be here and to work through this as quickly as possible, or we 
will all pay the price, and we will all face those consequences. They 
are so grave, so unspeakable, and so unimaginable that I cannot believe 
that we will not be able to do so and act quickly, swiftly, and 
effectively. I look forward to making strong progress.
  Our people need some hope. Our people need to believe that their 
institutions in a moment of crisis can still work. We have a chance to 
do our part to instill at least that little bit of confidence at a time 
of extraordinary uncertainty.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The majority leader.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, before he leaves the floor, I want to 
particularly thank the senior Senator from Florida for the 
extraordinary contribution he is making as we move toward completion of 
this rescue package

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