[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 56 (Sunday, March 22, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1893-S1894]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       SENATE LEGISLATIVE AGENDA

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, Senators have now spent days engaged in 
vigorous bipartisan discussions among ourselves and with the 
administration.
  Earlier today, I hosted a productive meeting in my office with the 
Democratic leader, the Speaker of the House, the House Republican 
leader, and the Secretary of the Treasury. These intense conversations 
have built a piece of legislation that is as bold and as big as the 
American people deserve and as thoroughly bipartisan as our process 
demands.
  Now what we need to do is to move forward. This national crisis is 
not going to wait around if Congress slips back into conventional 
politics or haggles endlessly over the finer points.
  Every day, more Americans' jobs are disappearing or coming ever 
closer to the brink. Every day, more small businesses are faced with 
hard decisions that could change local communities, literally, forever. 
Every day, major American companies that employ countless people are 
seeing their commerce crushed by their own government for the sake of 
public health. Every day, doctors, nurses, and healthcare professionals 
will keep reporting to work and treating patients, whether or not 
Congress has their back.

[[Page S1894]]

  The risks to our country grow every single day that we do not act. 
The needs of hospitals and healthcare providers grow every day that we 
do not act.
  That is why we have worked around the clock to craft a major 
bipartisan relief package. That is why we are going to hold our first 
procedural vote in just a few minutes. It is so that we can keep moving 
forward, because this virus is not going to wait for politics as usual.
  These past few days have brought unity and bipartisan energy here to 
the Senate. I think Members on both sides agree that it has been very 
encouraging.
  Since Senate Republicans released our initial framework to give some 
structure to these discussions, both sides have worked hard to create 
something that can pass the Senate, pass the House, and be signed into 
law by the President.
  The bipartisan product delivers strongly on each of the core 
priorities we identified at the outset. It puts urgently needed cash in 
the hands of American workers and families. It delivers historic and 
rapid relief to small businesses so they can make payroll and keep 
people employed. It helps stabilize key industries to avoid layoffs 
wherever possible and preserve the greatest economy in the world for 
when we come out on the other side of this. And, of course, it sends a 
massive--massive--new infusion of resources to the frontlines of the 
medical response.
  That is what we have to do: inject a significant amount of money as 
quickly as possible into households, small businesses, key sectors, and 
our Nation's hospitals and health centers.
  This bill would do that, and it would do it fast. The comprise 
product also contains many ideas that our Democratic colleagues brought 
to the table. It balances the administration's focus on sending direct 
cash to Americans as quickly as possible with our Democratic 
colleagues' focus on bolstering State unemployment insurance programs. 
It places conditions which our Democratic colleagues have sought on the 
loans that would flow to major businesses, conditions which the 
President has also endorsed. And both parties have made sure to keep 
strengthening the resources that will be pushed out to the frontlines.
  The bill includes $75 billion in a new fund for hospitals and health 
providers, and more than three-quarters of the funds in the 
appropriations section--nearly $200 billion--will not stay in 
Washington but will go straight to State and local priorities.
  So what we have is a comprise product which contains ideas, 
contributions, and priorities from both sides and which can become law 
as soon as tomorrow--as soon as tomorrow. In other words, it is just 
about time to take yes for an answer.
  We are now at a point which every American who has ever negotiated 
anything would recognize, whether they have purchased a home, bought a 
car, or negotiated for their small business. We are at the point where 
both sides have come a long way toward each other, and each side has to 
decide whether to continue elbowing and arguing over the last several 
inches and risk the whole thing or whether to shake hands and get it 
done.
  Thus far, throughout this crisis, the Senate has risen to the 
occasion. It was just a few days ago when the Senate Republican 
majority moved expeditiously to pass the House Democrats' phase 2 
legislation, even though many of my colleagues on this side of the 
aisle and I had serious reservations and would have written it very 
differently. We passed it anyway. It was basically written on the House 
side. Nevertheless, as I just said, I pushed the Speaker's legislation 
through the Senate because urgency and results matter during a national 
crisis; because, imperfections notwithstanding, it was the right thing 
to do for our country.
  So, look--look--I hope and anticipate that a similar degree of 
bipartisanship and urgency will be reciprocated now. I understand the 
Speaker said following our meeting this morning that she may simply 
give up on these bipartisan talks and begin writing her own separate 
bill. Perhaps that is related to the remarks of one of her senior House 
Democratic leaders who reportedly told colleagues a few days ago: 
``This is a tremendous opportunity to restructure things to fit our 
vision.''
  `` . . . a tremendous opportunity to restructure things to fit our 
vision.''
  Well, I sincerely hope that nobody actually views this crisis in such 
a cynical manner. This is not a political opportunity. It is a national 
emergency. That is why we have engaged in days of bipartisan talks to 
get to this point. It is why it is time to move forward.
  Americans don't need to see us haggling endlessly. They don't need us 
to jeopardize all the progress we have made over the past several days 
for the sake of some eleventh-hour brinkmanship. The American people 
need an outcome, and they need it tomorrow. They need us to vote to 
advance this legislation today and pass it tomorrow.
  As I said yesterday, Congress should take inspiration from our own 
constituents. We should be inspired by our own constituents. Look at 
what they are doing. Even during this pandemic, the American people are 
showing the world the soul of our country.
  In my home State of Kentucky, the official motto is ``United we 
stand, divided we fall.'' And every day I hear about new ways 
Kentuckians are standing united, even if they have to stand 6 feet 
apart.
  I recently heard about a resident of Campbell County in Northern 
Kentucky named Debbie Buckley. In her day job, Debbie works for the 
local government, but recently she heard about some students at a 
nearby university who were still living in the dorms even though in-
person classes have been canceled. Some had to remain in the area for 
work. Others were international students who couldn't get home. Their 
situations were completely uncertain.
  The local shelves were not fully stocked, so Debbie decided to do 
something. She put out a call for help, and Kentuckians answered the 
call. Churches, restaurants, and neighbors all pitched in with food and 
supplies. Debbie drove all over Northern Kentucky collecting those 
donations and then delivering them to these young people.
  She has found everything a college student could need: canned goods, 
microwaveable meals, and even Airheads candy, which I am proud to say 
are made right there in Kentucky.
  There are so many stories like this pouring in from all over our 
country. Americans are stepping up to the plate. Americans realize this 
is no time for selfishness and no time for division but a time for 
solidarity, generosity, and, yes, courage.
  Americans are rising to the occasion. The Senate must do the same. 
Let's move this legislation forward this afternoon, as the last few 
discussions begin to wind down, and then let's get this done tomorrow.
  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. Mr. 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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