[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 56 (Sunday, March 22, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1913-S1914]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    MIDDLE CLASS HEALTH BENEFITS TAX REPEAL ACT OF 2019--Motion To 
                           Proceed--Continued

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The majority leader.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, well, here we are, the eyes of the 
Nation are on the Senate, but, tonight, Senate Democrats blocked 
coronavirus relief from moving forward.
  Republican and Democratic Senators just spent days collaborating in a 
bipartisan way with these working groups that we set up. Democratic 
ideas were incorporated, major changes were made at their request, but, 
today, the Speaker of the House, is back in town after taking a week 
off, and poured cold water on the whole bipartisan process.
  Incredibly, what we witnessed a few hours ago is Senate Democrats 
voting to filibuster the bipartisan package that they helped craft over 
the last two days. It wasn't even a vote on final passage. It was 
simply a vote to limit further debate, after which there would have 
been 30 more hours to continue to negotiate if they wanted to drag this 
out endlessly. After that, of course, the futures market tanked in 
anticipation of an ugly tomorrow based upon an absence of the 
bipartisan agreement we have been seeking.
  They voted to block, specifically, surge resources for hospitals, a 
massive expansion in unemployment benefits, historic relief for small 
businesses to prevent mass layoffs, direct checks for millions of 
Americans, and expanding healthcare workers' access to the masks that 
they need. Even if Democrats reverse course tomorrow--tomorrow--the 
vote they cast today will almost certainly cause more Americans to lose 
their jobs and more seniors'

[[Page S1914]]

hard-earned retirement savings to literally evaporate.
  Our Nation cannot afford the game of chicken. We can't afford the 
cynical partisanship that one senior House Democrat owned up to just 
the other day. Here is what he said: ``This is a tremendous opportunity 
to restructure things to fit our vision.''
  It is an unconscionable statement to view this as a partisan 
opportunity. This is a national emergency, not a partisan opportunity. 
Doctors, nurses, small business employees, laid-off Americans, and 
vulnerable seniors need our help right now.
  So here is the way ahead, colleagues. We are going to vote at 9:45 in 
the morning--the same vote we had at 6 o'clock tonight. We are going to 
vote at 9:45 in the morning, 15 minutes after the markets open, and see 
whether there is a change of heart. That vote will occur, unless we can 
finally reach an agreement sometime between now and then. I just want 
all of our colleagues to know when our next vote will be in the absence 
of an agreement--9:45 in the morning, 15 minutes after the markets 
open.
  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. McCONNELL. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
order for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Ms. McSALLY). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.


                       Unanimous Consent Request

  Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that when the 
Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 9 a.m., Monday, 
March 23; further, that following the prayer and pledge, the morning 
hour be deemed expired, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, 
the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the 
day, and morning business be closed; further, that following leader 
remarks, the Senate resume consideration of the motion to proceed to 
H.R. 748.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Mr. SCHUMER. Reserving the right to object.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Democratic leader.
  Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, now, I know the majority leader likes 
to talk about partisanship, but we are not here for that reason. The 
bill we are voting on will affect us not just in the days to come but 
in the months and years to come, and we need the best bill possible.
  We Democrats have seen some real flaws in the bill that was put on 
the floor by the Republicans. What it has is, for instance, a giant, 
giant corporate bailout fund with no accountability. You wouldn't even 
know if the loans were made until 6 months later. What we have seen is 
a cutback in what we asked for, for hospitals, doctors, and nurses--
masks, equipment. We need more money than what the Republican majority 
has proposed. What we have seen is no money for State and local 
governments. They are going broke. They have huge, huge, new expenses. 
We need to make those better.
  The bottom line is very simple. We are fighting for a better bill 
because this bill will have an effect for a very, very long time.
  I have been working with Secretary Mnuchin and the President's 
congressional liaison, Eric. They have been in my office about six 
times tonight. We are making progress, and I think there is a good 
chance we will have an agreement, but we don't need artificial 
deadlines. We will get this done. We will come in at 12 noon, and, 
hopefully, we will have an agreement by then.
  So I object.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
  The majority leader.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, as I have said repeatedly and as, I 
think, all 100 of us know, we had a good bipartisan bill that was 
developed on a bipartisan basis with Members in the Senate, over the 
last 48 hours, until the Democratic leader and the Speaker of the House 
decided to blow it all up and play Russian roulette with the markets. 
The futures market is dramatically down, going into tomorrow. The Asian 
markets, I suspect--I haven't checked--are probably rattled by all of 
this.
  Nothing would have been lost by allowing us to get on the bill 
because they could have used 30 more hours--not that they should have 
but they could have used 30 more hours--to continue to negotiate. But, 
alas, every single one of them has been on record as preventing us from 
taking the next step toward getting the agreement the American people 
are waiting and waiting and waiting for us to get.
  The result of what the Democratic leader just did was to prevent us 
from voting right after the markets open in the morning and will allow 
the markets to be rattled until 12 noon, further evidence of the 
reckless behavior we have witnessed on the Democratic side in the 
Senate over the last hours.


                   ORDERS FOR MONDAY, MARCH 23, 2020

  Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that when the 
Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 12 noon, Monday, 
March 23; further, that following the prayer and pledge, the morning 
hour be deemed expired, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, 
the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the 
day, and morning business be closed; further, that following leader 
remarks, the Senate resume consideration of the motion to proceed to 
H.R. 748.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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