[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 84 (Tuesday, May 5, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2225-S2226]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              CORONAVIRUS

  Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, it has been a little more than 100 
days since the first case of COVID-19 was reported in the United 
States. Since then, our Nation has come face-to-face with this full-
scale pandemic. Families have hunkered down and changed their routines. 
Bustling Main Streets have literally come to a halt. Essential workers 
have taken new precautions to keep the supply chains running. And, of 
course, brave healthcare providers have stretched the limits of their 
supplies and their stamina to care for patients. All the while, even 
with the entire country doing its best to fight this disease, it has 
stolen the lives of nearly 70,000 of our fellow Americans.
  Our Nation is facing the most severe pandemic since 1918 and quite 
possibly the worst economic shock since the Great Depression. And we 
are facing them at the same time. This is a historic challenge, and the 
Senate is helping the country meet it.
  In early March, we passed an initial response to help communities 
handle the outbreak. We spent billions of dollars to enhance our public 
health response, to promote development of vaccines and treatment, and 
to help the healthcare providers and small businesses in places that 
were bearing the brunt of the virus.
  Just days later, we delivered billions more in phase 2. It sought to 
expand access to testing and to help workers.
  Then we built the historic CARES Act, the largest rescue package in 
America's history, and then passed it without a single vote in 
opposition. It sent more than $2 trillion in direct money to American 
households, support for employees' paychecks, stability for major 
employers, and resources for the healthcare fight itself.
  Predictably, these huge, historic efforts have encountered some 
challenges along the way. There is no way the Federal Government could 
make years' worth of small business loans in a few weeks or rapidly cut 
checks to most American households without any hiccups at all. But on 
the whole, it has been encouraging to see Congress, the administration, 
the Federal Reserve, and the American people--all of us--leap into 
action together to help our country.
  Our work is making a difference. But, ultimately, we know there is no 
policy Congress could pass, nor any amount of money we could spend, 
that would keep the entire economy glued together if these blunt 
shutdowns continue indefinitely.
  So while our legislation has rightly poured money into short-term 
help for the economy, we have also made sure to invest in the tools and 
tactics we will need to contain and beat the virus so that our country 
can step back toward normalcy: testing, tracking, treatments, and the 
race for a vaccine.

[[Page S2226]]

  Our task in the weeks ahead will be to keep seeking thoughtful 
solutions that are not just for the very short term but will help pivot 
toward a phased reopening and recovery. We will need to ask not only 
how we endure each week but also how we foster recovery on the other 
side.
  Early February feels like it was about 2 years ago, but the truth is, 
it was just 12 weeks ago. American workers and families were in one of 
the most prosperous economic moments in our history. Wages were 
growing. Unemployment was near a 50-year low. Formerly discouraged 
Americans were being drawn off the sidelines. The country was buzzing--
literally buzzing--from coast to coast. The American people built that. 
It is our job to help them build it again.
  As we carefully consider what may come in the weeks ahead, we will 
need smart and targeted policies to help jump-start our economic 
engine, not unrelated ideological wish-list items that would gum it up 
even further. The country will need pro-growth, pro-certainty 
policies--pro-growth, pro-certainty policies.
  The last thing we need is for the political left to view this 
national crisis as an exploitable opportunity to achieve other goals 
they have wanted for a very long time. That is how, for example, former 
Vice President Biden has repeatedly described the pandemic. Here is 
what he had to say: ``an incredible opportunity . . . to fundamentally 
transform the country''--``an incredible opportunity . . . to 
fundamentally transform the country.''
  This cannot be about ideological transformation. It needs to be what 
will actually work for the American people.
  Here is just one example of a commonsense policy Republicans will 
insist on. Even as the entire country is rallying behind healthcare 
workers and small businesses, trial lawyers are already looking for 
ways to line their pockets by suing the very people we are bending over 
backward to help.
  As one recent Washington Post column put it, ``[f]ear of COVID-19 
lawsuits is not [some] mere Republican reflex''--a Washington Post 
column: ``[f]ear of COVID-19 lawsuits is not [some] mere Republican 
reflex.'
  It went on to list all sorts of lawsuits that are already pouring in. 
This kind of hostile climate would create yet another major headwind we 
cannot afford. Republicans will be insisting on strong legal 
protections for the frontlines. We will not let our historic recovery 
efforts be diverted so that taxpayers foot the bill for the biggest 
trial lawyer bonanza in our history.
  Our discussions in the weeks ahead do not need to be partisan or 
contentious. There is nothing partisan about the coronavirus, and there 
is nothing partisan about the inspiring example being set by citizens 
across our country.
  In my home State of Kentucky, we are proud of a father-daughter duo 
in Breathitt County. They both came down with the virus. They both beat 
it and then turned right around and started donating plasma to the race 
for new medicines.
  We are proud of the family resource coordinators of Fayette County 
Public Schools who are collecting donated household supplies to add to 
weekly food deliveries for thousands of students and families.
  These stories only scratch the surface in the Bluegrass, and I know 
every one of my colleagues has stories of their own to tell. We are all 
in this together. We have stepped up to meet the challenge. Let's 
continue to stand together for our country.

                          ____________________