[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 85 (Wednesday, May 6, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2258-S2266]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                              Coronavirus

  Mr. GARDNER. Mr. President, early last December or at least sometime 
later last year, people in Wuhan, China, began showing symptoms of what 
was at that time an unidentifiable respiratory disease in increasing 
numbers. We now know that virus as COVID-19, and it has completely 
upended our way of life in the United States and around the globe. This 
virus has infected over 3.5 million people around the world and killed, 
tragically, over 68,000 people in the United States, and that includes 
over 900 incredible and great Coloradans, my home State. We certainly 
mourn with those families who have lost loved ones, and we will keep 
fighting for a path forward as we get through this together.
  I want to commend in the strongest terms possible our frontline 
workers, whether it has been our first responders, our healthcare 
professionals, or those who have allowed us to continue to enjoy a safe 
and secure food supply; people in the essential businesses who each and 
every day don't complain but go to work to help make sure our 
communities can get back to work. The list of heroes in our 
communities, those who have given so much, goes on and on and on.
  I think it is important to recognize that as we have addressed the 
coronavirus challenge in this country--the measures we have taken, the 
steps that have been laid out by mayors and governors and the 
President--they have been to comply with guidances and health 
directives and to comply with the best science and scientists our 
country has, not out of fear of the coronavirus, not because people are 
afraid of COVID-19, but they have done it out of love--love for their 
community; love for their parents and grandparents, whom they hope to 
keep safe and healthy; love for our country, to stop the spread and 
flatten the curve.
  So to all of our incredible healthcare workers, the frontline 
workers, essential workers, grocery store clerks and gas station 
workers, mechanics at farm equipment dealerships that have remained 
open to keep tractors running during planting, to our ranchers and 
farmers who have kept our food supply flowing: Thank you.
  People everywhere across Colorado are hurting, obviously, because of 
this pandemic. I have heard numerous stories across our great State. I 
have held telephone townhalls in every congressional district in 
Colorado, speaking directly with Coloradans who have lost their jobs, 
who are unsure about how they will feed their family, and who have 
endless questions about what the future holds for them.
  I have heard from restaurant workers in Denver who were laid off when 
their restaurant closed. I have heard from restaurant owners who have 
done everything they can to keep their restaurant workers employed--
preparing meals and providing them to the hungry and the homeless.
  A small business owner in Monument, CO, shared with me how difficult 
it was to lay off 35 dedicated staff members but not having a choice.
  I have talked to businesses in El Paso County near Colorado Springs 
who used the last prepaid minutes on a cell phone to participate in our 
townhall to try to figure out where they could get food.
  I have talked to elderly Coloradans who were afraid to go to the 
grocery store because they didn't know if they had special hours. They 
had an underlying condition, and they didn't know if they could go 
safely. Our staff was able to help this person get the groceries they 
needed and the disinfectant they had requested and leave some 
information about the special hours that grocery stores around the town 
were holding for people who needed a little bit more social 
distancing--more space, more time, a safer environment to go out.
  But the effects of the coronavirus aren't because somebody 
intentionally decided to hurt our economy, but they are hurting because 
of the necessary public health actions their government has taken. It 
is in large part the government's responsibility to help get them 
through this because it was the government that said to them: Stay at 
home. Close your doors. Don't go to work.
  It is our responsibility to provide the help that our economy needs 
to get

[[Page S2259]]

moving again, to get people back to work, because it was the advice of 
governments, from the local levels to the Federal level, that said: 
These are the things you need to do to stop the spread and flatten the 
curve.
  Throughout this entire health epidemic, I have approached it with a 
three-prong strategy. Throughout this process, this three-prong 
strategy has been the focus I have used to approach what we as a 
country must do to get through. These are not steps that should be 
taken one at a time. You don't accomplish step 1 and then attempt to 
accomplish step 2 and then maybe get to step 3. These are things that 
need to be done all at the same time as we move on our path to 
recovery.
  First, we must obviously address the immediate health crisis. The 
second prong is, we must make sure we are providing real-time 
assistance to real individuals who are really hurting across the State 
of Colorado and the country. The third prong is to make sure that we 
are supporting our businesses through this crisis, to make sure that 
when the health emergency is over, we have an economy that is able to 
snap back and run strong.
  These steps have to be done all at the same time--not step 1, then 2, 
then 3--but the first prong, the steps taken to flatten the curve and 
stop the spread, has been absolutely critical and will continue to be 
critical.
  Congress has taken many steps to support the health response, 
including $175 billion to support healthcare providers, $17 billion to 
the Strategic National Stockpile for medical equipment and supplies, 
and a recent infusion of $25 billion to support testing, including 
dedicated funding for States and Tribes. We have also spent money to 
support scientists as they rapidly developed and produced new testing 
technologies and worked to get them to the market as quickly as 
possible. But it is going back to that bravery of our frontline 
healthcare workers, our first responders, our public health experts, as 
well as the innovation of our scientists who have served as beacons of 
light during this difficult time and will help us get through this 
health emergency.

  On prong 2, providing individuals with the assistance they need, we 
have continued to do that and must continue to do that to address this 
health emergency because when we started the very first steps, we said 
to every American: Please stay home. Figure out how to socially 
distance.
  As a result, unemployment claims have skyrocketed to record numbers 
as Americans grappled with work reductions, job loss, and overall 
changes to our daily lives.
  It is important that Congress acted quickly to provide individuals 
with immediate assistance. In the CARES Act, we provided direct 
individual assistance to millions of individuals and married couples 
across the State and across the country. We allowed Federal student 
loan borrowers to defer payments for 6 months without interest or 
penalties. We established a temporary Pandemic Unemployment Assistance 
Program for those who are self-employed or independent contractors 
whose livelihoods have been impacted by the pandemic--people who 
otherwise might not have had a place to go.
  One consistent message I have heard from countless Coloradans as I 
have spoken with them during the pandemic is that they appreciate our 
bipartisan efforts. It is beyond that. It is not simply a bipartisan 
effort where Republicans and Democrats are working together; it is 
actually nonpartisan because Republicans and Democrats realize there is 
no reason to bear that mantle of ``party'' because so many people are 
hurting, and we know what needs to be done for the country to work 
together, to be nonpartisan, and to provide the relief real individuals 
need in real time.
  We have to keep fighting in this nonpartisan way and this bipartisan 
way to make testing more widely available, to support State and local 
governments, to advocate for frontline and essential workers, and to 
set up our economy to return as strong as it was before the pandemic. 
Thank goodness our economy was as strong as it was when we went into 
this. Imagine where we would be if we had a weak or struggling economy 
as we entered the health emergency.
  Prong 3 requires support for businesses. The economic relief that was 
provided through the Paycheck Protection Program under the CARES Act 
continues to be an essential tool for our small businesses and families 
across all four corners of Colorado. Over $10 billion in round 1 and 
round 2 of the Paycheck Protection Program has been delivered to keep 
people on the payroll in Colorado. The Paycheck Protection Program was 
created to keep employees on the payroll and to help keep bills paid so 
that workers can keep their jobs, salaries, and benefits--they can keep 
them--and so small businesses can hit the ground running when they are 
able to resume operations. Think about the millions of small businesses 
in our country responsible for over $6 trillion in salary every year in 
this country.
  We often talk about small businesses being the backbone, the 
foundation, and the bedrock of our economy, and it is absolutely true. 
Small businesses employ nearly half of all American workers, and they 
make up 99.5 percent of all Colorado businesses, employing more than 
1.1 million Coloradans.
  Because of clarifications to the program I fought for, just last week 
I heard from three rural hospitals in Colorado that received Paycheck 
Protection Program loans through their local community bank. They were 
within a matter of a week or weeks of having to lay off employees and 
in some cases, shut down. The access to the Paycheck Protection Program 
was an absolute game changer for these critical and vital rural 
hospitals. Now these hospitals can continue to provide both critical 
healthcare services to their communities and jobs for their employees, 
and in many communities, these rural hospitals are the largest employer 
in that community.
  These actions and programs are essential cornerstones to our 
recovery, but we must finish laying the foundation to ensure our 
economy snaps back and runs strong. While governments can allow 
businesses to open, the American people simply won't return--they won't 
fully return to the economy until they have confidence that the virus 
is under control.
  The first step to tackling any problem, of course, is seeing it, and 
that is especially true with COVID-19. How do we see it? Through 
widespread testing. Widespread testing is key to seeing the bigger 
picture in the fight against this virus. Our country's well-being both 
medically and financially relies on our ability to see where the 
illness is and where it is not and where it is spreading and where it 
is declining. That, in turn, depends on our ability to ramp up testing 
capacity.
  Rapid testing for COVID-19 and further research into the benefits, 
applications, and development of that body of testing will help show 
which Coloradans have been exposed to COVID-19 and the percentage of 
our population that has already recovered. This will better inform 
local schools, businesses, and governments as they make their own 
determinations about the path forward. It will help provide peace of 
mind for Coloradans as they start to visit their families, reschedule 
doctors' appointments for routine preventative services, and return to 
their jobs. It will also help States and local health departments 
decide what type of other responsive measures are necessary.
  My approach to this pandemic has been an all-hands-on-deck approach. 
When the Governor calls me and says our State needs more tests, more 
masks, or more equipment, I get to work fighting to find that 
assistance. Working together with the Governor, leaders at the Federal 
level, and our allies abroad, we have been able to secure hundreds of 
thousands of masks and tests for our State, and we are working around 
the clock for more.

  Without effective widespread testing and a corresponding strategy 
that leverages and improves public health infrastructure to support 
monitoring, we cannot have a real-time response to the virus. Rapid 
testing and the ability of public health departments to inform 
individuals with positive cases quickly so they can take appropriate 
action and further prevent the spread is critical to making sure our 
entire economy is not forced to shut down in the future.
  The dollars we have provided through various phases of action as it 
relates to the health emergency will help provide

[[Page S2260]]

that testing to help mobilize new testing, to invent the kind of 
testing we need--an antigen-based test, an antibodies test--the 
opportunities we have to rapidly let the people of this country know 
what is happening, what is not happening, and how we should tailor our 
public policies to fit the spread of the virus and the decline of the 
virus and the reopening of our economy.
  We need a test that is so ubiquitous that people can buy a Big Gulp 
at 7-Eleven and buy a COVID-19 test and keep it in their car or keep it 
in their first aid kit so that if they wake up in the morning with a 
sore throat, they can test and they can have the actual results. 
Instead of shutting down a household or a community or a country, we 
can get the results to implement better public policies then and there.
  Congress must also make sure that the Paycheck Protection Program 
continues to be funded and improved where needed to better support 
America's small businesses and the employees they are able to keep on 
the payroll as a result. We must make the program flexible enough to be 
effective, and we must make the rules so clear--so clear--that people 
will be competent that they can use it.
  I have seen the headlines about big businesses taking this money when 
they might not really need it, but I have also talked to 15-employee 
companies that have needed $30,000 or $40,000 to pay their workers and 
that are now terrified of crossing Federal prosecutors.
  I heard from a Coloradan I have known my entire life who is working 
with her son's business. This is an essential business that has 
remained open because of the role they play in our food supply. They 
went to the bank, and they got a loan under the Paycheck Protection 
Program. They were very excited that they would be able to keep their 
doors open, and then they received a letter that said: Hey, are you 
sure you needed this loan? Maybe you didn't. Now they don't know 
whether they should keep it. They are terrified to use it.
  While we have to make sure our programs aren't abused, we also have 
to make sure we don't create a chilling effect on businesses that truly 
need it. I understand the need to be careful about who gets this money, 
but when we are scaring businesses that we all agree need assistance 
the most, maybe things have gone too far and Congress is no longer 
helping.
  Congress should act to make rules that are clear. We should help 
guide those rules to be clear and bring confidence to the program to 
make sure that people can be at work, keep their jobs, and keep their 
benefits.
  When the foundation is secure and we have this foundation secure, we 
should then explore the immediate opportunities for economic activity 
and employment--the opportunities that will benefit every American and 
create the conditions for a quicker recovery. Until the American 
consumer is fully back, with confidence in our economy, we need to look 
for ways to fill the gap.
  We have long talked about the need to refurbish our infrastructure. 
Now is the time to do it.
  This health crisis has laid bare the cyber desert that exists in many 
of our rural communities. We should make a concentrated effort to make 
rural broadband a reality.
  We should fully and permanently fund the Land and Water Conservation 
Fund and put funding towards our deferred maintenance projects across 
our Federal lands that we all cherish so much. That will create 
immediate jobs building roads and maintaining trails and creating the 
kinds of job opportunities that many of our high mountain towns 
desperately need as a result of this health emergency and now economic 
emergency.
  I have introduced a bill that has the President's support and both 
sides of the aisle, and certainly the ideas are supported across both 
Chambers of Congress--the Great American Outdoors Act. Communities 
throughout the Nation would benefit, and these funds would help 
contribute to a strong and growing outdoor recreation economy--one of 
the largest drivers of our economy in Colorado and in many States.
  In short, we need to take some big and bold steps to make sure that 
our economy is back on track and to help accelerate it once again. We 
need these big steps because we have taken a hard shot in the last 
couple of months.
  We also need to support mental health efforts. Prior to the pandemic, 
70 percent of Colorado's mental health need was unmet, and on average, 
one Coloradoan died by suicide every 7 hours. Before COVID-19, I was 
working on a number of legislative efforts to improve mental health 
support, and COVID-19 has only underscored just how time-sensitive 
these matters are--particularly my legislation, the National Suicide 
Hotline Designation Act.
  In a mental health emergency, it is almost impossible to remember the 
current 10-digit hotline. Sometimes there is more than one 10-digit 
hotline. So establishing 9-8-8 as a national suicide prevention hotline 
will save lives and help more Americans in need to access critical 
mental health support.
  S. 2661, the National Suicide Hotline Designation Act, is more than 
smart policy that will help save lives; it is a statement that our 
government recognizes the crisis and is working across party lines to 
address it. Establishing 9-8-8 as a national suicide prevention hotline 
will save lives and help more Americans who need access to critical 
mental health support.
  I have been proud to push for this three-digit hotline and funding 
for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, and I will keep fighting 
to make suicide prevention services more accessible. Let's come 
together, and let's get this done.
  Access to mental health care is especially important during this 
trying time filled with grief and uncertainty for so many people, and 
we must ensure we are doing everything we can to prevent these 
devastating outcomes from occurring.
  But no matter how bleak our situation looks, it is important to 
remember that America has faced its fair share of challenges. Together, 
we have persevered and persisted through world wars, economic 
disasters, the September 11 terrorist attacks, and much, much more. 
While this virus will not be the last challenge our country faces, we 
know that this, too, shall pass, and together, we will make it to the 
other side stronger than ever. I have faith and confidence in the 
American people and in our ability to pull together and to continue to 
meet this challenge head-on. Colorado has been that shining example of 
resiliency in so many instances, and it will continue to be.

  Over these last several months, I have spoken directly to countless 
Coloradans, all unsure of what the future holds, but they are certain 
we will get through this by looking up to that great Rocky Mountain 
horizon. Coloradans everywhere are stepping up and meeting this 
challenge in the spirit of our great country. They are donating food, 
they are donating personal protective equipment, and they are donating 
time, talents, and their blood. Individuals and businesses across 
Colorado and across the country are seeing needs and responding to 
those in need.
  To the brave healthcare providers fighting around the clock, the 
reliable farmers and ranchers working day in and day out to keep food 
on the table, and all the essential workers who continue to selflessly 
put themselves at risk to ensure others are taken care of first, I give 
my deepest thanks and praise.
  In Colorado, we have lost two first responders on the frontlines in 
the fight against COVID-19.
  Deputy Jeff Hopkins served in the El Paso County Sheriff's Office, 
and he had been serving there since 2001. On April 1, he passed away 
from COVID-19 at the age of 41--1 day after he was diagnosed with 
COVID-19. His death was determined to be a line-of-duty death, which is 
a reminder to all of us that our brave first responders are in harm's 
way every day but especially during this pandemic.
  We also recently lost Paul Cary, who worked as a firefighter and 
paramedic in Aurora for more than 30 years. Paul was 66 years old, and 
he selflessly drove--selflessly drove--27 hours straight to New York in 
an ambulance to help out in the battle against COVID-19. While there, 
he was tending to patients and transporting them to hospitals. After 
falling ill with the virus, Paul died on April 30. Coloradans lined the 
streets to give him a hero's farewell.
  To Deputy Hopkins, to Paul Cary, and to the countless heroes like 
them

[[Page S2261]]

who are risking their own lives for our health and safety every day, 
thank you.
  First responders and medical professionals all across our State 
continue to make countless sacrifices on our behalf.
  The long hours and time away from family and loved ones, the 
undeniable mental toll this pandemic takes on those on the frontlines 
and the health risks--these sacrifices don't go unnoticed. We must do 
everything we can to make sure the first responders of COVID-19 have 
the resources, the support, and the personal protective equipment 
needed to fight this pandemic.
  We will never be able to fully show our deep appreciation for our 
healthcare providers, frontline employees, and first responders who are 
working to keep vital parts of our country moving. We have to do 
everything we can to try to make up what they have done for us in big 
ways and small ways every day.
  In Colorado, we don't look back; we look forward. We look out across 
the Great Plains, the Great High Plains, up to that majestic Rocky 
Mountain horizon for that next optimistic day.
  In the middle of the health emergency, a couple of weeks ago, I 
received a letter in the mail, and it had a pair of pliers in this 
letter, and I really didn't know what it was. It sat on my desk, and I 
opened it up not knowing what it was.
  I ask unanimous consent that I be allowed to share an item on the 
floor that was sent to me during the health pandemic.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Romney). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  Mr. GARDNER. Mr. President, in the letter, this pair of pliers came, 
and I opened it up, and here is what it said:

       Senator Gardner, I want to thank you and everyone at your 
     office profusely for everything that you have done for me. 
     You have allowed for me to continue receiving uninterrupted 
     benefits and care for combat injuries I have sustained while 
     serving as an Officer in the U.S. Army.
       In 2014, you came to visit me in the Ward of Walter Reed, 
     while I was still bandaged and pretty beat up, missing my 
     dominant hand and looking overall pretty haggard. You told me 
     a story about the Korfs (My Mom's side) [of the family] in 
     Yuma County.

  At this point, I realized who the letter was from, and I remembered 
very clearly the story I had told this young soldier.

       You told me a story about the Korfs (My Mom's side) in Yuma 
     County walking into your family's hardware store and stress-
     testing pliers.

  It was a story I had received from my granddad about these two 
brothers who would come in years and years ago--decades ago. They would 
grab a pair of pliers on the parts counter, and they would squeeze 
them, and they were so strong that they would snap the pin in the 
pliers. I told him that story.
  He wrote in his letter:

       Apparently my ancestors wouldn't buy a pair if they didn't 
     stand up to the grip of the man that I can only imagine was 
     pretty strong in the arms. While I'm sure they only broke a 
     few sets and got away with it by being [expletive], I've 
     enclosed a pair as recompense.
       After you visited, I took that story with me. After 5 years 
     as an amputee, I've been an Infantry Officer and I spent 
     years training as a Special Forces Officer--the only amputee 
     to ever pass Assessment and Selection. It's been inspiring to 
     grip this set of pliers and try to snap them.

  And then he wrote:

       Sometimes our tools break, sometimes it's our fault, 
     sometimes they're not flat sturdy to begin with, sometimes 
     these tools have just been used to the point of failure. 
     Every time, though, what really matters is what we do once 
     that tool is broken. We fix it, get a new one, or we 
     improvise something better. Either way, we figure out how to 
     finish the job, because people are depending on us to get it 
     done.
       Carey G. DuVall, CPT U.S. Army, Ft. Bragg, NC.

  We face a tremendous challenge unlike we have ever faced in our 
lifetimes, and, while we are going to use every tool we have to help 
fix what has happened, we know that every one is not going to be 
perfect. But we have to keep trying because that is what the American 
people do every day. They make it work. They fight. They get back on 
their feet. We have to be in this fight with them.
  Thank you.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Connecticut.
  Mr. MURPHY. Mr. President, I think all of us are in awe on a daily 
basis of those who we have a responsibility to serve. The people of 
Colorado, the people of Texas, and the people of Connecticut are doing 
just absolutely extraordinary things, and I hope that over the next 
several weeks we get to hear more of those stories.
  At the end of last week, I got a chance, with my Governor, to go down 
to a healthcare facility in Bridgeport, CT. It is a healthcare facility 
that has been designated to serve only COVID-19-positive patients. The 
nurses and staff came outside into the parking lot area to have a 
socially distanced, masked conversation with us.
  While they have struggles, and while they need help, they have a 
sense of mission about them that is impressive. They are working double 
shifts. They barely get to see their kids. They know that their lives 
are in danger every time they go into a facility where there are only 
patients who have tested positive for COVID, and yet they know they are 
doing something with their life today that they will be able to tell 
their kids and grandkids about. They are making a difference.
  I think about those individuals who aren't a first responder, who 
aren't a healthcare worker but have found a way to do heroic things 
just in their neighborhoods.
  Luciana Vera was already making a difference. She was a bilingual 
teacher in the Stamford, CT, public school system, but she heard about 
a crisis that one of her students was having. One of her student's 
mother had contracted the virus, had gone into a coma, but was pregnant 
and delivered a child while she was in a medically induced coma. Her 
husband also had the virus, as did one of her children. So do you know 
what Luciana did? Do you know what this teacher did? She took the baby 
into her home. While she taught her students online during the day, she 
warmed up bottles and fed that baby at night.
  Jerry Sicardi is 100 years old. He lives in Stratford, CT. Even at 
100 years old, he decided to get together with his daughter Judy and 
start making masks. We all have these stories from our States, just 
folks who started sewing masks and giving them out to people who needed 
them. Jerry gave them out to his neighbors. He sent some to the 
Bridgeport Correctional Center. He gave them to former students. Then, 
when folks learned that Jerry was pretty good at making masks, they 
would call, and he would make them on order.
  These are the stories that could, frankly, fill up the whole day from 
each one of our States.
  While my constituents in Connecticut, who are as generous as that, 
would have undertaken those actions regardless of the effectiveness of 
the response from their government, their actions are all the more 
important, given the failures of their Federal Government to do the 
right thing by them.
  I want to spend a few minutes today talking about the Trump 
administration's response to the crisis that we are facing. If we are 
going to be here in Washington, I think it is important for us to talk 
about what is missing.
  There has been a lot of ink spent already criticizing the Trump 
administration's response to the crisis--that the strategy was wrong, 
the focus was in the wrong place, or that the level of activity wasn't 
high enough. But I really think that this is the wrong paradigm. It is 
the wrong lens through which to have this discussion because the 
problem really isn't that President Trump's response to coronavirus has 
been ineffective. It is that he hasn't responded at all. For all 
intents and purposes, there has been no response to coronavirus from 
this administration. There have been press conferences. There is a 
social media presence, but they aren't running a national response.
  From the beginning, the response has been left to States, to cities, 
to counties, to hospitals, to school districts, to nursing homes, to 
shelters, to food banks, to charitable organizations--really, to every 
public-facing entity that isn't the administration. We shouldn't lose 
sight of how remarkable that is--that in the face of the most serious 
national crisis since 2001, perhaps since Vietnam or World War II, the 
administration has effectively chosen to stand down and let others 
lead.
  I know that sounds like hyperbole because there is a task force, 
right?

[[Page S2262]]

There are press conferences on TV every day. But hear me out.
  At the beginning, the President didn't do nothing. He fanned the 
flames. He called coronavirus in the early days a ``hoax'' perpetuated 
by his political opponents. He telegraphed to the country that this 
wasn't something we needed to be prepared for because it was just going 
to go away, despite all the experts telling him differently.
  On 12 different occasions, he praised the Chinese response and said 
that President Xi was doing an excellent job responding to the crisis. 
He praised, specifically, their transparency. At a moment when the 
international community was trying to get into China to find out what 
they knew so that we could start developing vaccines and treatments, 
the chief apologist in those early days for the Chinese response was 
our own President.

  Arguably, the most significant action that the Trump administration 
undertook--really, the only action that the President mentions to this 
day, when pressed for tangible things that he has done--was the set of 
travel restrictions. But public health experts told the President that 
the restrictions wouldn't work, especially since they were filled with 
loopholes. We now know that 400,000 people ended up getting into the 
United States from the countries that were subject to the restrictions 
list. The travel ban was feckless. It was a failure. And after that, 
the administration effectively gave up. They gave up.
  What could they have done? As the travel ban started to prove 
ineffective at stopping the virus and cases started to mount, what 
could they have done? Well, they could have decided to lead a national 
effort to make sure we have the supplies necessary to fight the virus. 
Members of Congress told the administration early on that we needed to 
appropriate dollars to make sure that we had things like masks and 
gowns and ventilators. They could have created a national effort to 
ramp up domestic production of personal protective equipment. They 
didn't do that.
  The administration could have come up with a national testing plan. 
They could have done an early assessment of how many tests were going 
to be needed and taken control of the supply chain necessary to make 
those diagnostic machines and the cartridges that go inside them. They 
didn't do that.
  They could have begun the work of building a national public health 
workforce. Every expert told the administration that it wasn't just the 
machines and the equipment, that we were going to need public health 
workers to do the testing, to then trace the spread of the disease, and 
to help support quarantines. They could have started to put together a 
plan to build that workforce at a national level or at least a plan to 
help States build that workforce. But they didn't do that.
  They could have, early on, worked with States to create uniformed 
standards for school and business closings. This didn't have to be left 
to States and municipalities and individual superintendents. The 
administration could have chosen to lead on the question of how and 
when we chose to close our economy and our school systems down, but 
they didn't do that.
  They could have joined with other countries to jointly produce a 
vaccine. In fact, there was an entity set up at the beginning of the 
Trump administration specifically for that purpose, the Coalition for 
Epidemic Preparedness Innovations. They could have made an investment 
in that international organization after having refused to join early 
on during the President's term, but they didn't do that.
  They could have increased aid for developing nations or refugee 
camps. They could have gone on the international offensive, like 
President Obama did during the Ebola epidemic, and made sure that we 
were helping every country beat the virus because, as we know, due to 
the failure of the travel restrictions, if you don't stop it 
everywhere, you really are not stopping it anywhere, but they didn't do 
that.
  They could have made sure that everybody in this country had 
insurance. The Trump administration could have stopped pushing junk 
plans. They could have, at least temporarily, put on hold the lawsuit 
to try to end the Affordable Care Act and the 20 million who are 
insured through it, but they didn't do that.
  They could have worked to create a national commitment to make sure 
that every student has the ability to distance learn and has internet 
access, or they could have proposed a plan to ramp up special education 
funding to make sure they are protecting kids with disabilities during 
this crisis. They didn't do that.
  Finally, they could have proposed any of the various programs that 
Congress developed and passed: the PPP program, the State stabilization 
fund, the hospital relief fund, the national testing program fund. None 
of these were initiatives from President Trump.
  Early on, as negotiations were beginning on these relief packages, 
the President's only idea was a payroll tax cut. Frankly, it is still 
the President's only idea.
  The President didn't need to leave all of the legislative leadership 
to Congress. He and his team could have laid out detailed new programs 
to combat the virus or to save the economy and pressed Congress to pass 
them, but they didn't even do that.
  I am not saying there aren't meetings. I am not saying there aren't 
press conferences. But my State, one of the hardest hit in the Nation, 
has had to effectively fend for itself.
  When I talk to State leaders, or hospital executives, or food pantry 
directors, none of them talk to me about all of the help they are 
getting from the Trump administration. They talk about the programs 
that Congress has passed, but they don't talk about any meaningful, 
impactful responses to this crisis run by the Trump administration. Do 
you know why? Because they don't exist, and even when the Trump 
administration tries to do something meaningful, they screw it up.
  Take, for instance, the much-heralded plan to reopen America. Now, 
that was a good idea, a serious set of guidelines for States to use to 
judge when the right time is to reopen. I may have quibbles with 
certain elements of that plan, but I thought they were generally on the 
right track, giving States some specific guidelines so that we can have 
some consistency across the country as to when States decide to reopen 
schools and businesses.
  The administration stuck with that plan for about a week, and now 
President Trump is calling on States to reopen, regardless of whether 
any of the benchmarks have been met in his own plan. Now he is talking 
about healthcare workers and cafeteria workers as warriors, apparently 
preparing them for a summer during which his experts tell him there 
will be 3,000 coronavirus deaths a day because of these early 
reopenings. If that is true, the President's so-called coronavirus 
warriors would be dying at a daily total 10 times that of the warriors 
who fought in World War II.
  Not all of this was avoidable. China, where the virus started, bears 
serious responsibility for the global spread, but the epidemic did not 
have to become the crisis of the magnitude we have witnessed today.
  A normal President would have been able to take steps early on and 
throughout that could have controlled the spread. Our President 
effectively chose to stand aside and leave 50 States and thousands of 
cities and hospitals to manage the response instead. They were left 
largely helpless, without significant Federal support, competing 
against each other for scarce resources, and now our country is in 
desperate straits. So, once again, it is up to Congress to lead
  I agree with my friend from Colorado that there has been remarkable 
bipartisan support in this body in order to fill the vacuum that has 
been created by the refusal of our President to lead, and so we will 
have to do it again. Let me leave my colleagues with a few suggestions 
as to the path that we should take going forward to build upon those 
suggestions proffered by my colleague from Colorado.
  First and foremost, we have to admit what is true. The States and the 
cities are in charge of the response. The Trump administration is not. 
I have heard my colleagues talk about aid to States or municipalities 
that are fighting the virus as a bailout. That is nonsense. It is more 
accurate to talk about what the States and cities are doing as a 
bailout of the Federal Government.
  When the Trump administration refused to run a national response, it 
was

[[Page S2263]]

the States, like mine, and cities, like those in my State, that stepped 
up to lead the response. All we are asking is that we share in the cost 
of the States' and cities' efforts to save lives.
  Second, our schools are going to be overwhelmed with need when they 
reopen. I am one of the few parents of school-aged children, children 
who go to public school. My kids are lucky enough that they don't have 
special learning needs, and they have two parents who are able to 
telework from home and support their distance learning. But there are 
millions of kids who have learning disabilities, who have needs totally 
unmet during this time who are going to show back up at school way 
behind and in crisis. We need to appropriate money right now, 
especially for special education, so that school districts across the 
country can start to do planning now, this spring and this summer, so 
that there are supports around those kids when they show back up. Every 
kid is going to have to catch up. But especially for kids with serious 
learning disabilities, they are going to need extra help. And States 
that are going to have expended all of the money available to them to 
fight the virus and that have cratering revenues because of the 
shutdown of the economy are not going to be able to fund those special 
education needs themselves. It is going to have to be us. It is going 
to have to be us. So why wait until the fall? Let's make a downpayment 
on that assistance for kids with disabilities and do it now.
  Food banks in Connecticut are running dry. They are running dry. We 
need more support in the next bill for nutrition assistance. We have to 
start thinking creatively about how to make sure that everybody has 
access to food. Right now, if you are on a SNAP benefit, you have to go 
to a grocery store. Well, those aren't safe places for everybody on 
SNAP benefits. Some of the corner bodegas have closed down. So the only 
place that might be open is a long way away. So restaurants can be a 
lifeline right now. Traditionally, we don't allow you to use your SNAP 
benefits in restaurants, but I think we should temporarily allow for 
that in the next package we pass. And guess what. That would be a win 
for people who are on assistance who need more food options. It would 
also be a win for restaurants that are looking for customers.
  Fourth, we have to build that public health workforce. Again, States 
will not be able to afford it themselves. Every medical expert tells us 
that it is not just testing. It is tracing the contacts that that 
individual had. It is quarantining those they had contact with. And 
that can't be done just with an act. There have to be workers who help 
do that tracing, who help support the quarantine. We have to build that 
workforce. Again, there is just no conceivable way that States can pay 
that by themselves.
  Then, lastly, we need to get back into the game internationally. It 
was a fallacy from the beginning to think that we can just shut our 
borders and protect ourselves. That is not how viruses work. In an 
interconnected economy today, there is no practical way to completely 
shut down your borders from individuals or products that move across 
international boundaries.
  We have offers right now to engage with our partners internationally 
on ways that could end up helping to save lives in the United States. I 
mentioned the Trump administration's refusal to join CEPI, which is the 
international body working on a vaccine. Why? Why is Europe and Canada 
and Australia and Japan and Saudi Arabia and India all working jointly 
on a vaccine, and we are on the outside? It doesn't mean that we would 
have to stop doing our own congressionally funded work to develop a 
vaccine, but why not also join the international effort so that we are 
not on the outside if they develop that vaccine? An easy thing we can 
do in this next bill is make sure we are both working on a vaccine 
domestically but also working internationally.

  When this crisis is over and life has returned to relative normal, 
there will be a grave, serious accounting of how badly the Trump 
administration failed this Nation that it was sworn to protect. I am 
grateful for my colleagues stepping up time and again in a bipartisan 
way to try to fill the gap created by the failure to lead by the 
executive branch. Hopefully, when we do that accounting, it will allow 
us to learn lessons. For now, this Congress has to soldier on and do 
our best to muster a Federal response that, if not for our actions, 
would be practically nonexistent.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Texas.
  Mr. CORNYN. Madam President, like other Senators, around this time of 
the year, I am used to being with folks from home who are traveling to 
Washington, DC. Between spring break trips and industry fly-ins, spring 
is normally a very busy season here at the Capitol. I always look 
forward to seeing both new and familiar faces and spending time with my 
constituents and talking about the challenges they are facing and the 
changes they would like to see coming out of Congress.
  Yet, as we all know, this is not a typical springtime in Washington. 
Normally busy sidewalks and hallways are largely empty, as our 
constituents hunker down at home while we continue working to get them 
the help they need. Just as Texans have adopted new routines to meet 
social distancing requirements, so have I, as have all of us.
  I know I am not alone among my colleagues when I say that over the 
last few weeks, I have logged some serious hours on phone calls and 
video conferences with folks across Texas. Actually, I have been a 
little bit surprised at how efficient it is in terms of reaching large 
numbers of people, and I think it will probably change some of the ways 
we work here and some of the ways we act with our constituents here in 
the future.
  I spoke with those in the medical field about the ongoing challenges 
to our frontline healthcare workers, the progress toward developing a 
vaccine, antibody tests, and the like.
  I have talked with the Texas Farm Bureau, our farmers and ranchers, 
our grocery store workers, and our food bank employees about the need 
to make sure that all Texans can access the food they need, especially 
during a time like this.
  I have talked with mayors, county judges, and other leaders in our 
communities about the work they are doing.
  I was listening to our friend and colleague from Connecticut who 
believes that the response needs to be coming out of Washington and 
that we all need to simply fall in line according to the dictates of 
the national government. Well, it raises interesting questions about 
the Constitutional Convention and the agreement to have a Federal 
system, not a national system. We have sovereign States that have their 
own sphere of responsibility. Our cities and counties are best able, in 
my view, to respond to local conditions.
  Rather than a command and control response, what we have had in Texas 
and I dare say in most other places has been a collaborative approach. 
Working with the national government to provide the resources and some 
of the guidance is very important. But our Governors, who control the 
National Guard, which has come out to help do testing, help stock food 
banks, and help build temporary hospital facilities, and our mayors and 
county judges and local officials have really done an outstanding job. 
I am very proud of the work they have done. We haven't just taken 
orders on high from the Federal Government; we worked together, hand in 
glove, with the Federal Government.
  Of course, I talked to countless small business owners across our big 
cities and small towns and everywhere in between about the financial 
strain caused by the pandemic, and it is significant, to say the least. 
Many, of course, were forced to close their doors or dramatically scale 
back their operations, and many have had to make hard decisions to stay 
afloat.
  I was just emailing with a friend of mine in Dallas who has ownership 
in a company that just declared chapter 11 bankruptcy. Our small 
businesses are the heart and soul of our communities. They are our 
favorite locally owned restaurants; the florists we call upon on 
anniversaries, birthdays, and other holidays; the drycleaners, the 
barbershops, the gyms, the pharmacies--all the places we have been 
going for years. They feel like an extended part of our family. They 
are part of what make our communities unique, and they are a huge 
driver of our economy.

[[Page S2264]]

  In Texas and across the country, small businesses employ nearly 50 
percent of the local workforce. For many of these workers, the closures 
and cancellations brought on by the coronavirus have put their 
livelihoods in jeopardy, with many losing some or all of their income 
and many, their jobs entirely.
  As the Senate was working on our third response package back in 
March, we knew that without a serious investment in our small 
businesses, the result would be catastrophic. That is why we created 
the Paycheck Protection Program through the CARES Act to provide cash 
flow assistance for our small businesses. As we know, those low-
interest loans can be used to cover everything from payroll, to supply 
chain disruptions, to rent or mortgage. And if the employers are able--
I underline the word ``able''--if they are able to keep their employees 
on the payroll until June, then much of those loans can be turned into 
grants.
  During my calls and video conferences with chambers of commerce and 
small business owners throughout Texas, I have been able to talk about 
the benefits of these loans and how to access them. Small Business 
Administration staff have joined me on dozens of these calls to answer 
technical questions about the loan program and other types of 
assistance offered by the SBA, which has been really valuable and 
appreciated by everyone.
  Small businesses in my State have jumped at the opportunity to take 
advantage of the PPP loans and start talking with their banks and 
gathering up paperwork and going through the formal application 
process.
  As we know now, it became quickly obvious how popular the PPP program 
was and that it would exceed the funding levels after 2 weeks. That 
indicates the kind of demand and the kind of need and that our response 
was actually hitting the target. But after 2 weeks, the first $350 
billion was exhausted and depleted. From that first $350 billion, 
135,000 small businesses in Texas received loans--more than any other 
State. That program brought approximately $28.5 billion to Texas small 
businesses and protected thousands of jobs.
  Well, we know, after a little bit of jockeying back and forth with 
the House, Congress finally replenished the Paycheck Protection Program 
with an additional $320 billion, and that money is flying out the door 
as we speak.

  You don't have to look far to see why this program is so popular.
  Valerie Gonzalez-Handly owns Delicious Tamales in my hometown of San 
Antonio. Like other restaurants across the country, her business 
struggled as the stay-at-home orders were put in place. Delicious 
Tamales closed for 2 weeks last month but was able to reopen because of 
the $232,000 loan they received through the Paycheck Protection 
Program. All 38 employees returned to work. Valerie called the Paycheck 
Protection Program a ``life saver.''
  For patients at a clinic in Tyler, TX--another PPP loan recipient--
these loans could be a literal life saver. Bethesda Health Clinic 
provides healthcare services to low-income and uninsured Texans in the 
Tyler area. The clinic doesn't receive State or Federal funding, and 
one-third of their budget comes from the Hangers of Hope thrift stores 
they operate, which were forced to close. The clinic had to furlough 
their employees in order to survive the financial squeeze but was able 
to take advantage of the Paycheck Protection Program. Krysti McWha is 
the chief financial and operations officer, and she said this has 
erased a lot of worry for the clinic and allowed the furloughed 
employees to return to work. It has also enabled them to continue to 
serve the public during a time of heightened healthcare concerns.
  The Paycheck Protection Program has been vital to Texas small 
businesses and I dare say to the Nation's small businesses. I am glad 
Congress, working together as we should during a time of national 
emergency, was able to provide this lifeline and replenish these funds 
when they ran dry.
  That is not to say, though, that this program has been implemented 
without a hitch. When you do something this big and this fast, there 
are bound to be some hiccups. We expected there would be these small 
holes and gaps in what was needed, and over the last few weeks, those 
have become pretty clear.
  One of those issues is the tax deductible expenses for the businesses 
that take advantage of these loans. Businesses are normally able to 
deduct wages and other business expenses from their taxable income, but 
the notice issued by the IRS said small businesses cannot deduct these 
expenses, which is exactly the opposite of what we intended to do. Just 
to give an idea of how harmful this could be, if a small business's 
payroll during the 8-week period covered by a loan were $100,000, that 
amount could not be deducted as a business expense when they file their 
taxes.
  Our goal with this legislation was to help--not hurt--to help small 
businesses remain solvent and keep their employees on the payroll so 
they can recover from this pandemic as soon as possible and be ready 
for what I hope is a v-shaped bounceback in our economy once we defeat 
this virus. We certainly didn't intend to make next year's tax season a 
nightmare or to add to the burdens of these small businesses. Yet, 
based on the IRS's guidance, that is the path we are headed down.
  We have to right this wrong. Yesterday, I introduced the bipartisan 
Small Business Expense Protection Act with the chairman and ranking 
member of the Finance Committee, Senator Grassley and Senator Wyden, 
along with Senator Rubio, who chairs the Small Business Committee, and 
Senator Carper, who serves, as I do, on the Finance Committee. This 
legislation will clarify that small businesses can still deduct 
expenses that were paid for with a forgiven paycheck protection loan 
from their taxes. Without this clarification, small businesses will be 
up the creek without a paddle when they file their taxes next year.
  This program was created to reduce the financial barriers our small 
businesses are trying to overcome, not to add more. This bipartisan 
bill has already received support of the American Institute of CPAs--
certified public accountants--and is critical to ensuring America's 
small businesses receive the full benefits intended by Congress in the 
Paycheck Protection Program.
  As we continue to provide relief for America's workers and small 
businesses, it is critical that this fix be included. Texas small 
businesses saw the Paycheck Protection Program as a lifeline during 
this incredibly challenging time. Let's not make them regret grabbing 
ahold of it.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Virginia
  Mr. KAINE. Madam President, I ask permission to speak for up to the 
full 10 minutes.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. KAINE. I rise to discuss the next steps the Senate should take in 
dealing with the COVID-19 global pandemic.
  I applaud the bipartisan result Congress has shown in passing four 
important pieces of legislation to provide trillions of dollars of aid 
to Americans in the midst of this catastrophe.
  My heart goes out to people who are suffering. When we were last here 
voting sort of near midnight on March 25 or early in the morning on 
March 26, 675 Americans had then died of coronavirus. Now, more than 
72,000 have. In the few weeks we have been away, the number of deaths 
has increased by more than 70,000. Millions have been diagnosed. Those 
numbers are rising every day.
  The crisis has been the most severe economic shock our Nation has 
experienced in decades, even more severe than the economic collapse of 
2008-2009.
  Madam President, just a personal privilege. I know four people who 
have died of coronavirus.
  Jeanette Galliano, my brother Steve's mother-in-law, died in a senior 
facility in New Orleans in the last few weeks.
  Lois Shaver. Lois is the mother of one of our closest friends, the 
godmother of our middle son. Lois died in a nursing home in Fairfax 
County in Northern Virginia in the last few weeks.
  Gerald Glenn was a minister, a bishop, and pillar of the Richmond 
faith community. He was somebody I appointed to boards when I was 
Governor. Senator Warner did the same. Bishop Glenn passed away of 
coronavirus right after Easter.
  Dolson Anderson was a longtime friend. His wife Linda was one of my

[[Page S2265]]

agency heads when I was Governor. As Dolson was providing care for 
Linda after knee surgery, he contracted coronavirus, and after 16 days 
on a ventilator, he died.
  There are two other names. My next door neighbor, Dean DeForest. My 
wife Anne and I have lived next to Dean and Mary Ruth for 28 years. 
Dean died after 2 weeks, after a long battle with lung cancer, not 
coronavirus. But what coronavirus meant for Dean and so many like him 
was he couldn't have family with him in the normal way. He couldn't 
have a funeral or a memorial service or family gathered to grieve in 
the normal way because of people's worry about infection.
  Then there is Lorna Breen. Lorna was a Charlottesville native who was 
working as an emergency room physician in New York Presbyterian and was 
so stressed out by what she saw. She developed coronavirus. She went 
back to the hospital to work as soon as she could, and it was too much 
for her. She went home to be with her family in Charlottesville, and 
about 10 days ago, she died by suicide after facing the tremendous 
burden of being a first responder.
  I want to mention all of them. All of us--everyone in this Chamber, 
everyone who works here--have direct personal connections. The 
suffering is massive, and it is likely to continue. Because it is, 
Congress should do more. The American public expects us to, and we 
shouldn't let them down.
  What should be our next priorities? One way to look at the 
legislation we already passed is that Congress has provided aid to five 
basic pillars: aid to individuals and families; grants to small 
businesses and nonprofit organizations; loans to medium and large size 
businesses; aid to local and State governments; and aid to hospitals, 
healthcare providers, and the healthcare system.
  The three bills we passed in March made major investments in each of 
these five pillars. By April, we realized that the depth of the crisis 
was so great, we needed to do more. While we realized that our action 
was going to be partial rather than comprehensive, we did step up to do 
more to provide support for two of those five pillars--small 
businesses, hospitals and healthcare providers.
  After providing $350 billion in forgivable loans for small businesses 
under the CARES Act, we added another $370 billion in April for small 
businesses through additional loans, through the PPP program, SBA's 
EIDL grant-loan program, and a new set-aside directing resources to 
small businesses through smaller financial institutions.
  And, recognizing that this is fundamentally a public health 
emergency, we also added $100 billion in new health funds--$75 billion 
for healthcare providers and $25 billion to enable the United States to 
finally support development of a competent and comprehensive testing 
program.
  We did not hesitate to act in providing more resources to two key 
pillars--small businesses and our health system--and that tells me what 
our next step should be. We should show the same willingness to direct 
more resources to individuals and families, as well as State and local 
governments.
  Individuals and families are hurting. Thirty million Americans have 
filed for unemployment. People have lost jobs. Some have businesses 
that may never reopen, and they have seen other unplanned expenses for 
healthcare or childcare, as local schools have closed. Rent and 
mortgage payments, car payments, utility bills, food and medicine--
these expenses continue, and the pressure on working Americans is 
intense.
  When we passed the CARES Act in March, I was struck by the fact that 
the PPP program for small businesses was $350 billion, but the total 
direct payments for families was only $295 billion--about 85 percent of 
the business grant program.
  Given that we just added another $370 billion in aid for small 
businesses, I think we should add an equal amount for individuals and 
families. Whether this is a second round of direct payments or a 
combination of direct payments and other supports--childcare, rent and 
mortgage assistance--we should show the public that we value the needs 
of families and individuals as much as we value small businesses.
  And the second thing we should do is to provide more assistance and 
flexibility to State and local governments. The CARES Act provided $150 
billion in block grant funding to States and localities, but this $150 
billion was limited for use to only deal with unanticipated costs 
connected with COVID-19.
  Here is an odd thing. The funds for businesses were specifically 
designed to help them deal with revenue losses so that they could 
remain in operation and avoid layoffs. The hospital and healthcare 
provider funding was designed to help deal with revenue losses 
experienced as we postponed elective surgeries and clinical visits. The 
funds were designed to avoid layoffs. The aid to individuals was 
designed to help families cope with lost wages and lost salary.
  But the CARES bill would not allow State or local governments to use 
funds to backstop lost revenue, and that is having serious 
consequences.
  I was a mayor and a Governor. I know that 46 States have a fiscal 
year that starts on July 1, and that means that most States and local 
governments are working on their budgets right now. They have to 
project income and expenses for the next year and write their budgets 
accordingly.
  So what are State and local governments seeing? Massive declines in 
tax revenue. Sales taxes are declining. Meals taxes, lodging taxes, 
income taxes--all are declining. Jurisdictions are trying to figure out 
the extent of the likely decline, and though it is hard to know with 
certainty, the revenue drops are sizeable.
  In Virginia, the town of Abingdon is predicting a revenue loss of 
about 15 percent; Fredericksburg, more than 10 percent; Blacksburg, 
nearly 18 percent. The list goes on and on. The Commonwealth of 
Virginia is predicting revenue losses of $2 to $3 billion over the next 
2 fiscal years.
  If cities, towns, counties, and States lose revenue, what are their 
options? Since most government costs are personnel, here is what they 
will be forced to cut--teachers, police officers, firefighters, EMTs. 
That is already happening in Virginia and all over the country.
  Staunton is proposing furlough days for all city employees, including 
first responders. Prince William County has removed 31 police, fire, 
and sheriff positions from their budget. Abingdon is laying off 13 
full-time and 64 part-time employees.
  Every State, city, county, and town in this country is making the 
same decisions right now, and it shouldn't be this way. We provided 
funds to businesses to backstop revenue losses so they could avoid 
layoffs. We provided funds to hospitals to backstop revenue losses so 
they could avoid layoffs. We need to allow our State and local 
governments to backstop revenue losses so they can avoid layoffs.
  It is never a good time to lay off teachers, firefighters, police, 
sheriffs, EMTs--never. But I can tell you that the worst time to do it 
is a national health emergency. The overwhelming majority of our first 
responders work for State and local governments. Why would we want to 
lay them off?
  President Trump has said he doesn't want to bail out States and local 
governments, and he has criticized them. He didn't name-call businesses 
that wanted help. He didn't say: We will not bail you out. Instead, he 
wanted to extend the helping hand. His attacks on State and local 
governments are particularly insulting since the American public is 
much more satisfied with how their State and local leaders are handling 
this crisis than how the administration is.
  Senator McConnell advanced the idea that States and local governments 
should consider bankruptcy. He didn't say that about businesses that 
wanted aid. Promoting bankruptcy, which would mean layoffs and broken 
promises to pensioners, is heartless.
  America needs its teachers and its first responders. This isn't a 
Democrat or Republican thing. There are as many Republican Governors as 
there are Democrats. There are as many cities and counties managed with 
Republican leadership as there are Democrats.
  The CARES Act had $150 billion for general State and local government 
relief, but we have now done over $1.2 trillion in relief for 
businesses. I am glad we are helping our businesses get through this, 
but don't the communities where we live and work, send our

[[Page S2266]]

kids to school, pray and play deserve help to get through this crisis 
too? Does anyone really believe that we will be better off as a nation 
in fighting this emergency if teachers, firefighters, police, sheriffs, 
and EMTs are laid off all over this country?
  So I will close in just saying to my colleagues: We stepped up big to 
refill the tank for small businesses and hospitals. It is now time to 
step up for State and local governments and individuals and families.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Perdue). Under the previous order, all 
postcloture time is expired.
  The question is, Will the Senate advise and consent to the Evanina 
nomination?
  Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
  There is a sufficient second.
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk called the roll.
  Mr. THUNE. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator 
from North Carolina (Mr. Burr) and the Senator from Kansas (Mr. Moran).
  Further, if present and voting, the Senator from Kansas (Mr. Moran) 
would have voted ``yea.''
  Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Ohio (Mr. Brown), the 
Senator from Vermont (Mr. Leahy), the Senator from Washington (Mrs. 
Murray), the Senator from Vermont (Mr. Sanders), the Senator from 
Hawaii (Mr. Schatz), the Senator from Michigan (Ms. Stabenow), and the 
Senator from Rhode Island (Mr. Whitehouse) are necessarily absent.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Are there any other Senators in the Chamber 
desiring to vote?
  The result was announced--yeas 84, nays 7, as follows:

                       [Rollcall Vote No. 83 Ex.]

                                YEAS--84

     Alexander
     Baldwin
     Barrasso
     Bennet
     Blackburn
     Blunt
     Booker
     Boozman
     Braun
     Cantwell
     Capito
     Cardin
     Carper
     Casey
     Cassidy
     Collins
     Coons
     Cornyn
     Cortez Masto
     Cotton
     Cramer
     Crapo
     Cruz
     Daines
     Durbin
     Enzi
     Ernst
     Feinstein
     Fischer
     Gardner
     Gillibrand
     Graham
     Grassley
     Harris
     Hassan
     Hawley
     Heinrich
     Hoeven
     Hyde-Smith
     Inhofe
     Johnson
     Jones
     Kaine
     Kennedy
     King
     Klobuchar
     Lankford
     Lee
     Loeffler
     Manchin
     McConnell
     McSally
     Menendez
     Murkowski
     Murphy
     Paul
     Perdue
     Peters
     Portman
     Reed
     Risch
     Roberts
     Romney
     Rosen
     Rounds
     Rubio
     Sasse
     Schumer
     Scott (FL)
     Scott (SC)
     Shaheen
     Shelby
     Sinema
     Smith
     Sullivan
     Tester
     Thune
     Tillis
     Toomey
     Udall
     Van Hollen
     Warner
     Wicker
     Young

                                NAYS--7

     Blumenthal
     Duckworth
     Hirono
     Markey
     Merkley
     Warren
     Wyden

                             NOT VOTING--9

     Brown
     Burr
     Leahy
     Moran
     Murray
     Sanders
     Schatz
     Stabenow
     Whitehouse
  The nomination was confirmed.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the motion to 
reconsider is considered made and laid upon the table, and the 
President will be immediately notified of the Senate's action.
  The Senator from Illinois.