[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 89 (Tuesday, May 12, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2358-S2359]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              CORONAVIRUS

  Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, no challenge in our lifetime resembles 
the depth of our current challenge. We have faced diseases, recessions, 
and natural disasters, but at no time in my lifetime has a public 
health crisis on this scale been paired with such an extensive economic 
disaster.
  Finally--finally--we are beginning to see signs that the spread of 
this evil disease has abated in parts of the country--not over but at 
least the curve is going down. My home State of New York is just 
beginning to turn the corner, but, unfortunately, there are many parts 
of the country that have not yet reached their peak.
  The unemployment rolls are as long as they have been since the Great 
Depression. Working Americans are struggling to pay rent and put food 
on the table, and many have no idea when the next paycheck may arrive.
  It breaks your heart to see people waiting for hours in their cars to 
line up at food banks. When they are interviewed by the press, they are 
people who never went to a food bank before. That is how deep and 
troubling this crisis is.
  So we in Congress have an obligation to do the Nation's business 
during this time of crisis, to be focusing on this crisis, to help the 
millions of American workers and businesses pleading--pleading--for 
assistance.
  The Constitution instructs us to provide for the common welfare, but 
at this critical juncture in our Nation's history, the Republican 
leadership, led by Leader McConnell, is ducking their responsibility, 
plain and simple. Leader McConnell has yet to schedule any legislative 
business for the floor of the Senate this month having to do with 
COVID.
  It has taken sustained pressure from Senate Democrats to force our 
Republican colleagues to conduct even the routine business of holding 
hearings on the coronavirus. We have had a few hearings now, but not 
many. Where is the SBA Administrator to talk about the problems in PPP? 
Where is Secretary Scalia to talk about the problems in unemployment 
insurance? Where are the OSHA executives to talk about how we protect 
workers from this pandemic, particularly when they are required to go 
to work? They are not around.
  Even the hearings we are having are slow. They are sort of eked out 
like

[[Page S2359]]

toothpaste from a tube. The word is we are hearing from Mnuchin and 
Powell on the 19th. That is close to 2 months after we passed COVID 3. 
That is not oversight. That is not Congress's job--at any time. It is 
made even worse because we are in a crisis.
  Then, last night, amazingly, the Republican leader explained that 
Republicans have ``not yet felt the urgency of acting immediately.'' 
Let me repeat that. With millions of Americans sick and tens of 
thousands dying, with depression levels of unemployment, the Republican 
leader, Senator McConnell, said that Republicans have ``not yet felt 
the urgency of acting immediately.''
  We live in a divided nation, but one thing that pretty much everyone 
agrees on is that there is a great deal of urgency right now.
  Leader McConnell, there is nothing more urgent to a family that is 
struggling to feed their children and keep a roof over their heads. 
Leader McConnell, there is nothing more urgent to a small business 
owner who is inches away from closing the doors of his life's work. The 
Republican leadership needs to wake up--wake up--to the dire economic 
reality tens of millions of Americans are facing.
  We must pass big, bold legislation to confront the crisis before us. 
That is just what the House of Representatives is working on right now. 
We don't believe that our two parties will agree on everything we must 
do, but at the very least--at the very least--we should agree there is 
an urgency to provide relief to our citizens who are suffering and 
struggling.
  President Hoover lacked the urgency to get the Federal Government 
involved at the outset of the Great Depression. Every history book 
teaches us that his error prolonged and likely deepened the suffering 
of American workers. When Republican leader looks at unemployment 
numbers and say that we don't need to act immediately, that government 
has done enough already, they are the latter-day Herbert Hoovers, and I 
fear it could lead to similar results, a deeper and longer recession, 
and--God forbid, but it is not out of the question--a second Great 
Depression because of the inaction and incompetence of the President, 
being followed obediently, wrongly by the Republican Senators.
  The lack of urgency in the Republican Party extends down Pennsylvania 
Avenue to the Oval Office. From almost the very beginning of this 
crisis, President Trump has downplayed its severity and tried to wish 
it out of existence.
  The President said coronavirus might disappear ``miraculously''--his 
word. He said it was a hoax. He said the warm weather might take care 
of it. He pitched quack medicines and speculated that a vaccine could 
be ready in 2 months. Two months ago, the President said that ``anybody 
who wants a test can get a test,'' which is not even close to being 
true.
  The President's words are reckless--constant belittling of the 
crisis, ignoring the crisis, burying the truth, and burying his head in 
the sand--and it has prolonged and made the crisis worse, and the 
American people know it.
  That is why he lashes out--the President does--at reporters who ask 
him fair questions. That is why. He knows he is to blame for a good 
part of the depth and prolongation of this crisis. He knows that. Yet 
he can't bring himself to face the truth. He can't bring himself to 
tell the American people the truth. Pitching quack medicines, telling 
people it is going to go away, saying yesterday ``that we have met the 
moment and we have prevailed.'' What planet is he on?
  More than 30 million are unemployed, and ``we have prevailed''? There 
are 1.3 million infected and 80,000 American fatalities, and those 
numbers are still growing. And ``we have prevailed''?
  The President's comments show a stunning disregard for the truth, and 
it hurts every American. I don't care what your politics is. No one 
should tolerate a President who ignores the truth, says whatever pops 
into his head, whether it is true or false or dangerous, and then moves 
on his merry way to speak the next untruth and talk about the next 
quack cure.
  The President's comments show a stunning disregard for the truth. It 
may have been in the Rose Garden and not on the deck of a battleship, 
but President Trump saying ``We have prevailed'' is akin to declaring 
``mission accomplished'' long before the battles are over and the war 
is won.
  Later on, the President, as usual, tries to correct what he said--or 
his advisers do. He said he only meant testing, that we have prevailed 
on testing. But that is false too. Even the corrections are false. The 
United States is testing about 300,000 people a day. Most experts 
believe the number is inadequate to stop this outbreak and ensure that 
when we reopen, we do so safely. We have prevailed on testing? Not 
remotely.
  Here is what is so ironic about the President hiding his head in the 
sand and not tackling the testing issue in a real way. He is desperate 
that we get back to work, but the only way to get back to work is when 
we have enough tests--not just for those who are very ill but for 
anyone who wants it. You know, the White House--they all test. Anyone 
who walks in the White House is tested. Why isn't that good enough for 
all the American people?
  Why is it that even in States that have opened up, like Georgia, the 
stores are still empty? Because people are worried, justifiably. The 
way to remove that worry or at least greatly reduce it is to make sure 
everyone can be tested.
  When New Rochelle became the first quarantined city, I called the 
mayor and said: What do you need to get rid of this quarantine? He said 
he needed enough testing so that he could test every person in New 
Rochelle, and those who tested positive, he would say they have to 
quarantine and stay home, and those who didn't could go to work and 
shop in the stores and get our community going.
  Most of the countries--I think just about every one of the countries 
that has dealt successfully with the coronavirus has had far more 
testing at the right times and the right places than we have.
  Maybe Dr. Fauci can set things straight this morning. Dr. Fauci and a 
few other administration officials are testifying before the HELP 
Committee remotely. It will be one of the first times that Fauci and 
the others have appeared publicly without the President lurking over 
their shoulders, modifying their answers, or directly contradicting 
their advice.
  Dr. Fauci, please don't pull any punches, particularly when you are 
asked questions. We know the White House may have to approve the 
statement you make, and they will mute it. It was muted this morning 
and very technical. But you don't have to do that when the questions 
are asked. Don't pull punches. Tell the American people the truth. Dr. 
Fauci, you have an obligation to tell the American people the truth 
because only that will save lives and reduce the economic length of 
this crisis. And, Dr. Fauci, maybe if you tell the truth in this 
opportunity--a hearing without the President looking over your 
shoulder--maybe your testimony, Dr. Fauci--I hope your testimony, Dr. 
Fauci, reaches not only the American people but a President who is 
ready to throw caution to the wind in order to reopen the country. 
Please, Dr. Fauci, don't pull punches.

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